Why We Should Read
In this compelling collection of essays, Governor General’s Literary Award-winning Cree author, poet, and lawyer Michelle Good confronts many of the topics which have been contentious in the national conversation about reconciliation between the Indigenous peoples and settlers in Canada. Despite their brevity, each chapter presents an issue cogently, supported with data both historical and contemporary.
Throughout the book Good discusses such wide-ranging isues as the emergence of Indigenous literature, structural racism, and the growing number of “pretendians.” She weaves them together with the unifying idea that “… non-Indigenous Canadians tend to view the implementation of the TRC as a charitable act instead of seeing it as the righting of a massive historical wrongdoing.”
In one particularly personal essay, Good describes her experience of years spent in the child welfare system after being one of the thousands of Indigenous children removed from their parents in the Sixties Scoop. She calculated that the compensation she received as a result of class action lawsuits filed against the government amounted to a paltry $13.69 for every day she suffered the neglect and abuse of an uncaring system. Contrasting this with much larger settlements typically received by non-Indigenous plaintiffs in lawsuits, Good argues convincingly that this is but one example of the structural racism tainting Canada’s relations with Indigenous people.
Discussing perhaps the most sensitive issue of all, the restoration to Indigenous peoples of political and economic sovereignty over their ancestral lands, Good begins by confronting the basic fear of many Canadians saying, “no, we don’t want your cottage.” Pointing out that only eleven percent of the Canadian landmass is privately owned, Good argues that fair and equitable land settlements can be made using only lands held by the Crown.
This is a book which you will find rewarding whether you are new to or already acquainted with the ideas presented. You may well go away thinking about things differently and, more importantly, motivated to act.
Submitted by David & Ranji, on behalf of the WBFC
The Warmland Book & Film Collective – a response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – next meets online November 8 to discuss Valley of the Birdtail by Andrew Stobo Sniderman & Douglas Sanderson. Books available through VIRL. Email WarmlandBFC@gmail.com for zoom link.