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Social Science Native American Studies

The Indian Association of Alberta

A History of Political Action

by (author) Laurie Meijer Drees

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Jan 2003
Category
Native American Studies, Political Advocacy
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774808774
    Publish Date
    Jan 2003
    List Price
    $34.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774808767
    Publish Date
    May 2002
    List Price
    $95.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774850216
    Publish Date
    Oct 2007
    List Price
    $125.00

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Description

The history of indigenous political action in Canada is long, hard-fought, and under-told. By the mid-1900s, Native peoples across western Canada were actively involved in their own political unions in a drive to be heard outside their own, often isolated, reserve communities. In Alberta, the Indian Association of Alberta (IAA) represented the interests of Alberta's reserve communities.

 

Perhaps best known for its role in spearheading the protest against the 1969 White Paper produced by the Department of Indian Affairs, the IAA, founded in 1939, allowed Native peoples access to politics at the provincial level. Its rich history reveals much about First Nations' perspectives on the place of Indian peoples in Canada before the emergence of civil rights movements and large-scale federal funding of Native organizations.

 

This book, which outlines the significance of treaty rights discussions before their constitutional entrenchment and documents the political philosophies of First Nations leaders in the prairie provinces, will be welcomed by those with an interest in Native studies, political science, and Canadian history.

About the author

Laurie Meijer Drees is Co-Chair of the First Nations Studies Department at Vancouver Island University. She lives in Ladysmith, British Columbia.

Laurie Meijer Drees' profile page

Editorial Reviews

Drees’s work shines as an historical study shedding light on evolving and current conditions ... The Indian Association of Alberta is an important and useful contribution to the study of the history and development of Native political organizations in Canada.

Great Plains Quarterly, Winter 2003