In the Rapids: Navigating the Future of First Nations

John Stanley is a policy advisor at the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and
Universities.

This book offers little depth or insight in its discussions of such
issues as treaties, the Indian Act, self-government, and the
Charlottetown Accord. Most of Mercredi’s writings appear to be a Cree
version of the bland musings of a politician who was there when events
took place but didn’t really make things happen. There is much
populist rhetoric of the “as I travel across the Great Land” kind.
The solutions Mercredi proposes for key issues are typically platitudes
that even the Department of Indian Affairs would agree to in principle.
And the book comes with Joe Clark’s seal of approval, an endorsement
none of Mercredi’s more radical and effective predecessors—George
Manuel or George Erasmus—would have earned (or wanted).

In the Rapids will appeal to non-Natives who were made nervous by Oka,
but who are generally sympathetic to First Nations causes.