Unsettling Canada

Arthur Manuel’s Unsettling Canada, A National Wake Up Call is absolutely inspiring and a must read for all Canadians as they go through the discoveries of colonization policies, legislations and unfair treatment of Indigenous land and peoples. This book completely resonated with me as I feel the necessity to settle Indigenous title and rights has been long overdue and the imperative requirement for all to live lightly on the land. Unsettling Canada has substantial value as a pertinent text worth examining based on both past and present grassroots organizations who take action for Indigenous sovereignty and rights.

Unsettling Canada focuses on the battle for the return of Indigenous title and rights and how it has been to the benefit of the Canadian government and stake holders while they carefully and strategically diminish Indigenous inherent birthrights. Let’s be honest, it is the grassroots organizations within Canada such as “The assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Summit, INET, the Defenders of the Land, and Idol No More” (p. 176) to name a few, who have always fought for respect of
The Canadian government will not repudiate colonial laws however they would rather defy their own laws in a racist act of keeping control over Indigenous peoples. Our history concerning the Canadian government and Indigenous peoples’ affairs has mostly been deceiving, consequently contributing to Canada’s relationship with the land being reduced to a constructed fantasy of the doctrine of discovery and as a site of resource extraction. Indigenous struggle in Canada has been consistently rooted in Indigenous title and rights and keeping our lands