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Social Science Native American Studies

The Quest for Justice

Aboriginal Peoples and Aboriginal Rights

edited by Menno Boldt & J. Anthony Long

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Dec 1985
Category
Native American Studies, Human Rights, Native American
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802065896
    Publish Date
    Oct 1985
    List Price
    $34.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442657830
    Publish Date
    Dec 1985
    List Price
    $35.95

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Description

This collection of many voices develops more deeply and exhaustively the issues raised in the editors’ earlier volume, Pathways to Self-Determination. It contains some twenty-three papers from representatives of the aboriginal people’s organizations, of governments, and of a variety of academic disciplines, along with introductions and an epilogue by the editors and appendices of the key constitutional documents from 1763.

The contributors represent a broad cross-section of tribal, geographic, and organizational perspectives. They discuss constitutional questions such as land rights, the concerns of Metis, non-status Indians, and Inuit; and native rights in broad contexts – historical, legal/constitutional, political, regional, and international.

The issue of aboriginal rights and of what these rights mean in terms of land and sovereignty has become increasingly important on the Canadian political agenda. The constitutional conferences between government and aboriginal peoples have revealed the gulf between what each side means by aboriginal rights: for the Indians these rights are meaningless without sovereign self-government, an idea the federal and provincial governments are not willing to entertain. Somewhere in the middle lies the concept of nationhood status.

Ultimately, the aboriginal peoples are asking for justice from the dominant society around them; if it is denied or felt to be denied, the editors conclude, the consequences for the Canadian self-concept would be costly and debilitating. The twenty-four contributors provide a find guide to this profound and complex problem, whose solution depends on our understanding and our political wisdom.

About the authors

Menno Boldt is a professor emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge.

Menno Boldt's profile page

J. Anthony Long is Professor of Political Science at the University of Lethbridge.

J. Anthony Long's profile page