Colonialism Part 2: Reconciliation

Is it possible to build a perfect society without reconciliation with our past? How do we deal with histories of colonialism, racism, or slavery? Star Trek originally imagined a utopian 23rd century world that had left Earth's colonial past behind, but the story never really explained how that happened. Was there a moment of reconciliation that dealt with hundreds of years of Earth’s colonial history? This is never directly addressed in either Star Trek or The Next Generation. But by the time Star Trek's third series arrived in 1993, the question of colonialism moved to centre stage of the Star Trek universe.

Finally this newsletter can turn its attention to Deep Space Nine (DS9). The series premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons. Set on a space station at the edge of Federation space, the series thrust Starfleet into the role of peacekeeper for the planet Bajor, recently liberated from fifty years of Cardassian colonial occupation.

Some Star Trek fans complained about DS9 because it was set on a space station and the crew didn't go anywhere. It was maligned as "Star Trek set in an airport." This ignored the subtler contexts of what the show was trying to accomplish right from the get go. For me the series is about contending with history and understanding an old and venerable feminist slogan: the personal is political. Everyone on Deep Space Nine has a past that plays an important part in their presence on the station. Most are grappling with the personal fallout of some very difficult stretches of Starfleet history. The leading character, Commander Benjamin Sisko, is starting over after losing his wife at the battle of Wolf 359 (commanded by an assimilated Captain Picard, making for a very tense onboarding interview as Sisko takes command of the station.) Sisko is trying to pick up the pieces of his life, be a father to his young son, and figure out if he can find a way forward in Starfleet.

The other lead character is first officer Major Kira Nerys - representing the planet Bajor on the station. She's a former rebel who fought her entire life to rid Bajor of the Cardassian occupation. At the start of Deep Space Nine she is trying to find her place in the post-colonial order. For Kira, the personal and political are indecipherable from each other. She grew up in a Cardassian work camp on occupied Bajor. She carries the resistance as an essential part of her. The hatred of Cardassians and what they did to her people is a sort of motivating engine within her. She's endlessly aware of the weight of history, but how does she process it and deal with it? She represents a larger question about Bajor and the Starfleet presence there after occupation: How do the Bajorans move forward? Can Starfleet ever leave them to their own affairs?

In part because of the long association between utopian thinking and colonialism there's not a strong utopian tradition around reconciliation. Still, some utopians have a lot to say about anti-imperialism and colonialism. In the era of early-modern capitalism writers like William Morris certainly saw the futility of modern imperialism and the necessity of finding international solidarity to move past its exploitations. Lenin too understood the purpose of building international solidarity against imperialism. This tradition is still reflected in modern socialist calls for a renewed interest in utopian solutions. But the idea of reconciliation with the past could be more firmly wedded to these calls.

In Canada at least, there is some progress towards the idea of truth and reconciliation as a way forward from our colonial past. But the real effect of such thinking is often difficult to see in real material terms. This is because reconciliation is very hard work and decision makers and state actors leading the conversation about its necessity are unwilling to cede real political power or material concessions. Their goals are hardly utopian. But if we were dealing with a utopian society, how might we imagine that reconciliation would look?

Deep Space Nine presents some truly honest and challenging attempts to answer this question. Rather than addressing Earth history, it uses Bajor as a stand in. There have been all sorts of debates about the meaning of the allegory at work in Deep Space Nine. Are the Bajorans the Jews and the Cardassians Nazi Germany? In some interpretations this works, particularly considering the obvious similarities between the fascistic government of Cardassia and Nazi Germany. But in the thirty years since DS9 aired many have observed that the more appropriate allegory at work is to Israel and Palestine. Bajor overcame a seemingly impossible domination and occupation by a brutal colonial power, sustained for fifty years by the belief that Bajor would be free. In the end it doesn't particularly matter. The important question is how the Bajorans contend with their freedom from oppression and how they move forward. In the early seasons of the series this challenge rested on the shoulders of Major Kira.

The clearest example of this happens in a first-season episode called "Duet." Deep Space Nine receives a patient on a Federation ship who requires medical attention for an illness linked to a mining accident in a Cardassian work camp during the occupation. Kira arrives expecting to meet a Bajoran survivor but is surprised to discover a Cardassian. As anger and hatred overwhelm her she insists that the man be arrested as a war criminal for his service at Gallitep. Here the references to Nazi concentration camps and the war crime tribunals at Nuremberg are overt.

The prisoner is identified as Aamin Marritza who claims to have served as a simple civilian file clerk at Gallitep. Seeking to verify his identity, the crew of Deep Space Nine makes a startling discovery. The man they are holding may actually be Gul Darhe'el - the Cardassian commander of the Gallitep camp. Known to the Bajorans as "The Butcher of Gallitep," Darhe'el was the architect of a Bajoran genocide, presiding over mass torture and murder during his time on Bajor.

The revelation shakes and traumatizes Kira, who was part of the force who liberated the labour camp. She recalls witnessing the devastation of Darhe'el's regime. Kira sees the revelation as an opportunity to exact revenge on the Cardassians by bringing Darhe'el to justice for his crimes. Her trauma is intensified during her interrogation of the prisoner. Darhe'el expresses pride at his role in the genocide, telling Kira that the camp was a model of order and efficiency. "I did what had to be done," he brags. "I admit everything...I was the best at what I did. Kill me, torture me, you've already lost, Major. The dead will still be dead."

Kira's certitude about the situation collides with one final twist. Odo discovers that Gul Darhe'el died years ago. The man they are holding is Marritza, but he has been surgically altered to look like Darhe'el. Why would he do this? Marritza is trying to atone for his role in the atrocities at Gallitep, even though he was a mere file clerk. He too is suffering the trauma of what Cardassia did to the Bajoran people because he was forced to witness it without the power to intervene. To force Cardassia to come to grips with its violent past, Marritza was willing to pay for the crimes with his life. The revelation sends Kira into a tailspin. Her righteousness is neutralized and turned to pity. But Marritza insists he must pay for Cardassia's crimes against the Bajorans. "Don't you see," he pleads, "I have to be punished. We all have to be punished. Cardassia will only survive if it stands before Bajor and admits the truth."

This man Kira saw as a symbol of the Bajoran genocide transforms into a personification of the tragedy of the occupation. He also puts himself forward as a conduit for truth and reconciliation. And while Kira wanted vengeance, Marritza is willing to sacrifice himself because that vengeance will lead to the truth. But Kira can't go along with the deception of Mamrritza's sacrifice. As she releases him from custody, Kira tells him "What you're asking for is another murder. Enough good people have already died...I won't help kill another."

Finally, Marritza is released. But as Kira accompanies him to his departure from the station, a Bajoran attacks and murders him. Stricken, Kira asks the Bajoran man, "Why? He wasn't Gul Darhe'el!" The main replies, "he was a Cardassian, that's enough." This is the moment of reckoning and reconciliation for Kira too. The hatred drains from her and she replies, "No, it's not." Man, such a heartbreaking ending and the most painful way for Kira's character to come to a new realization about the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. But that’s the way Deep Space Nine often decided to play things. There are no easy victories, no painless personal development.

While Marritza was willing to seek truth and reconciliation, there is a larger unspoken snag to his intentions. Most Cardassians don't share his view of the occupation. Some of them are continue to be proud of their role in occupying Bajor throughout the entire series. For example, Gul Dukat, the Cardassian ruler of Bajor during the occupation (and main antagonist in Deep Space Nine) wonders at one point how the Bajoran people could not view him as a liberator. Complaining that the Bajorans did not appreciate his reign, he asks "to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor?" The Bajorans viewed him as a brutal symbol of Imperial oppression, but he can't see himself that way. Unfortunately, men like Gul Dukat and not Marritza rule Cardassia. Reconciliation is never on the table. As Deep Space Nine progresses the Cardassians eventually align themselves with other imperial powers who also wish to subjugate and exploit Bajor. The resistance of the Bajoran people continues.

In our search for truth and reconciliation in Canada we struggle with the same questions of perception and historical memory. It often feels like two steps forward and one step back. There are still historians (let alone partisans) who defend the historical legacies of colonial architects like John A. Macdonald or Egerton Ryerson. Reconciliation is impossible if the truth of the past is in question and a settler society refuses to acknowledge this history.

Deep Space Nine explored this contradiction in a number of different ways. Kira's personal growth on these questions helped to signal political change in the universe of Deep Space Nine. This suggests that utopian thinking requires some hard reckoning with the past.