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Social Science Native American Studies

Finding Dahshaa

Self-Government, Social Suffering, and Aboriginal Policy in Canada

by (author) Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Jan 2010
Category
Native American Studies, General, Native American, Political Advocacy, Customs & Traditions, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774816250
    Publish Date
    Jan 2010
    List Price
    $32.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774816243
    Publish Date
    Jul 2009
    List Price
    $95.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774858915
    Publish Date
    Jan 2010
    List Price
    $125.00

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Description

The social suffering and self-determination of Indigenous peoples are important public policy issues in Canada today. This book asks a fundamental question regarding Canadian-Aboriginal relations: Are self-government agreements an effective path to self-determination?

 

Finding Dahshaa describes self-government negotiations between Canada and the Dehcho, Délînê, and Inuvialuit and Gwich’in peoples in the Northwest Territories. It contrasts boardroom negotiating sessions with moosehide-tanning camps and community meetings in small northern communities to show that Canada’s Aboriginal policy has failed because injustice and social suffering have become part of the process itself. Moosehide-tanning practices, which embody values central to Dene self-determination, offer an alternative model for negotiations. Through parallel narratives, the author shows how attaining self-determination is akin to finding dahshaa, a rare type of dried, rotted spruce wood essential for achieving success in this core cultural process.

 

An informed and passionate account, with a foreword by Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus, Finding Dahshaa is the first ethnographic study of self-government negotiations in Canada.

About the author

Awards

  • Short-listed, Canadian Aboriginal History Book Prize, Canadian Historical Association
  • Short-listed, Donald Smiley Prize, Canadian Political Science Association

Contributor Notes

Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox holds a doctorate in polar studies from Cambridge University and for the past decade has worked for Indigenous peoples on self-government and related political development processes in Canada's Northwest Territories. For more information, visit findingdashaa.ca.

Librarian Reviews

Finding Dahshaa: Self-Government, Social Suffering, and Aboriginal Policy in Canada

Finding Dahshaa describes self-government negotiations as they unfolded between Canada and the Dehcho, Deline, and Inuvialuit and Gwich’in peoples. By contrasting the negotiation meetings with the descriptions of Dene moosehide-tanning, the author shows why Canada’s Aboriginal Policy has failed to alleviate the causes of social suffering in the North, and should itself change. Based on case studies of three self-government negotiations that took place in the NWT between 1998 and 2008, the author’s critical analysis focuses on the relationship between ongoing injustices experienced by indigenous peoples and self-government.

This title was shortlisted for several awards.

Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. Canadian Aboriginal Books for Schools. 2010-2011.