Reading List: National Indigenous Peoples Day

As a lead up to National Indigenous Peoples Day, we’ve compiled a reading list to add to the celebration of the unique heritage and diverse cultures of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws: Yerí7 re Stsq’ey’s-kucw
By Marianne Ignace and Ronald E Ignace
Foreword by Bonnie Leonard

An exemplary work in collaboration, Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws points to the ways in which Indigenous laws and traditions can guide present and future social and political process among the Secwépemc and with settler society.

“An impressive achievement that connects lessons preserved from a 10,000-year history to ongoing land rights struggles, this comprehensive work makes valuable contributions to cross-cultural understanding while providing an excellent model for other First Nations reclaiming and preserving their heritage.” Publisher’s Weekly starred review

Coyote and Raven Go Canoeing: Coming Home to the Village
By Peter Cole

In a gesture toward traditional First Nations orality, Peter Cole blends poetic and dramatic voices with storytelling. A conversation between two tricksters, Coyote and Raven, and the colonized and the colonizers, his narrative takes the form of a canoe journey. Cole draws on traditional Aboriginal knowledge to move away from the western genres that have long contained, shaped, and determined ab/originality. Back in print Summer 2018.

“One of the clearest and most thorough pictures of an aboriginal view of the consequences of colonization that I have ever read.” Olive Dickason, emeritus, University of Ottawa

Indigenous Nationals, Canadian Citizens: From First Contact to Canada 150 and Beyond
By Thomas J. Courchene

Indigenous Nationals/Canadian Citizens begins with a detailed policy history from first contact to the Sesquicentennial with major emphasis on the evolution of Canadian policy initiatives relating to Indigenous peoples. This is followed by a focus on the key Supreme Court decisions that have dramatically enhanced Indigenous peoples’ legal and constitutional rights. Attention is then directed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the associated “Calls to Action,” including their relationship to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Trickster Chases the Tale of Education
By Sylvia Moore

Trickster Chases the Tale of Education considers the work of educators and Mi’kmaw community members, whose collaborative projects address the learning needs of Aboriginal people.

“This work is a valuable tool for the classroom as it illustrates the power of Indigenous storytelling as we are taken on a journey of decolonizing research through the story of a researcher, Crow, and the salmon that inspired two communities to come together.” Kahente Horn-Miller, Carleton University

Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History
By Arthur J. Ray

In Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History, Arthur Ray examines how claims-oriented research is often fitted to the existing frames of indigenous rights law and claims legislation and, as a result, has influenced the development of these laws and legislation.

“Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History is accessible and fascinating, and will appeal to a broad general audience. It also deals with important current issues that will interest historians, lawyers, other researchers, practitioners, and technicians.” Carwyn Jones, Victoria University of Wellington

The Language of the Inuit: Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic
By Louis-Jacques Dorais

The culmination of forty years of research, The Language of the Inuit maps the geographical distribution and linguistic differences between the Eskaleut and Inuit languages and dialects.

“The Language of the Inuit: Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic presents an encyclopedic breadth of information in a concise and readable work that will have broad appeal. Most importantly, this very fine book will bring deeper understanding of the rich heritage and meaning of their language to Inuit working to preserve and revitalize it.” John Bennett, Canadian Polar Commission

Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America
By Nancy J. Turner

Nancy Turner has studied Indigenous peoples’ knowledge of plants and environments in northwestern North America for over forty years. In Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge, she integrates her research into a two-volume ethnobotanical tour-de-force.

“In this colossal work, Turner combines ethnobotany, comparative linguistics, and anthropology to create a compelling account of the interchange not only of different indigenous groups in their horticultural practices, but also in their linguistic and belief structures, to reveal the complexities of these societies in their ecological relations.” Publishers Weekly

Canada’s Residential Schools: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume 1-6

Between 1867 and 2000, the Canadian government sent over 150,000 Aboriginal children to residential schools across the country. Government officials and missionaries agreed that in order to “civilize and Christianize” Aboriginal children, it was necessary to separate them from their parents and their home communities. Legal action by the schools’ former students led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2008. The product of over six years of research, the Commission’s final report outlines the history and legacy of the schools, and charts a pathway towards reconciliation.

“These volumes contain a tremendous amount of information and data. Of special interest are the first-person accounts and the black-and-white photographs taken at the various schools. Anyone interested in Canadian history and the history of Native peoples will be intrigued by these publications, which are sure to be eye-opening.” Library Journal

Travellers through Empire: Indigenous Voyages from Early Canada
By Cecilia Morgan

Chronicling the emotional ties, contexts, and desires for agency, resistance, and negotiation that determined their diverse experiences, Travellers through Empire provides surprising vantage points on First Nations travels and representations in the heart of the British Empire.

“Exceptionally well researched and very fluently written, Travellers through Empire will be an important contribution to the growing literature on Indigenous travellers outside the bounds of their traditional territories.” Coll Thrush, University of British Columbia

Abenaki Daring: The Life and Writings of Noel Annance, 1792-1869
By Jean Barman

Recounting a life marked equally by success and failure, and by perseverance, Abenaki Daring speaks to similar barriers that to this day impede many educated Indigenous persons from realizing their life goals. To dare is no less essential than it was for Noel Annance.

“This book makes a major contribution to historical research and will also attract readers keen on new biographies of understudied people, particularly Aboriginal, whose stories stand out as unique.” Jennifer S.H. Brown, University of Winnipeg

See more books in Indigenous Studies >

See more books in the McGill-Queen’s Native and Northern Series >