The territory of the Omàmìwinini (Algonquin) peoples of southern Ontario is rich with natural resources. Yet for more than four centuries, the Algonquin have been economically and politically marginalized, while corporate and foreign interests profited from their land. In 2006, one community discovered that 26,000 acres had been staked for uranium exploration-land they never surrendered to the Crown through any treaty or negotiations. Facing a development process that included no consultation nor environmental assessment the Algonquin people began working with a broad-based coalition to oppose the project. The government and the exploration company have never provided scientific or scholarly evidence that the uranium project is safe. The community began telling its side of the story and conducting its own research--some of which you are holding in your hands.

Dr. Paula Sherman is Omàmìwinini and Family Head on Ka-Pishkawandemin, the traditional Council from Ardoch. She is also an assistant professor in Indigenous Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.

Paula Sherman's profile page

Leanne Simpson is a researcher, writer, and educator of Mississauga and Scottish ancestry. She is a member of the gidigaa bzhiw dodem and a citizen of the Nishnaabeg nation. Leanne holds a PhD from the University of Manitoba and is the past director of Indigenous Environmental Studies at Trent University. Her research interests include Indigenist theory and methodology, Indigenous political cultures and traditional governance, Nishnaabeg women, Indigenous Knowledge, and Indigenous philosophies on land and the environment. Leanne currently teaches at the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledgeat Athabasca University and has previously taught at Trent University, the University of Victoria, the University of Manitoba, and Tampere University in Finland.

Leanne Simpson's profile page

Sherman's Dishonour The Crown is an impassioned description of one community's unfinished battle. It is also an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the nuclear component of Ontario's new Green Energy Act and should be read by anyone with an investment in our shared future.