Indigenous Rights in One Minute

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Indigenous Rights in One Minute: What You Need to Know to Talk Reconciliation
by Bruce McIvor
Harbour Publishing, Nightwood Editions
224 pages, $22.95

Métis author, lawyer, negotiator and professor Bruce McIvor offers this concise and readable overview of Indigenous rights in a Q&A format that seems to cover all the legal basics. The title suggests that a determined reader could become reasonably conversant with the subject of Indigenous rights in fewer than two hours: There are 97 questions posed, each of them answered in fewer than two pages.

Canadians who want to delve into Indigenous rights deeper than a land acknowledgment at a folk festival will appreciate this accessible guide, although its scope is very much focused on legal concepts, decisions and their effects on all parties. Half of the slim volume presents the implications of four dozen of Canada’s most important court decisions about Indigenous rights.

“Why is the Grassy Narrows decision important?” one question asks. The answer: “The 2014 Supreme Court decision allows the Ontario government to override Treaty 3 rights.”

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Although unlikely to be found in the hands of dining-table pundits or “common- sense” pontificators, this book seems a safe source of clarification for all sides of the Indigenous rights debate.

Other Q&As include:

“Why don’t Indians pay taxes?” Generally, they do.

“Didn’t First Nations surrender their land through treaties?” No, that’s absurd.

This book is an excellent step toward a thoughtful and respectful national conversation about reconciliation.

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