Aboriginal Peoples: Toward Self-Government

Ronald N. Harpelle is an assistant professor of history at the
University of Manitoba.

This book is about the struggle for autonomy and recognition of
indigenous peoples in Nicaragua, Columbia, Panama, and Brazil. Its blend
of articles on Native groups in different legal, social, and cultural
situations offer detailed discussions of the issues confronting
indigenous peoples in each country and examine the possibilities for the
creation of self-government. The only real problem with the book is that
the reader is left to make comparisons between the various case studies
and no serious attempt is made to draw parallels with the situation in
Canada. This is unfortunate given that aboriginal peoples in Canada have
so much experience with the struggle for self-government and their
voices should be heard by researchers in other fields. Nevertheless,
Aboriginal Peoples is a valuable contribution to the field of
comparative Native studies; it offers readers a framework for comparison
and lends itself to the ongoing discussion of Native rights in the
Americas.