Full Description
In the pre-reserve era, Aboriginal bands in the northern plains were relatively small multicultural communities that actively maintained fluid and inclusive membership through traditional kinship practices. These practices were governed by the Law of the People as described in the traditional stories of Wîsashkêcâhk, or Elder Brother, that outlined social interaction, marriage, adoption, and kinship roles and responsibilities.
In Elder Brother and the Law of the People, Robert Innes offers a detailed analysis of the role of Elder Brother stories in historical and contemporary kinship practices in Cowessess First Nation, located in southeastern Saskatchewan. He reveals how these tradition-inspired practices act to undermine legal and scholarly definitions of ""Indian"" and counter the perception that First Nations people have internalized such classifications. He presents Cowessess's successful negotiation of the 1996 Treaty Land Agreement and their high inclusion rate of new ""Bill-C31s"" as evidence of the persistence of historical kinship values and their continuing role as the central unifying factor for band membership.
Elder Brother and the Law of the People presents an entirely new way of viewing Aboriginal cultural identity on the northern plains.
Contents
Illustrations
Introduction
Chapter 1: Elder Brother as Cultural Hero: The Law of the People and Contemporary Customary Kinship
Chapter 2: A Historical View of the Iron Alliance
Chapter 3: Multicultural Bands on the Northern Plains and the Notion of 'Tribal' Histories
Chapter 4: The Multicultural Compositon of Cowessess First Nation
Chapter 5: Cowessess Band Members and the Importance of Family Ties
Chapter 6: First Nations Response to Membership: Bill C-31 and Cowessess First Nation
Chapter 7: Implementing Treaty Obligations in Saskatchewan: Cowessess First Nation and Treaty Land Entitlement
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
