The Cultural Maze: Complex Questions on Native Destiny in Western Canada

Kerry Abel is a professor of history at Carleton University. She is the author of Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History, co-editor of Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects, and co-editor of Northern Visions: New Perspectives on the North in Canadian History.

In this collection of 15 essays, a number of Alberta educators (both
Native and non-Native) explore a range of questions relating to the
position of Native peoples in contemporary Canadian society. There is no
clear thematic unity to the collection, although questions of culture
and cultural retention form a major part of the volume.

Because the book is intended as an introduction to the subject, the
editor has attempted to provide both historical background and general
overviews of contemporary issues such as land claims and cultural
revitalization. Unfortunately, there are many errors of fact and a
number of curious generalizations that severely limit the utility of
some of these essays. The errors range from minor (Georges Erasmus’s
name is misspelled throughout) to more significant (e.g., the Six
Nations Confederacy developed after the War of 1812; Canada’s first
Indian legislation was passed in 1884). Some of the essays are vague and
rambling, making it difficult to grasp their intent.

Other essays are more useful. Writing on Métis claims in Manitoba,
Thomas Flanagan deftly summarizes the argument he has made at greater
length in a recent book, while Hugh Dempsey contributes an interesting
personal piece in which he suggests that a loss of pride is the most
important problem facing Native people in Canada today. In a pair of
essays, Cree educator Joseph Couture attempts to explain religion and
worldview in the language of social science; he certainly succeeds in
producing the jargon, which is unfortunate because good ideas are
potentially lost on the general reader.

In sum, while this book does contain some interesting reading, there
are better and more useful introductions to the topic.