In 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples became law, extending inherent human rights for the first time to the approximately half a billion Indigenous people around the planet. The declaration sets standards for respecting Indigenous knowledge systems and heritage rights, preserving identity and languages, and…

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Indigenous activism have made many Canadians uncomfortably aware of how little they know about First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. In "Braided Learning," Lenape-Potawatomi scholar and educator Susan Dion shares her approach to learning and teaching about Indigenous histories and…

Stories of Indigenous children forced to leave their communities to attend residential schools have haunted Canadians in recent years. Yet most Indigenous children in Canada attended "Indian day schools," and later public schools, near their home communities. Although church and government officials often kept detailed administrative…

A team of four students and one faculty member from the University of Winnipeg, as well as two community representatives, undertook a collaborative action-research project in Fisher River Cree Nation, Manitoba, Canada, to explore Indigenous knowledges associated with cultivation, production, and consumption practices of traditional foods and…

This book recounts the story of the Indians in Alberta, Canada. Pictures and maps help in the explanation of these facts. The Indians described include the: (1) Blackfoot Nation (Blackfoot, Blood, Peigan Tribes); (2) Sarcee Tribe; (3) Stoney Indians; (4) Plains Cree; (5) Woodland Cree; (6) Chipewyan Indians; (7) Beaver Indians; (8) Slavey Indians;…

Between 1939 and 1963, the Canadian federal government embarked on a program of relocation and relief in the Eastern Arctic that dramatically altered the lives of Inuit living there. This book begins with an account of the debate over whether Inuit are Indians and, therefore, which branch of government should be responsible for them. It then…

The Michif language, spoken by descendants of French Canadian fur traders and the Cree and Ojibwe Indians of western Canada and the northern United States, is a difficult and unique language because it uses French for nouns and Cree for verbs, therefore comprising two different sets of grammatical rules. This book employs historical research and…

As indigenous peoples in the Arctic move closer to sovereignty, self-sufficiency in the realm of criminal justice assumes paramount importance. This book outlines initiatives and strategies to improve the delivery of justice services to aboriginal peoples in Canada, Alaska, and Greenland. Topics include: social and spiritual causes of alcoholism…

Indigenous knowledges encompass the cultural traditions, values, and belief systems concerned with the everyday realities of living in a particular place. They are imparted to the younger generation by community elders or are gained through direct experience of nature and its relationship with the social world. This collection of essays discusses…

This book contains 13 chapters analyzing important practical issues that must be addressed as Aboriginal self-government becomes fully operational in Canada. These issues are related to social problems and policies, criminal justice, community services, education, employment and job training, finance, the land base of government, women's rights…

This book includes 26 papers from a lecture series exploring issues in the lives of northern and Aboriginal Canadian peoples. The seven sections address health and healing issues from Aboriginal and Western perspectives, the need to incorporate traditional Aboriginal ways of learning into the dominant educational system, evolving northern research…

Canadian social life and public policy are increasingly influenced by Aboriginal people, their roles in Canadian society, and the issues that concern them. Drawing on a political economy perspective, this book provides a systematic analysis of how changing social dynamics, organized particularly around race, class, and gender relations, have…

This book springs from a 1996 International Summer Institute, held at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, on the cultural restoration of oppressed Indigenous peoples. Essays draw on many perspectives and experiences to seek ways of healing and rebuilding nations, peoples, and communities by restoring Indigenous ecologies, consciousnesses,…

The aboriginal peoples of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand became minorities in their own countries in the 19th century. The expanding British Empire had its own vision for the future of these peoples: they were to become civilized, Christian, and citizens--in a word, assimilated. This book provides the first systematic and comparative treatment…

This resource will help classroom teachers and staff better serve the needs of their Aboriginal students. The process of development was one of consultation, information gathering, drafting, more consultation and re-drafting. The contributors to this resource include Aboriginal Elders, teachers and psychologists, as well as other members of…