I wasn't sure I needed to read this book. While I'm not a student of Canadian history, I was pretty sure that I was already familiar with at least some of the most egregious parts of the Indian Act: things like residential schools, the pass system that confined Indigenous peoples to reservations unless they had written permission to leave, legal provisions that stripped "Indian" status from women who married non-Indigenous men, suppression of vital cultural practices like the Potlatch and the Sun Dance, and the paternalistic administration of reservation lands. In short, maybe "I knew this stuff" and there might be better books for me to read about the experiences of First Nations peoples in Canada?
But you don't know what you don't know. I decided to read it anyway.
I did learn some important things. For example, context. In the 18th Century and before, "Canadian" governments saw First Nations....as Nations. For all their inadequacies, treaties were genuinely viewed as treaties in the same sense as international treaties are today. The Indian Act crystallized a changed understanding. In the eyes of the Canadian government,"Indians" became wards of the state, dependents, problems to be managed, and peoples to be assimilated.
More context: despite the fact that Act-imposed "Band Councils" are democratically elected, their powers are limited in scope, prescribed by the federal government, and emasculated by having extremely short terms of office -- one or two years -- limiting Councils' ability to plan and act.
And yet more bitter history: forced "enfranchisement" stripped "Indian" status from any First Nations person who had the temerity to pursue a legal career or become a clergyman....in other words, the Indian Act declared that anyone who attempted to gain a position of power or respect within white society ceased to be an Indian.
Yeah. Sit with that for a minute before moving on.
There is a lot more to digest, of course, in the pages of this book. But overall, 21 Things is a "beginner book" on Canadian - First Nations history, and it only offers a brief introduction to the issues it discusses. For example, Harold Johnson's book has a different understanding of the history of prohibition of alcohol on reserves, and a different perspective on alcohol and its place in White and First Nations communities. 21 Things will not inform you about these differences, or offer insights into the complexities of this or any other issue. That's not what this book has set out to do.
Instead, the goal of 21 Things is to open eyes, raise issues, and challenge assumptions by giving an overview of the impact of the Indian Act on First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities who live within the borders of what is now Canada. Most of us settlers will learn something by reading it. Most of us should probably go on to learn more after we do.
