"Covering topics such as the Indian Act, the High Arctic relocation of 1953, and the conflict at Ipperwash, Keith D. Smith draws on a diverse selection of documents including letters, testimonies, speeches, transcripts, newspaper articles, and government records. In his thoughtful introduction, Smith provides guidance on the unique challenges of dealing with Indigenous primary sources by highlighting the critical skill of "reading against the grain." Each chapter includes an introduction and a list of discussion questions, and helpful background information is provided for each of the readings. Organized thematically into fifteen chapters, the reader also contains a list of key figures, along with maps and images."--pub. desc.

Chapter 1 "in a state of tutelage": The Indian Act of 1876 -- 1.1 House of Commons Debates on the proposed Indian Act, 1876 -- 1.2 The Indian Act of 1876 -- 1.3 Letter from George Buck and thirty two other Six Nations Chiefs, 1876 -- Chapter 2 "no more fighting between anyone": The numbered treaties -- 2.1 Area of Treaty 7 and the traditional territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy -- 2.2 Boundaries of the numbered treaties -- 2.3 Treaty 7, 1877 -- 2.4 Report of Lt. Governor and Special Indian Commissioner David Laird, 1877 -- 2.5 Letter from Father Constantine Scollen, 1879 -- 2.6 Interview with Cecile Many Guns (Grassy Water), 1973 -- 2.7 Interview with Mrs. Annie Buffalo (Sitting Up High), 1975 -- Chapter 3 "Then go, and strike for liberty and life": The 1885 Resistance in the North-West -- 3.1 Riel's Case, 1885 -- 3.2 Report of Superintendent of Indian Affairs, John A. Macdonald, 1885 -- 3.3 Report of North West Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner L.N.F. Crozier, 1885 -- 3.4 The Account of Gabriel Dumont, 1888 (1949) -- 3.5 The Recommendations of Assistant Indian Commissioner Hayter Reed, 1885 -- 3.6 Address Presented to Chief Crowfoot from the Council of the Corporation of the City of Ottawa, 1886 -- 3.7 The Poetic Interpretation of Pauline Johnson, 1885 -- Chapter 4 "for the general good": Restricting Movement and Cultural Practice -- Section 4a: The Pass System -- 4a.1 Letter from Robert Sinclair to Edgar Dewdney, 1892 -- 4a.2 Letter from Hayter Reed to Edgar Dewdney, 1885 -- 4a.3 Letter from A.E. Forget to Blackfoot Indian Agent, 1889 -- 4a.4 Extract from NWMP Superintendent Steel's monthly report, June 1890 -- 4a.5 "The Mounted Police and the Sarcees", Calgary Herald, 8 June 1892 -- 4a.6 Letter from Fred White to L. Vankoughnet, 1893 -- 4a.7 Letter from Hayter Reed to the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, 1893 -- 4a.8 Chief Dan Kennedy, Recollections of an Assiniboine Chief, 1972 -- Section 4b: Restricting the Potlatch -- 4b.1 Legislation Restricting Indigenous Ceremonies,1884-1933 -- 4b.1a Indian Act Amendment, 1884 -- 4b.1b Indian Act Amendment, 1895 -- 4b.1c Indian Act Amendment, 1914 -- 4b.1d Indian Act Amendment, 1933 -- 4b.2 Thomas Crosby, Among the An-Ko-me-nums, 1907 -- 4b.3 W.M. Halliday, Potlatch and Totem,1935 -- 4b.4 "A Plea for potlatches", 1896 -- 4b.5 Assu of Cape Mudge, 1989. Chapter 5 "Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic": Assimilation and Organized Resistance -- Section 5a: Assimilation -- 5a.1 Duncan Campbell Scott, "Onondaga Madonna", 1898 -- 5a.2 Duncan Campbell Scott, "Half-Breed Girl, 1906 -- 5a.3 Evidence of D.C. Scott on the Indian Act amendments of 1920 -- 5a.4 Memorandum of the Six Nations et al. on the Indian Act amendments of 1920 -- 5a.5 Amendment to the Indian Act, 1920 -- Section 5b: Organized Relations -- 5b.1 Letter from F.O. Loft to Chiefs and Brethren, 1919 -- 5b.2 Letter from J.P. Wright to D.C. Scott, 1919 -- 5b.3 Letter from D.C. Scott to J.P. Wright, 1919 -- 5b.4 Statement of the Allied Indian Tribes of British Columbia, 1919 -- 5b.5 Deskaheh, The Redman's Appeal for Justice, 1923 -- 5b.6 Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons, 1926 -- 5b.7 Amendment to the Indian Act, 1927 -- Chapter 6 "Please don't blame yourselves": Residential Schools -- 6.1 N.F Davin, Report on Industrial Schools, 1879 -- 6.2 House of Commons Debates, 1920 -- 6.3 P.H. Bryce, The Story of a National Crime, 1920 -- 6.4 Mary Carpenter, "No More Denials Please", 1991 -- 6.5 Isabelle Knockwood, Out of the Depths, 2001 -- 6.6 Thomas Moore, Before and After Photographs, 1904 -- Chapter 7 "we do not ask for special favours from anyone": Indigenous People and Global Conflict -- Section 7a: World War One -- 7a.1 Report of the Privy Council 393, 1918 -- 7a.2 Amendments to the Indian Act, 1906 and 1918 -- 7a.2a Indian Act Amendment, 1906 -- 7a.2b Indian Act Amendment, 1918 -- 7a.3 Letter from Kainai Chief Shot-on-Both-Sides et al., 1922 -- 7a.4 D.C. Scott, "The Canadian Indians in the Great War", 1919 -- 7a.5 Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs, 1919 -- Section 7b: World War Two -- 7b.1 Gordon Ahenakew, Saskatchewan Indian Veterans Association, 1992 -- 7b.2 Norman Quinney, Indian Veterans Association, 1992 -- 7b.3 Ray Prince, Northern Region of National Aboriginal Veterans' Association, B.C. Chapter, 1992 -- 7b.4 Harry Lavallee, National Aboriginal Veterans Association, 1993 -- 7b.5 The Aboriginal Soldier After the Wars, 1995. Chapter 8 A "complete and final solution": Preparing for the New Indian Act of 1951 -- 8.1 Evidence of Diamond Jenness, 1947 -- 8.2 Testimony of Andy Paull, President of the North American Indian Brotherhood, 1946 -- 8.3 Submission of the Union of Saskatchewan Indians, 1947 -- 8.4 Presentation of Mathew Lazare for the Mohawk of Caughnawaga, 1947 -- 8.5 House of Commons, "A Summary of the Proceedings of a Conference with Representative Indians", 1951 -- Chapter 9 "We had no hesitation in using the word "experiment": The High Arctic Relocation of 1953 -- 9.1 The High Arctic Relocation -- 9.2 Testimony of Markoosie Patsauq and Samwillie Elijassialuk, 1992 -- 9.3 Examination of Bent Sivertz, 1993 -- 9.4 Memorandum from Privy Council Office, 1952 -- 9.5 The Hickling Report, 1990 -- 9.6 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1994 -- Chapter 10 "a faulty understanding of fairness": The White Paper of 1969 -- 10.1 Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy (White Paper), 1969 -- 10.2 Indian Association of Alberta, Citizens Plus (Red Paper), 1969 -- 10.3 William Wuttunee, Ruffled Feathers, 1971 -- 10.4 National Indian Brotherhood, "Statement", 1969 -- Chapter 11 "an epic struggle which has left its mark": Striving for Gender Equality in the Indian Act -- 11.1 Amendment to the Indian Act, 1951 -- 11.2 Amendment to the Indian Act, 1985 -- 11.3 Cathy Baily, "Indian Women Struggle for Rights" Poundmaker, 1974 -- 11.4 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1985 -- 11.5 McIvor v. The Registrar, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 2007 -- 11.6 Letter from Sharon McIvor to Members of Parliament, 2010 -- Chapter 12 "its intentions remain hostile": The 1982 Constitution and Charter of Rights -- 12.1 Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs at the Russell Tribunal, 1980 -- 12.2 Petition by the Indian People of Canada to Queen Elizabeth II, 1980 -- 12.3 United Kingdom House of Commons Debates, 1982 -- 12.4 The Canada Act, 1982 -- Chapter 13 "securing "necessaries": The Constitution and the Courts -- 13.1 Guerin v. The Queen, 1984 -- 13.2 R. v. Sparrow, 1990 -- 13.3 R. v. Marshall, 1999 -- 13.4 R. v. Powley, 2003 -- Chapter 14 "it was time to protect our lands": Conflict at Ipperwash -- 14.1 Report of the Ipperwash Inquiry, 2007 -- 14.2 Testimony of Nicholas Cottrelle, 2005 -- 14.3 Presentation of Sam George, 2006 -- Chapter 15 "a unique trust-like relationship": Modern Treaty Making -- 15.1 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, "Treaties", 1996 -- 15.2 Speech by Chief Joseph Gosnell to the House of Commons, 1998 -- 15.3 Are Treaties the Answer?, 2007.