I was invited to give two short sessions on the politics of voice and decolonization last week to the folks at Fort Edmonton Park. Considering they ran from 8:30-9:30am (which is really early to talk about such heavy topics), the participants were incredibly enthusiastic and engaged. I really enjoyed our discussions and I know we only scratched the surface. At their request, here is a starter reading list on the topic. Warning: some of them are pretty academic (life hack: you can get a lot just by reading the intros)! Please feel free to suggest more great books for Canada and beyond in the comments section!
- Daniel Francis, The Imaginary Indian and National Dreams
- Dwayne Donald, Edmonton Pentimento: Re-Reading History in the Case of the Papaschase Cree
- Claudio Saunt, Black, white, and Indian: Race and the Unmaking of an American Family
- Victoria Freeman, Distant Relations: How My Ancestors Colonized North America
- Alexandra Harmon, Indians in the Making: Ethnic Relations and Indian Identities around Puget Sound
- Paige Raibmon, Authentic Indians: Episodes of Encounter from the Late-nineteenth-century Northwest Coast
- Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples
- Philip Deloria, Indians in Unexpected Places
- Kathleen Jamieson: Indian women and the law in Canada: Citizens Minus
- Bonita Lawrence, “Real” Indians and Others: Mixed-Blood Urban Native Peoples and Indigenous Nationhood
- Taiaiake Alfred, Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto
- Eva Garroutte, Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America
- Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe
I also think fiction can be as useful and powerful as nonfiction; here are a few writers (and titles) on my to-read list in both genres:
- Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian
- Lee Maracle
- Joseph Boyden
And don’t forget the awesome radio interviews out there!
- Shelagh Roger’s – “Five unforgettable conversations with Aboriginal authors”
- Michael Enright’s – “Truth and Reconciliation: What’s Next?”
*thanks to Paige Raibmon and Joy Dixon for introducing me to many of these works during my time in UBC’s History Department