Red Pheasant Cree Nation

Revisiting the political activism of WIC Wuttunee

William (Bill) Wuttunee was a trailblazing lawyer, a courageous native rights activist; and one of the architects of the process for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His 1971 book, Ruffled Feathers: Indians in Canadian Society, decried conditions on reserves and pressed for integration-on Indigenous peoples' own terms-supporting many of the aims of the Trudeau government's 1969 "White Paper." Though controversial at the time, Wuttunee's arguments were rooted in a foundational belief in the strengths of his people and a steadfast rejection of victimhood. In the fifty years that have followed its publication, Ruffled Feathers has been largely forgotten, though ideas that Wuttunee put forth-ending the Indian Act and the reserve system-continue to find space within contemporary Canadian political discourse.

In this volume, editor Wanda Wuttunee gathers a diverse cohort of scholars to engage with her father's ideas and offer their own perspectives on the opportunities and challenges facing Indigenous peoples in Canada, then and now. Favouring discourse over conclusions, Still Ruffling Feathers leads the reader to a nuanced understanding of the ongoing conversations and unresolved issues stemming from the Indian Act and invites us to envision miyo-pimâtisiwin, "the good life."

Reviews"
"Still Ruffling Feathers explores an important area of modern history on Indigenous leadership. The thoughts and ideas expressed by William Wuttunee still have resonance today." - Dr. Brian Caillou, University of Calgary

Educator Information
Table of Contents

Brotherhood by William I.C. Wuttunee

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Introduction by Wakchan (Wanda Wuttunee), Red Pheasant Cree Nation, Saskatchewan

Chapter 1. Reflections on a Legacy--An Eagle Eye Perspective by Wakchan (Wanda Wuttunee), Red Pheasant Cree Nation, Saskatchewan

Chapter 2. Still Ruffling Feathers Too--More than 50 Years Later by Makookins (Xakiji (Chief) Lee Crowchild), Tsuut'ina Nation, Alberta

Chapter 3. William Wuttunee--Ruffling Feathers in "Indian" Time and Space by Thohahoken (Michael Doxtater), Mohawk Turtle Clan Family of Satekariwate, Ontario

Chapter 4. Learning to Straighten Our Ruffled Feathers: An Education by Askîy Pihêsiw (Robert Falcon Ouelette), Red Pheasant Cree Nation, Saskatchewan

Chapter 5. Ruffled Feathers: A Critical Assessment by Bush Doctor (Peter Kulchyski), Bissett, Manitoba

Chapter 6. Final Thoughts--Debating Our Future, Coming to One Mind by David Newhouse, Onandaga, Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario.

Appendix A: Excerpts from Ruffled Feathers (1971) by William I.C. Wuttunee

Appendix B. Selected Poetry of William I. C. Wuttunee

Appendix C. Discussion Questions Bibliography

Additional Information
204 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback 

A testimony to Indigenous resilience in business.

Despite investments in nation building, self-autonomy, and cultural resurgence, Indigenous economic development has remained an underexplored and underestimated area of research. Engraved on Our Nations overturns the discouraging deficit perspective too common in policy and academia and amplifies the largely undocumented history of successful Indigenous economic activity in Canada.

Following David Newhouse’s overview of Indigenous economic history, the authors of this collection illustrate how First Nation and Métis individuals and communities have met and overcome an array of challenges. Case studies focus on First Nations from Membertou (Nova Scotia) to Tahltan (British Columbia) and Indigenous-led enterprises like McDonald Brothers Electric (Northwest Territories) and Neechi Commons (Manitoba). Simultaneously celebrating Indigenous entrepreneurs and exploring concerns around sustainable development, the book also asks: can capitalism be Indigenized?

This first-of-its-kind collection shares stories not only of entrepreneurial excellence and persistence but savvy leadership, innovation, and reciprocity. In doing so, Engraved on Our Nations provides hope to Indigenous business leaders, youth, and elected officials working on the front lines to improve economic conditions and achieve "a good life" for their communities.

Reviews
“There are few books that can compare to this. The strengths-based approach used by each author is refreshing and will be of service to First Nations communities and to Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars in community economic development.” — Shelley T. Price

“Engraved on Our Nations clearly articulates the strength, courage, and foresight of Indigenous people. The uplifting stories within this volume will open the eyes of readers and elicit hope, inspiration, and pride.” — Bob Kayseas

Educator Information

Table of Contents
Preface: Exploring Indigenous Economic Tenacity in Canada – Wanda Wuttunee and Fred Wien

Introduction: Indigenous Economic History as the History of Tenacity – David Newhouse

Part One: Strategic Leadership

1. How Does First Nation Social and Economic Development Contribute to the Surrounding Region? A Case Study of Membertou – Mary Beth Doucette and Fred Wien

2. Incremental Planning: The Tsawwassen First Nation Experience – Daniel M. Millette

3. Fulfilling Treaty Promises: Treaty Land Entitlement and Urban Reserves in Saskatchewan – Charlotte Bezamat-Mantes

Part Two: Culturally on Point

4. Trading on Tradition: Innovative Indigenous Enterprise – Isobel M. Findlay

5. Capitalism: Can It Be Indigenized? – Clifford Gordon Atleo

6. Challenges and Opportunities for BC First Nations’ Economic Self-Determination – J. Sayers

Part Three: Family Connections

7. Honouring Entrepreneurial Resilience: Atlantic Region Lifetime Achievers – Chris Googoo, Catherine Martin, and Fred Wien

8. A Métis Light in the Northern Darkness—Case Study – Wanda Wuttunee

9. Neechi Commons Case Study: A Lost Love Letter to Winnipeg – Wanda Wuttunee

Part Four: Partnering for Success

10. Tahltan Economic Tenacity—From Affluence to Poverty to Affluence – Jerry Asp

11. Stronger Together: First Nation Community/Municipality Collaborations – Wanda Wuttunee

Conclusion: What Did We Learn About Indigenous Tenacity? Fred Wien and Wanda Wuttunee

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Index

Additional Information
304 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Index, Bibliography | Paperback

Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships explains settler colonialism through the lens of economic exploitation, using Indigenous methodologies and critical approaches. What is the relationship between economic progress in the land now called Canada and the exploitation of Indigenous peoples? And what gifts embedded within Indigenous world views speak to miyo‐pimâtisiwin ᒥᔪ ᐱᒫᑎᓯᐃᐧᐣ (the good life), and specifically to good economic relations?

Shalene Wuttunee Jobin draws on the knowledge systems of the nehiyawak ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐊᐧᐠ (Cree people) – whose distinctive principles and practices shape their economic behaviour – to make two central arguments. The first is that economic exploitation was the initial and most enduring relationship between newcomers and Indigenous peoples. The second is that Indigenous economic relationships are constitutive: connections to the land, water, and other human and nonhuman beings form who we are as individuals and as peoples. This groundbreaking study employs Cree narratives that draw from the past and move into the present to reveal previously overlooked Indigenous economic theories and relationships, and provides contemporary examples of nehiyawak renewing these relationships in resurgent ways. In the process, Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships offers tools that enable us to reimagine how we can aspire to the good life with all our relations.

This study will interest not only scholars and students of Indigenous studies, particularly Cree studies, but also Indigenous community members involved in community and economic development, planning, and governance.

Reviews

"Beautifully written, Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships is crucially important as a comprehensive exploration of Cree economic values told through story and oral history." - Glen Coulthard, author of Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition

"Shalene Jobin’s refreshing perspective on a prairie First Nations community is a desperately needed contribution to Indigenous studies as well as history, anthropology, and Canadian studies." -Priscilla Settee, professor, Indigenous Studies, University of Saskatchewan

Educator Information
Table of Contents
Preface
1 Grounding Methods
2 Grounding Economic Relationships
3 nehiyawak Peoplehood and Relationality
4 Canada’s Genesis Story
5 ᐃᐧᐦᑎᑯᐤ Warnings of Insatiable Greed
6 Indigenous Women’s Lands and Bodies
7 Theorizing Cree Economic and Governing Relationships
8 Colonial Dissonance
9 Principles Guiding Cree Economic Relationships
10 Renewed Relationships through Resurgent Practices
11 Upholding Relations
Postscript
Glossary of Cree Terms
Notes; References; Index

Additional Information
272 pages | 6 x 9" | Paperback

Putting Gerald Stanley's acquittal for killing Colten Boushie in the context of Canada's colonial and systemic discrimination against Indigenous peoples.

In August 2016 Colten Boushie, a twenty-two-year-old Cree man from Red Pheasant First Nation, was fatally shot on a Saskatchewan farm by white farmer Gerald Stanley. In a trial that bitterly divided Canadians, Stanley was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter by a jury in Battleford with no visible Indigenous representation.

In Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice Kent Roach critically reconstructs the Gerald Stanley/Colten Boushie case to examine how it may be a miscarriage of justice. Roach provides historical, legal, political, and sociological background to the case including misunderstandings over crime when Treaty 6 was negotiated, the 1885 hanging of eight Indigenous men at Fort Battleford, the role of the RCMP, prior litigation over Indigenous underrepresentation on juries, and the racially charged debate about defence of property, self-defence, guns, and rural crime. Drawing on both trial transcripts and research on miscarriages of justice, Roach looks at jury selection, the controversial "hang fire" defence, how the credibility and beliefs of Indigenous witnesses were challenged on the stand, and Gerald Stanley's implicit appeals to self-defence and defence of property, as well as the decision not to appeal the acquittal. Concluding his study, Roach asks whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's controversial call to "do better" is possible, given similar cases since Stanley's, the difficulty of reforming the jury or the RCMP, and the combination of Indigenous underrepresentation on juries and overrepresentation among those victimized and accused of crimes.

Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice is a searing account of one case that provides valuable insight into criminal justice, racism, and the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Reviews
"In a meticulously researched and documented analysis of the trial of Gerald Stanley for the killing of Boushie in 2016, Roach exposes a whole system designed to maintain inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians." - The Tyee

"This was a book that needed to be written. Roach, despite various reasons to be pessimistic about the future, offers practical suggestions on how the situation of Canadian justice and Indigenous injustice can be improved. But he admits himself that even these suggestions do not go far enough in rectifying the situation; this instead will take a wholescale shift in Canadian norms and values, not just in the judicial system. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to readers, both expert and general."  - British Journal of Canadian Studies

Additional Information
336 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback