The Politics of Indianness

Case Studies of Native Ethnopolitics in Canada

Edited by Adrian Tanner
Categories: Indigenous Studies
Series: Social and Economic Papers
Publisher: ISER Books
Paperback : 9780919666429, 333 pages, January 1983

Description

Most aboriginal groups find themselves marginalized by the political institutions of modern industrial states. With their claims to ancestral homelands and nationhood, they face a situation significantly different from that of other ethnic communities or special interest groups. This volume looks at the characteristics of Canadian Indian politics during the turbulent 1970s by focusing on in-depth case studies of politics at the regional and local level.

These essays, each a self-contained study from a different region of the country, together constitute a cross-section of the reality of political marginality, and provide an account of the emerging forms of political activity that Indians are using to try to change their situation. The book includes an historical overview of the colonial legacy of native administration, and shows how this archaic structure continues to influence the political relationship between Indians and the government.