Western Canadian Native Destiny
Western Canadian Native Destiny:
Complex Questions on the Cultural Maze
John W. Friesen and Virginia Lyons Friesen
The First Nations of Canada have survived many cultural
onslaughts since European contact. However, they still face a myriad of
socioeconomic, educational, and legal challenges if they are to experience
socioeconomic success in the twenty-first century.
Western Canadian Native Destiny examines a series of watershed
issues that remain on the order paper for Canada's Aboriginal people.
It is important for all Canadians, Aboriginal and nonAboriginal, to understand
these isues if they are to lend support to the First People's quest for
justice and equality in this prosperous nation.
Headlining the list of unresolved matters is the public's lack of understanding
of Indigenous knowledge and spirituality, which form the basis of First
Nations needs and demands. This discussion is followed by examining Native
urban migrations, health, education and welfare needs, residential school
aftermath, cultural identity and Indian self-image, language maintenance,
role of women, status of Aboriginal art, function of Aboriginal leadership,
land claims, economic development, the challenge of Aboriginal self-government,
and the quest for social justice.
Contents:
1. Putting Things Into Perspective
2. The Evolution of Aboriginal Social Status
3. Cataloguing Indigenous Knowledge and Spirituality:
The Pedagogical Dimension
4. The Challenge of Urban Adjustment
5. In Pursuit of Quality Health, Education, and Welfare
Services
6. It Wasn't All Bad: A Different Perspective on Residential
Schools From Those Who Know
7. The Challenge of Cultural Identity and Positive Self-Image
8. Storytelling as a Means of Language Maintenance: Ten
Dynamic Truths
9. Role of Women in Plains First Nations Societies
10. Perceptions of Aboriginal Art: The Struggle for Recognition
11. The Changing Role of Aboriginal Leadership
12. Land Claims: A Perpetual Challenge
13. The Challenge of Economic Development
14. The Challenge of Aboriginal Self-Government
15. The Quest for Justice
Bibliography
Index
978-1-55059-355-6, 2008, 7¼x9, pb., 292 pg. $29.95
