Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival

by Bev Sellars

Awards for Bev Sellars' They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School:

2014 George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature

2014 Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature, third prize

Shortlisted for the 2014 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (British Columbia Book Prizes)

More than forty weeks on the BC Bestsellers list in 2013 and 2014!

Price Paid: Aboriginal Rights in Canada is the second book by award-winning author Bev Sellars. Based on a popular presentation Sellars often gave to treaty-makers, politicians, policymakers, and educators, Price Paid relates Canadian history from a First Nations point of view.

The book begins with glimpses of foods, medicines, and cultural practices North America's indigenous peoples have shared with the rest of the world. It documents the dark period of regulation by racist laws during the twentieth century, and then discusses new emergence in the twenty-first century into a re-establishment of Indigenous land and resource rights. The result is a candidly told, personal take on the history of Aboriginal rights in Canada.

Bev Sellars was first elected chief of the Xat'sull (Soda Creek) First Nation in Williams Lake, British Columbia, in 1987. She has spoken out on behalf of her community on racism and residential schools and on the environmental and social threats of mineral resource exploitation in her region. Having earned a degree in history from the University of Victoria and a law degree from the University of British Columbia, she has served as an advisor to the B.C. Treaty Commission.

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Canada

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2016

About the author

Bev Sellars is a Xat'sull writer of the award-winning book, They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School, describing her experiences within the Canadian Indian residential school system. She is also a longtime-serving Chief of the Xat'sull First Nations.

Reviews

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If you owned a house and you invited others who needed a place to stay to come and stay in your house, is it still your house?"
This book gives a very good picture of the many aspects of the way in which the Aboriginal people of Canada were treated over the 150 years (and earlier) that we have been a Nation. While I skimmed a couple of the more "legal jargon" sections, for the most part I found this book to be well written, and easy to read. I learned a lot, especially about the life on the reservation.

[Chloë · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a new oral history of our nation – written down. Read it aloud!

Sellars’s knowledge and experience are vast, but what gets you is her style: you feel as though you are just sitting with her at her kitchen table. Some things seem repetitious – but they bear repeating. And every point is driven home with a punchy and memorable anecdote. Every Canadian will get something out of reading this.

Price Paid also acts as a perfect companion book to The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King.

[Cordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful, informative, and engaging read. I feel Iearned a lot of new things and have a lot farther to go. Sellars' writing was clear and kept my attention throughout. I look forward to reading her other book.

This is a great book for any settlers in Canada to read, and especially those in BC, where a lot of her personal anicdotes are based.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great overview of Indigenous relations with “canada” over a significant period of time. Told through the lens of some great folks, with intense histories that have lasted generations.

[Thomas Land · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars/ 85%

A really eloquent and heart rending tour through the history of oppression in Canada against the aboriginal First Nations, what has been done to suppress them, and what they are doing to stake their claim on history and the land that was once theirs.

Moving, sobering, and made me look at the Canadian landscape in a whole new lens.

[Marg Gorrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting and easy-to-read book that conveys complex material in a straight forward fashion. A nice blend of the legislative context and Sellars' own experiences throughout recent decades of change. It helps me learn about federal and British Columbian policies that thwart not only First Nations development but Canadian development. It influences how I hear mainstream media coverage of news involving First Nations. For example, the Globe and Mail coverage of last week's announced federal government approval of the proposed Petronas LNG plant, in which the journalist notes the complexities of decision making in First Nations' creates confusion for industry. The journalist does not criticize the decision making processes of Petronas nor provide any information on how federal laws contribute to complexity in First Nations' decision making. I like how the story told by Sellars has helps me view issues, such as LNG development, from a more well informed perspective.

[Heather Ramsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

“What if you owned a house and a beautiful garden? Would you share it with others? Would you welcome them? . . . What if the newcomers began to fill the house and outnumber your family? Does that make the house theirs?” In Price Paid, Bev Sellars uses metaphor to bring the reality of the colonial juggarnaut that rolled over Indigenous lands to the reader’s attention. Deeply personal, with many anecdotes from her private life and her 12 years as chief of the Xat’sull (Soda Creek) First Nation, Sellars keeps the reader engaged and pushes them to take action. “Now that you know, you can’t turn a blind eye,” she says.

[Artemis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the information/terminology is a bit outdated now, and that is the only reason I wouldn't give this a higher rating.

Good book highlighting the various issues that Canada has had over its existence, and the impact this has had on Indigenous communities.

[Vontel]

At p 43, need to return to library. Will need to re-request. Always remember in any powerful book, there is a writer's bias and purpose.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be part of our school curriculum.

[Norman Feliks Jezioranski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Canadian ought to read this book. You can read my review on the Broken Pencil website. http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/29213

[Rachel Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bev Sellers is great author, speaker and activist. This book puts Aboriginal issues into an easy to understand format and context. I think her work should honestly be mandatory reading in Canada.

[Coatesj · Rating 5 out of 5]

So informative and factual. It was good to learn new things; answered some important questions about our history and our future.

[Tara Borin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engagingly written and wide-ranging history of Indigenous people. Essential reading.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an eye-opening read. It infuriates and disgusts me how many political barriers and red tape indigenous people have had and continue to face in order to get what is rightly theirs. The cycle of poverty seems impossible to get out of when government officials and programs are just holding them back. Destruction of land and wildlife has always distressed me, but this painted an even darker picture - it is all extremely disheartening and frustrating. I think having these issues explicitly laid out for me was exactly what I needed. The calls for action in the TRC report now hold a lot more meaning.

I think this book could have benefited from a few more pictures, another round of editing, and I have to admit that the legal section had my eyes glazing over a bit (which is too bad, because it was close to the end and almost made me lower my rating. However, the book is structured chronologically, and it needed to be included - it’s just not exactly thrilling), but it’s a definite must read. A good companion to the TRC report summary.

[Jaysen Huculak · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're Canadian you should read this.

This is a relatively short read that is packed with information and perspective on how first nations have been treated. This provides context on the ongoing injustices. Each chapter has an introduction using house guests and their behavior as a metaphor for how newcomers have treated first nations.

I learned so much even in the first chapter; "Indian Givers". It describes the VAST number of things that the indigenous peoples of the Americas have provided the world and yet have not profited from. The fact that the US constitution was influenced heavily by the Iroquois Constitution is fascinating to me. Food, land, water, culture, art, government. All of these things have been shared by and then stolen from them.

After so much help and trade was given, I do wonder at how many things we could have learned from these great cultures. If we support, listen and learn we still can.

[Gary Horst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another important book helping us understand the First Nations experience in what is called Canada.
A few sentences from her concluding chapter:
"My point in all of this is that we do not have these social problems in Aboriginal communities today because we are !Aboriginal. It is because we are human, and we have experienced traumas. I have used Malcolm X's quote many times as a response when people so quickly condemn Aboriginal people for supposed weaknesses. He said, 'I have no respect for a society that will crush a man and then criticize him for not being able to stand up under the weight.'"

[Brenda Benham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most impactful book I have ever read. Combining the author’s personal experiences with the legislative framework was fascinating. I particularly loved the thought provoking questions that opened each section. This should be required reading in every high school and university. I would encourage every Canadian whether school age or not to read this book to understand the perspective of Aboriginal people in Canada.

[Eric Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pedantic and didactic to a fault at times. Awesome personal and historical insights. First half is very basic knowledge of issues and history for anyone well read and experienced in Indigenous history and current affairs. Informative nonetheless overall.

[Yaldaz Sadakova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every non-Aboriginal Canadian should read this. It's a very informative book, and it's written in an accessible way, even though it references a lot of legal details.

[Shainu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great oral history tying in with the Indian Act. So many facts I didn't know and believe should be part of the school curriculum.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone, but especially for any Canadian. It was the perfect book to really introduce you to the entire situation. Starting at the beginning, Sellars explains the relationship with Indigenous people to the land and then the newcomers and all the way to current (at the time of publishing). Its well written and i have to say, I commend her ability to remain compassionate and caring because that's incredibly difficult to do when there's so much righteous rage. Beautifully told, educational, and helpful. This should be required reading in schools.