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Pamela D. Palmater

Forfatter af Beyond Blood: Rethinking Indigenous Identity

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Værker af Pamela D. Palmater

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This is an important book, particularly given the author's own learning experience in the process of writing it. The book is the result of Palmater's doctoral studies, in the course of which she had to come to terms with the fact that having a blood relative who was Indigenous is not the best way of determining who is a member of any particular indigenous community.

This is so important, as indigenous communities of the past did not require people to be related to members of the community in order to become a part of it. The narrow interpretations of indigeneity imposed by the Indian Act have caused problems for generations of people and have unfairly excluded people (particularly women) from their communities - a history thoroughly explored in this book. Palmater sets out an alternative approach to identity, based on kinship but also on community involvement and support.
The social realities that Indigenous people face today are that they live among other Canadians, frequently intermarry, and have other relationships that often result in children. This has been the case for centuries. Consequently, there are no Indigenous groups in Canada that are completely made up of "pure" Aboriginal peoples - even if there were a test to determine such a status. This fact, however, does not in any way detract from their distinct status as Indigenous peoples.
If we as individuals, families, communities, and nations looked beyond superficial measurements of blood and looked deeper at what makes those connections between individuals, their communities and nations so strong, we would see that blood is not only unnecessary as an indicator of our identities; it is completely irrelevant.

What Palmater doesn't address in this book is the issue of Federal funding and its relationship to indigenous identity. In a way that is fine, because identity shouldn't be limited by financial considerations. But it seems that a more inclusive approach is seen as problematic by many indigenous communities as a result of the funding issue and this is something that would need to be resolved if Palmater's recommendations were to be adopted.

In places the book got a bit bogged down in legal arguments about the applicability of things like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - there was a bit too much constitutional law for a general reader, I thought. But that's just a minor gripe - I learnt a lot from this book.
… (mere)
 
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AJBraithwaite | Aug 14, 2017 |

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