The history of indigenous political action in Canada is long, hard-fought, and under-told. By the mid-1900s, Native peoples across western Canada were actively involved in their own political unions in a drive to be heard outside their own, often isolated, reserve communities. In Alberta, the Indian Association of Alberta (IAA) represented the interests of Alberta's reserve communities.

Perhaps best known for its role in spearheading the protest against the 1969 White Paper produced by the Department of Indian Affairs, the IAA, founded in 1939, allowed Native peoples access to politics at the provincial level. Its rich history reveals much about First Nations' perspectives on the place of Indian peoples in Canada before the emergence of civil rights movements and large-scale federal funding of Native organizations.

This book, which outlines the significance of treaty rights discussions before their constitutional entrenchment and documents the political philosophies of First Nations leaders in the prairie provinces, will be welcomed by those with an interest in Native studies, political science, and Canadian history.

Laurie Meijer Drees is Co-Chair of the First Nations Studies Department at Vancouver Island University. She lives in Ladysmith, British Columbia.

Laurie Meijer Drees' profile page

Drees’s work shines as an historical study shedding light on evolving and current conditions ... The Indian Association of Alberta is an important and useful contribution to the study of the history and development of Native political organizations in Canada.

Great Plains Quarterly, Winter 2003