Countering colonial ideas about Indigenous peoples being frozen in time and without a future, this provocative book explores the ways in which members of the Haida Nation are shaping myriad possible futures to address the dilemmas that come with life under settler colonialism.
Description
Too often Indigenous peoples have been portrayed as being without a future, destined either to disappear or assimilate into settler society. This book asserts quite the opposite: Indigenous peoples are not in any sense “out of time” in our contemporary world. Shaping the Future on Haida Gwaii shows how Indigenous peoples in Canada not only continue to have a future, but are at work building many different futures – for themselves and for their non-Indigenous neighbours. Through the experiences of the Haida First Nation, this book explores these possible futures in detail, demonstrating how Haida ways of thinking about time, mobility, and political leadership are at the heart of contemporary strategies for addressing the dilemmas that come with life under settler colonialism.
Reviews
[Shaping the Future] is a thought-provoking read, offering many important table-turning insights relevant to reconciliation and understanding any society’s resiliency through times of economic, political, and environmental uncertainties.
- Gillian Crowther
Weiss’s respect and relationships with the residents of Gaw and his commitment to ethical, reciprocal, and meaningful research comes through in this intriguing book.
- Molly Clarkson, Haida Gwaii resident