Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call

by Arthur Manuel

Overview

As the son of George Manuel, who served as president of the National Indian Brotherhood and founded the World Council of Indigenous Peoples in the 1970s, Arthur Manuel was born into the struggle. From his unique and personal perspective, as a Secwepemc leader and an Indigenous activist who has played a prominent role on the international stage, Arthur Manuel describes the victories and failures, the hopes and the fears of a generation of activists fighting for Aboriginal title and rights in Canada. Unsettling Canada chronicles the modern struggle for Indigenous rights covering fifty years of struggle over a wide range of historical, national, and recent international breakthroughs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771131766
Publisher:	Between the Lines
Publication date:	04/30/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Arthur Manuel has participated in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since its inception in 2002. Since 2003, he has served as spokesperson for the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade (INET). Working through INET, Manuel succeeded in having the struggle for Aboriginal title and treaty rights injected into international financial institutions, setting important precedents for Aboriginal title and rights in Canada.Manuel is a member of the board of directors of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development and a spokesperson for the Defenders of the Land, an activist network aligned with the Idle No More movement.

Table of Contents

Foreword Naomi Klein ix

Acknowledgements xi

1 The Lay of the Land 1

2 Institutionalizing a People: Indian School, Indian Jail 13

3 White Paper to Red Paper: Drawing the Battle Lines 29

4 Occupy Indian Affairs: Native Youth in Action 37

5 Aboriginal Title: No Surrender 51

6 The Constitution Express: A Grassroots Movement 65

7 Don't Let Them Bully You: A Business Interlude 77

8 A Chiefs Concerns: Finances, the People, and the Land 93

9 Upping the Ante: RCAP and a Landmark Court Decision 107

10 The Battle in the Forest: The Trade in Indian Trees 125

11 Sun Peaks to Geneva: Playgrounds and Fortresses 137

12 Taking It to the Bank: Accounting for Unpaid Debt 155

13 The Fourth World: A Global Movement 167

14 Line of Defence: Side by Side for Mother Earth 179

15 No Half Measures: The Price of Uncertainty 195

16 Days of Protest: Young Activists Come Together 209

17 The End of Colonialism 223

Afterword Grand Chief Ronald M. Derrickson 229

Appendix: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 235

Notes 251

Index 255

Editorial Reviews

"This is the back story of both grassroots and backroom struggles that created the context in which we find ourselves today, one in which a new generation of First Nations leaders is demanding sovereignty and self-determination, and more and more non-Indigenous Canadians finally understand that huge swaths of this country we call Canada is not ours-or our government's to sell."

from the Foreword - Naomi Klein