First Nations, First Thoughts: The Impact of Indigenous Thought in Canada

by Annis May Timpson (Editor)

Countless books and articles have traced the impact of colonialism and public policy on Canada’s First Nations, but few have explored the impact of Aboriginal thought on public discourse and policy development in Canada. First Nations, First Thoughts brings together Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal scholars who cut through the prevailing orthodoxy to reveal Indigenous thinkers and activists as a pervasive presence in diverse political, constitutional, and cultural debates and arenas, including urban spaces, historical texts, public policy, and cultural heritage preservation. This innovative, thought-provoking collection contributes to the decolonization process by encouraging us to imagine a stronger, fairer Canada in which Aboriginal self-government and expression can be fully realized.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this anthology to be very useful, because many of the authors discuss not only issues such as notions of copyright and ownership of oral histories and storytelling, to museum work with displays of traditional Indigenous clothing and other significant objects and the history of how, for too many years, yt archivists and people in museum and other institutions have had an attitude of "We know better than you" rather than trying to figure out how to be in community with Indigenous groups across Canada--a settler colonial approach which has caused, and in many cases for those who continue to perpetuate it, is still causing harms against Indigenous people and eroding trust. There's one case study of the McCord Museum which I found interesting and balanced.

There were also discussions in this book about how Indigenous people who sought out post-secondary education were, for many years and too long, penalized by the Canadian government for doing so, and had all their status removed as well as other punitive measures that are exceedingly unfair. This contributed to a dearth in the amount of Indigenous scholars doing Indigenous scholarship particularly at the graduate level, and it was done like that by the yt power structures in place, on purpose. It was and is cruel, unacceptable, and I am angry that I did not know.

Other chapters also highlight the importance of how teaching Indigenous issues has had an impact on Indigenous instructors, and that even though the majority of yt students from European backgrounds they have in their classes think that they are showing how much they have learned and bringing up horrendous slurs or stereotypes in doing so, that is not helpful at all and often harms the instructor as well as any other Indigenous people present.

Overall, this was a very educational book that highlighted many issues about Indigenous thought in Canada that I was previously unaware of.