The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canada's Indians

"The [Indigenous] people of Canada took hope iwth the federal election of June 1968. For a year, the new government advertised what sounded like a truly revolutionary programme in Indian affairs. They broadcast their desire for a dialogue; they promised [Indigenous] invovlement; they announced consultation meetings. The [Indigenous] people hoped and prepared for change. They went to the consultation meetings in their own provinces; they met in Ottawa in national conference. They believed that the government, for the first time, had listened. But in June of 1969, the minister of Indian Affairs announced a new government policy that obviously had been conceived before the consultatoin meetings. He abrogated the rights the [Indigenous] had told him were not negotiable; he made arbitrary projections for a people's future that only they could make. He prefaced his polic with the words 'Indian people must be persuaded . . .' If tragic knowledge is understanding that one can never be certain of how the fates will deal with him, no matter how he pursues honour and justice, then the Canadian [Indigenous] has such knowledge. But the fickle fates who have for centuries controlled [Indigenous] destiny have been other men — missionaries, social workers, politicians, bureaucrats. This book is a plea, addressed to all Canadians, to let the [Indigenous] face the future on [their] own terms. This book is a warning from a young Cree leader who understands his people have come to, of what will happen if Canadians continue to pretend they haven't heard that plea."--backcover