“A great many people in North America believe that Canada and the United States, in a moment of inexplicable generosity, gave treaty rights to Native people as a gift. Of course, anyone familiar with the history of Indians in North America knows that Native people paid for every treaty right, and in some cases, paid more than once. The idea that either country gave First Nations something for free is horseshit.
”
Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America
ABM Uncensored Reading List
Non Fiction
Rez Rules: My Indictment of Canada’s and America’s Systemic Racism Against Indigenous People by Chief Clarence Louie
A common-sense blueprint for what the future of First Nations should look like as told through the fascinating life and legacy of a remarkable leader.
Making Native Space by Cole Harris
Written by a Canadian geographer, this book details the chaotic and baleful inception of the reserve system in BC. It’s exceedingly interesting, but also quite academic. However, everyone should read the very last chapter, “Towards a Postcolonial Land Policy”.
The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People In North America by Thomas King
A must-read for anyone living in North America. Thomas King is hilarious and fantastically on-the-nose.
No Surrender: The Land Remains Indigenous by Sheldon Krasowski
A detailed account of the negotiations that preceded the Numbered Treaties. This book was written in direct response to other accounts of these same events which portray Indigenous people as unintelligent savages who couldn’t understand the concept of land ownership. Krasowski challenges this notion with his own fact-based interpretations, which instead suggest that the Indigenous leaders were blatantly deceived. Sheldon explains it better than we do. We recommend it primarily because it does a great job of dismantling the stereotype that Indigenous communities are hindered by overly significant “cultural differences”.
Makúk - A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations by John Sutton Lutz
A must-read for EVERYBODY who does business or works with Indigenous people. A comprehensive argument concerning the true causes of unemployment and “welfare dependency” in Indigenous communities.
Written As I Remember It by Elsie Paul with Paige Raibmon and Harmony Johnson
Tla’amin Elder Elsie Paul’s book is in part transcribed from voice recordings of conversations with Elsie in which she discusses Tla’amin stories, legends and ideological teachings.
Fiction
Grey Eyes by Frank Busch
This book is an epic piece of fiction with an exclusively Indigenous cast of characters and a plot that has nothing to do with the legacy of colonial trauma. A must-read for everyone, but especially for Indigenous youth.