Appropriation vs. Incorporation: Indigenous Content in the Canadian History Classroom Skylee-Storm Hogan and Krista McCracken with Andrea Eidinger (July 15, 2019).
"This post is part of a Beyond the Lecture mini-series, dedicated to the issue of teaching Indigenous history and the inclusion of Indigenous content in the classroom. Our goal is to provide resources for educators at all levels to help navigate the often fraught terrain of teaching Indigenous content. ... This second post will focus on the broader approaches to including Indigenous content, authors, and readings in post-secondary classrooms."
Arrows in a quiver : Indigenous-Canadian relations from contact to the courts James Frideres (2019).
"In response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, Arrows in a Quiver provides an overview of Indigenous-settler relations, including how land is central to Indigenous identity and how the Canadian state systematically marginalizes Indigenous people. Illustrating the various “arrows in a quiver” that Indigenous people use to fight back, such as grassroots organizing, political engagement, and the courts, Frideres situates “settler colonialism” historically and explains why decolonization requires a fundamental transformation of long-standing government policy for reconciliation to occur." University of Regina Press
Assembling unity : Indigenous politics, gender, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs Sarah A. Nickel, Tk’emlupsemc, French Canadian, and Ukrainian (2019).
"Through a detailed history of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), one of Canada’s leading Indigenous political organizations, Assembling Unity explores the relationship between pan-Indigenous politics in British Columbia and global political ideologies."
Braiding legal orders : implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples John Borrows (Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation), Larry Chartrand (Métis), Oonagh E. Fitzgerald, Risa Schwartz, (2019).
"Implementation in Canada of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is a pivotal opportunity to explore the relationship between international law, Indigenous peoples' own laws, and Canada's constitutional narratives. ... In response, these essays engage with the legal, historical, political, and practical aspects of UNDRIP implementation." McGill-Queen's University Press
Case critical : social service and social justice in Canada Banakonda Kennedy-Kish (Bell) (Bear Clan, Third Degree Midiiwin, Ojibway), Raven Sinclair (Cree/Assinniboine/Saulteaux), Ben Carniol, Donna Baines (2017).
"Applies decolonized, critical analysis to highlight what is often hidden from view for most Canadians: the personal trauma and communal devastation inflicted on Indigenous people by past and present colonialism and the ways in which neoliberal tax cuts, austerity, and privatization create more inequality, homelessness, and despair among both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Social service providers, the authors argue, should become social activists, working in solidarity with progressive grassroots social movements in order to de-legitimatize colonial and neoliberal policies." Between the Lines
Cree Syllabics Project [blog post] Kaia MacLeod (James Smith Cree Nation), University of Alberta Library, June 25, 2020
The author, who is the Indigenous Intern at the University of Alberta Libraries, shares a project about making Cree syllabics using a 3D printer.
First Nations self government : 17 roadblocks to self-determination, and one chief's thoughts on solutions Leroy Paul Wolf Collar, Siksika Nation (2020).
"Chief Wolf Collar identifies 17 issues that currently hinder Indigenous Nations—including broken treaty promises, problems with common forms of band administration, and the intrusion of provincial governments—along with potential solutions to overcome them. This guide is for current and aspiring Indigenous leaders who want to increase their understanding of good governance, management, and leadership, as well as those who want to explore issues around Indigenous self-determination in Canada." Brush Education
From where I stand : rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a stronger Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould, We Wai Kai Nation (2019).
"In this powerful book, drawn from Wilson-Raybould’s speeches and other writings, she urges all Canadians – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous – to build upon the momentum already gained in the reconciliation process or risk hard-won progress being lost. The choice is stark: support Indigenous-led initiatives for Nation rebuilding or continue to allow governments to just “manage the problem.” She also argues that true reconciliation will never occur unless governments transcend barriers enshrined in the Indian Act that continue to deny Indigenous Peoples their rights. Until then, we’ll be stuck in the status quo – mired in conflicts and court cases that do nothing to improve people’s lives or heal the country." UBC Press
Literatures, Communities, and Learning: Conversations with Indigenous Writers Aubrey Hanson, Métis, ed. (2020).
This book offers conversations with nine authors, who are "Influenced by generations of colonization, surrounded by discourses of Indigenization, reconciliation, appropriation, and representation, and swept up in the rapid growth of Indigenous publishing and Indigenous literary studies, these writers have thought a great deal about their work. Each conversation is a nuanced examination of one writer’s concerns, critiques, and craft. In their own ways, these writers are navigating the beautiful challenge of storying their communities within politically charged terrain. This book considers the pedagogical dimensions of stories, serving as an Indigenous literary and education project." Wilfrid Laurier University Press
In good relation : History, gender, and kinship in Indigenous feminisms Sarah Nickel (Tk’emlupsemc, French Canadian, and Ukrainian) and Amanda Fehr (2020).
"Over the past thirty years, a strong canon of Indigenous feminist literature has addressed how Indigenous women are uniquely and dually affected by colonialism and patriarchy. Indigenous women have long recognized that their intersectional realities were not represented in mainstream feminism, which was principally white, middle-class, and often ignored realities of colonialism. As Indigenous feminist ideals grew, Indigenous women became increasingly multi-vocal, with multiple and oppositional understandings of what constituted Indigenous feminism and whether or not it was a useful concept." University of Manitoba Press
Indigenous cities
“A series of aural-based offerings that invites you to connect to the land through the voices and stories of Indigenous memory holders and artists.”
Indigenous cites: The stories here
"Indigenous Cities presents memories from Indigenous community members based in cities across Canada; memories that have been interpreted by Indigenous artists to create a unique audio storytelling experience."
Indigenous City - Decolonizing and Indigenizing Urban Studies Education Kamala Todd, Métis, Cree and European (2021).
"This research project sought to raise and engage with big questions about how Indigenous people around the world are working to transform the municipal systems that have been imposed on their lands, while looking closely at the local context of Vancouver.”
Indigenous criminology, Chris Cunneen and Juan Tauri, Ngati Porou (2016).
"The book explores a number of explicit issues including the policing, sentencing and punishment of Indigenous people. It considers the impact of crime control specifically on Indigenous women and discusses the effects on Indigenous people of globalisation and crime control. The book concludes with a reflection on critical issues in the development of an Indigenous criminology, including the need to take seriously the voices of Indigenous peoples and the rights embedded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." Policy Press
Indigenous justice : clearing space and place for Indigenous epistemologies, Wenona Victor, Stó:lō (2007).
"While self determination nurtures human dignity, human responsibility, self and collective actualization and continuity, a colonial regime thrives on its ability to oppress, to maintain hierarchical orderings of power and importance, authority, ignorance and a concept of time that is both linear and extremely short. If time has taught us anything it is that there are no winners under a colonial regime. To oppress human diversity and assert authority without consent is to deny human capability both in terms of individualization and collectivities. Colonial ideologies such as eurocentrism, racism, oppression and hegemonic control are used to promote and sustain a colonial regime that denies equally the colonized and the colonizers of their full human potential."
Indigenous Writing since 1867: Once Neglected Now Celebrated [video series]
The materials on this website were gathered for a course taught by Sophie McCall and Deanna Reder, Cree-Metis.
Indigenization framework for Aboriginal literacy Eric Ostrowidzki, Marla M. Pryce, and Kristian Urstad (2009).
"One challenge facing education within Western democratic societies consists in the pedagogical difficulties in being able to reach diverse ethnic and cultural groups. Unless educational institutions are able to reach these groups in a manner that stimulates learning and encourages academic success, the institutions have failed to fulfill their mandates to provide a premium education for all students regardless of their backgrounds" p. 7.
Indigenizing philosophy through the land : A trickster methodology for decolonizing environmental ethics and Indigenous futures Brian Burkhart, Cherokee Nation (2019).
"Land is key to the operations of coloniality, but the power of the land is also the key anticolonial force that grounds Indigenous liberation. This work is an attempt to articulate the nature of land as a material, conceptual, and ontological foundation for Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and valuing. As a foundation of valuing, land forms the framework for a conceptualization of Indigenous environmental ethics as an anticolonial force for sovereign Indigenous futures." Michigan State University Press
Law's indigenous ethics, John Borrows, Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation (2019).
" Organized around the seven Anishinaabe grandmother and grandfather teachings of love, truth, bravery, humility, wisdom, honesty, and respect, this book explores ethics in relation to Aboriginal issues including title, treaties, legal education, and residential schools." University of Toronto Press
Making space for Indigenous feminism Joyce Green, ed., English, Ktunaxa and Cree-Scots Métis (2017).
"This new edition builds on the success and research of the first and provides updated and new chapters that cover a wide range of some of the most important issues facing Indigenous peoples today: violence against women, recovery of Indigenous self-determination, racism, misogyny and decolonization. Specifically, new chapters deal with Indigenous resurgence, feminism amongst the Sami and in Aboriginal Australia, neoliberal restructuring in Oaxaca, Canada’s settler racism and sexism, and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada." Fernwood Publishing
Peace and good order : The case for Indigenous justice in Canada, Harold R. Johnson, Montreal Lake Cree Nation (2019).
"In this direct, concise, and essential volume, Harold R. Johnson examines the justice system's failures to deliver "peace and good order" to Indigenous people. He explores the part that he understands himself to have played in that mismanagement, drawing on insights he has gained from the experience; insights into the roots and immediate effects of how the justice system has failed Indigenous people, in all the communities in which they live; and insights into the struggle for peace and good order for Indigenous people now." Penguin Random House.
The pleasure of the Crown : anthropology, law and First Nations Dara Culhane (1997).
"The Pleasure of the Crown offers a comprehensive look at how Canadian, particularly British Columbian, society “reveals itself” through its courtroom performances in Aboriginal title litigation. Rather than asking what cultural beliefs and practices First Nations draw on to support their appeals for legal recognition of Aboriginal title, Culhane asks what assumptions, beliefs, and cultural values the Crown relies on to assert and defend their claims to hold legitimate sovereignty and jurisdiction over lands and resources in B.C." Talonbooks.
The People and the Text: Indigenous Writing to 1992 [archival project]
Following Indigenous ethics and protocols, this project website acts as an archive for Indigenous authorship to 1992. It contains interviews, biographical information, and bibliographies of authors.
Principles of tsawalk : an indigenous approach to global crisis Umeek, Nuu-chah-nulth (E. Richard Atleo, 2011).
"In Nuu-chah-nulth, the word tsawalk means “one.” It expresses the view that all living things – humans, plants, and animals – form part of an integrated whole brought into harmony through constant negotiation and mutual respect for the other. Contemporary environmental and political crises, however, reflect a world out of balance, a world in which Western approaches for sustainable living are not working. ... By weaving together Nuu-chah-nulth and Western worldviews, hereditary chief Umeek creates a new philosophical foundation for building more equitable and sustainable communities." UBC Press
Read, listen, tell : Indigenous stories from Turtle Island Sophie McCall, Deanna Reder (Cree-Métis), David Gaertner, and Gabrielle L'Hirondelle Hill (Métis) (2017).
"From short fiction to as-told-to narratives, from illustrated stories to personal essays, these stories celebrate the strength of heritage and the liveliness of innovation. Ranging in tone from humorous to defiant to triumphant, the stories explore core concepts in Indigenous literary expression, such as the relations between land, language, and community, the variety of narrative forms, and the continuities between oral and written forms of expression." Wilfrid Laurier Press
The University and Carceral State, Dr. Pam Palmater (Mi’kmaw) and Dr. Michelle Brown (1:30:26), (2020).
"Racial violence embedded in carceral and policing institutions has emerged as a topic of renewed focus. What responsibilities does the University have in supporting calls to disband and/or defund policing and carceral institutions? What role does or should criminology play in challenging racialized violence relating to decarceral, anti-racist, decolonial initiatives? How should University institutions support decarceral, anti-racist, decolonial initiatives?"
Why Indigenous literatures matter Daniel Heath Justice, Cherokee Nation (2018).
"In considering the connections between literature and lived experience, this book contemplates four key questions at the heart of Indigenous kinship traditions: How do we learn to be human? How do we become good relatives? How do we become good ancestors? How do we learn to live together? Blending personal narrative and broader historical and cultural analysis with close readings of key creative and critical texts, Justice argues that Indigenous writers engage with these questions in part to challenge settler-colonial policies and practices that have targeted Indigenous connections to land, history, family, and self." Wilfrid Laurier Press