In the 18th and 19th centuries, the enclosure of common systems shaped the displacement of people on a global scale whilst bringing the people---Scottish Highland crofters and Mi’kmaq First Nation Canadians from the margins where they have dwelled for centuries in historical scholarship to of the centre of not just their history, but our collective history. Both populations experienced attacks on their ties to their lands, resources, and culture through enclosure. The enclosure process lasted over two centuries and was interspersed with violent protest, proactive resistance, interspersed with periods of acceptance and determination against their forced removals. Investigating these two historical case studies has shown the devastating effects of enclosure of commons systems on both sides of the Atlantic, which led to land dispossession, loss of Indigenous languages, cultural eradication, and denial of place so crucial to marginalised and First Nation peoples. The Scottish crofters were displaced in their native homeland and forced to leave their agricultural knowledge of land and place along with their native Gaelic language and Bardic oral traditions. The Eastern Maritime Canadian First Nations people, the Mi’kmaq, were displaced in their homelands, Mi’kmaki, where they had lived, survived, and thrived for thousands of years. In these Transatlantic enclosure events, the displaced became the displacers.

© 2023 Anna Herrington