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Description
Canada is a country founded on relationships and agreements between Indigenous peoples and newcomers. Although recent court cases have upheld Aboriginal title rights, the cooperative spirit of the treaties is being lost as Canadians engage in endless arguments about First Nations “issues.” Each new court decision adds fuel to the debate raging between those who want to see an end to special Aboriginal rights and those who demand a return to Aboriginal sovereignty.
Greg Poelzer and Ken Coates breathe new life into these debates by looking at approaches that have failed and succeeded in the past and offering all Canadians – from policy makers to concerned citizens – realistic steps forward. Rather than getting bogged down in debates on Aboriginal rights, they highlight Aboriginal success stories and redirect the conversation to a place of common ground. Upholding equality of economic opportunity as a guiding principle, they argue that the road ahead is clear: if all Canadians take up their responsibilities as treaty peoples, Canada will become a leader among treaty nations.
Contributor Notes
Greg Poelzer has written extensively on Aboriginal and northern issues and is co-author (also with Ken Coates) of Arctic Front: Defending Canada in the Far North, winner of the 2009 Donner Prize. He has worked as an adviser and negotiator for governments, First Nations organizations, and industry and is the founding director and executive chair of the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development at the University of Saskatchewan.
Ken S. Coates is the author and editor of over a dozen books on Aboriginal issues, including Best Left as Indians: Native-White Relations in the Yukon; The Marshall Decision and Native Rights; and A Global History of Indigenous Peoples. Raised in Whitehorse, he is the Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan. He is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers throughout Canada and appears regularly on radio and television programs.
Awards
- Short-listed, The Donner Prize, The Donner Foundation
- Short-listed, J.W. Dafoe Prize, The Dafoe Foundation
- Short-listed, University of Regina Arts and Luther College Award for Scholarly Writing, Saskatchewan Book Awards
Editorial Reviews
What is clear from this survey is that no consensus exists around how to improve Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relations. This sketch by Poelzer and Coates does, however, do more than provide the reader with a useful review of proposals aimed at solving the “Indian problem” in Canada; it allows the authors to situate their own approach within a very complex debate characterised by a diversity of opinions (both within the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal intellectual communities). From Treaty Peoples to Treaty Nation’s originality flows from its focus on the practical elements of these problems. By contrast, most other scholars’ approaches are philosophical, idealistic, and theoretical … With the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s release of its Final Report earlier this year, Poelzer and Coates’ work could not be timelier.
— Saskatchewan Law Review
The book provides an excellent summary of the work of various Canadian Indigenous political scholars such as Kiera Ladner, Bonita Beaty, Dan Russell, John Borrows and Glenn Coulthard. The treaty theme runs throughout the book, with historical and contemporary examples. This allows the reader to understand the past but also facilitates awareness of the modern-day treaty process that is underway in some parts of Canada.
— Alberta Views, Vol. 19 No. 10
The greatest value of this volume [is that] it seeks to force productive debate, not fruitless fingerpointing and rancor. Whether or not it succeeds in doing so for Canada remains to be seen. Whether the United States, including the many indigenous peoples in the Great Plains, takes notice and begins more meaningful discussions of Americans as “Treaty Peoples” and a “Treaty Nation” likewise remains unclear. As a region with strong indigenous history and presence, these are debates worth having — on both sides of the border.
— Great Plains Research
… a welcome help to understanding ourselves as a nation and as individuals … Greg Poelzer and Ken Coates offer an accessible primer to the many ways Canada’s Indigenous peoples are retaking charge of their lives.
— Canada’s History
