Journeying Forward

Dreaming First Nations’ Independence

Patricia Monture-Angus

Activist and scholar Patricia Monture-Angus examines her own intellectual and personal colonization as a way to share ideas about what she, as a Mohawk woman, sees as the next steps on the path to finding a solution to the continued oppression of First Nations people. She is dissatisfied with the circuitous progress with which Aboriginal claims and issues are being dealt with in both Canadian courts and Canadian politics. As well, because many current day First Nations political institutions are framed within and defined by the Indian Act, the author also questions the ability of these organizations to assist in fully eradicating the oppression their citizens. She rejects the idea of “self-government” (a goal too narrow and overly inundated by colonial meanings to provide a full solution) in favour of a much larger idea-independence. Jouneying Forward is readable, challenging, personal and passionate.

Contents

• Preface: In My Circle
• Introduction: Where I Am Standing
• To Break With The Past: Searching For the Meaning of Self-Determination
• Theoretical Foundations and the Challenge of Aboriginal Rights
• The Crown’s Ability to Deny Responsibility: The First Era-Judicial Decisions Before 1990
• The Supreme Court Speaks to Aboriginal Rights: Colonial Reminders
• Returning to Colonial Visions: The Supreme Court Speaks to Delgamuukw
• Lessons in Rights Discourse: Charter Challenges and Aboriginal Sovereignty
• Closing this Circle

About the Author

Patricia Monture-Angus is a Mohawk woman who is a university teacher and a passionate advocate for her people.

Excerpt

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