Askiwina: A Cree World.

J.R. (Jim) Miller is Canada Research Chair of History at the University
of Saskatchewan and the author of Reflections on Native-Newcomer
Relations: Selected Essays and Lethal Legacy: Current Native
Controversies in Canada.

Doug Cuthand, a highly respected Saskatchewan First Nations journalist, produces weekly columns in the province’s largest dailies that comment intelligently on matters in Indian Country. His writing is distinguished by its insight and balance, and his analyses of Native affairs are a vital source of reliable information for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal readers alike. He has collected some of these pieces in Askiwina, Cree for “over the years.”

Cuthand follows the well-known advice, “write what you know.” He deals with issues such as residential schools, political leadership, and problems in First Nations’ post-secondary education. On one occasion he even wrote about the Palestinian drive for a homeland as seen from a First Nations perspective. The effort got his opinions “spiked,” or stifled, by an editor.

The strengths of the collection result from Cuthand’s approach. He writes about what he knows, and in a fair and insightful way. This strength is also a weakness at times, for it limits the apparent relevance of what he is discussing. So, for example, his essays on self-government and treaties are strong on the Prairie aspects of the topics, but unfortunately neglect points from other geographical areas that would have made his analyses even stronger. What Cuthand writes often has much wider significance than he recognizes; it needs to be interpreted in a larger framework.

Cuthand is also noteworthy for his courage. He tackles not just the safe targets, like racism and the Indian Affairs department, but also the ticklish ones, like First Nations political leadership. As he notes, Aboriginal leaders don’t like being criticized any more than other leaders, and they have the power to make life uncomfortable for critics from within their own community. An example in Askiwina is Cuthand’s critique of Saskatchewan’s Indian casinos’ policy of permitting smoking despite a provincial ban. While he understands why First Nations leaders take a stand based on maintaining their self-government rights on reserve land, on which Indian casinos are located, he decries the harm that flows from the policy.

Hats off to Doug Cuthand for not being intimidated into silence. Canada badly needs more informed commentators on both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal issues.