In this episode, we welcome Òmar Bhochanan | Amber Buchanan to Facing Our History – The North American Gael and a unique discussion with Scott Morrison. This is the first episode where our guest comes from a Gàidhealtachd; in this case the Nova Scotia Gàidhealtachd. To date, the Facing Our History series has examined the colonization and oppression of the Gael and their dispersal in North America from a national and cultural perspective, and from an economic or class perspective. In this session, we move to examine the legacy of settler colonialism and its impact on the Gael. Òmar is a partner and consultant in Inside Out, a Gàidhlig and yoga teacher, a weaver, and a Gaelic activist from Cape Breton.

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Matthew Dziennik, Associate Professor at the U. S. Naval Academy. Dr. Dziennik argues that it is only by understanding the overlap between colonialism and capitalism, and the importance of economic stratification, can the historical changes seen in Gaelic Scotland be properly understood.  At its heart, this presentation suggests that historical change in Gaelic Scotland cannot be distilled down to simple explanations of cultural suppression. It was, instead, the imposition of market capitalism, with complex interactions between political, social, and economic change, that did the most to transform the Scottish Gàidhealtachd. Colonialism and capitalism were mutually supportive aspects of British policy in Scotland and the wider empire.

In the premier episode, we welcome Scottish Gaelic scholar Michael Newton, Ph.D., Director of the Hidden Glen Folk School of Scottish Highland Heritage.  We discuss Culloden in the context of the complex intersections between the Gaelic world and British imperialism and settler colonialism, and the responses of Scottish Gaels to colonization and empire here in North America. As we explore the history of the Gaelic struggle for survival, and strive to decolonize Scottish Gaelic history, what insights does that give us for our past and how does it speak to us today?