Reading list from a settler law student

In this read­ing list, I’ve in­clud­ed much that I’ve read (or lis­tened to, or watched) that has helped de­vel­op my un­der­stand­ing of colo­nial­ism and its effects on Indigenous peo­ple in Canada, as well as vi­sions for the fu­ture. I have also just gen­er­al­ly in­clud­ed per­spec­tives from Indigenous peo­ple that have influenced my think­ing to­day.I’m maintaining this page in response to the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, specifically Call for Justice 6.1: “We call upon all media, news corporations and outlets, and, in particular, … bloggers …, to take decolonizing approaches to their work and publications in order to educate all Canadians about Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people” and to “[s]upport Indigenous people sharing their stories, from their perspectives …" I’ll keep this up­dat­ed.

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Final Report (2015), on­line: <www.trc.ca/about-us/trc-findings.html>.
• Katherena Vermette, The Break (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2016). [pri­ma­cy of re­la­tion­ships, en­coun­ters, cy­cle of vic­tim­iza­tion and crim­i­nal­iza­tion, sto­ries, be­lief and em­pa­thy, strength, self-iden­ti­ty, nor­mal­ized vi­o­lence, dis­tinc­tive roles of women, Métis]
• Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, This Accident of Being Lost (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2017). [po­et­ry, nar­ra­tive, sci­ence fiction, re­la­tion­ships]
• Katłıà , Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat’a (Halifax & Winnipeg: Roseway, 2020). [fiction, North]
• Glen Coulthard, “Place Against Empire: The Dene Nation, Land Claims, and the Politics of Recognition in the North” in Avigail Eisenberg et al, ed, Recognition Versus Self-Determination: Dilemmas of Emancipatory Politics (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015) 147.
• Robert J Miller, “The International Law of Colonialism: A Comparative Analysis” (2011) 15:4 Lewis & Clark L Rev 847. [doc­trine of dis­cov­ery, ter­ra nul­lius, Crown ti­tle, Christianity]
• Natalie Clark, “Red Intersectionality and Violence-in­formed Witnessing Praxis with Indigenous Girls” (2016) 9:2 Girlhood Studies 46.
• Eve Tuck & K Wayne Yang, “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor” (2012) 1:1 Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1.
• Aaron Mills, “The Lifeworlds of Law: On Revitalizing Indigenous Orders Today” (2016) 61:4 McGill Law Journal 847. [lib­er­al­ism as an un­stat­ed premise, al­ter­na­tives, free­dom ‘with and through’ oth­ers]
• Carol Martin & Harsha Walia, Red Women Rising: Indigenous Women Survivors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, 2019). [first-hand sto­ries, over-vic­tim­iza­tion, strength, agency]
• “Thunder Bay”, CANADALAND (2018). [pod­cast, sys­temic-bias]
• Robin Fisher, “Joseph Trutch and Indian Land Policy” (1971) 12 BC Studies 3.
• George Abbott, “Persistence of Colonial Prejudice and Policy in British Columbia’s Indigenous Relations: Did the Spirit of Joseph Trutch Haunt Twentieth-Century Resource Development?” (2017) 194 BC Studies 39.
• “First Contact”, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (2018). [video doc­u­men­tary, myths and stereo­types, racism, con­tact the­o­ry, in­ter­gen­er­a­tion­al trau­ma, cul­tur­al dis­pos­ses­sion]
• Chelsea Vowel, Indigenous Writes (Winnipeg, MB: Portage & Main Press, 2016). [primer, ter­mi­nol­o­gy, fre­quent­ly-asked ques­tions, iden­ti­ty, Métis]
• Jane M Smith, Placing Gitxsan sto­ries in text : re­turn­ing the feath­ers, Guuxs Mak’am mik’aax (PhD Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2004) [un­pub­lished]. [oral his­to­ry, cul­ture, sto­ries, lan­guage, Indigenous lawIndigenous law is distinct from Aboriginal law. Aboriginal law is the law of Canada that relates to Indigenous people. Indigenous law is the legal practices of Indigenous people.]
• Hadley Louise Friedland, The Wetiko Legal Principles: Cree and Anishinabek Responses to Violence and Victimization (University of Toronto Press, 2018). [Indigenous law, oral his­to­ries]
• Michael Asch, John Borrows & James Tully, Resurgence and Reconciliation: Indigenous–Settler Relations and Earth Teachings (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018). [Indigenous law, po­lit­i­cal sci­ence]
• McGill Law Journal, Volume 61, No 4: Special Issue on ‘Indigenous Law and Legal Pluralism’ (2016).
• Roberta Campbell, Independent re­port on the in­car­cer­a­tion of Angela Cardinal (Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General, Alberta, 2018). [stereo­types, re-vic­tim­iza­tion, be­lief and em­pa­thy, cul­tur­al­ly-ap­pro­pri­ate sup­port, sys­temic bias]
• Gregory Younging, Elements of Indigenous style (Edmonton, AB: Brush Education, 2018). [primer, ter­mi­nol­o­gy]
• R v Gladue, [1999] 1 SCR 688. [Indigenous sen­tenc­ing, over-in­car­cer­a­tion, sys­temic bias]
• R v Ipeelee, [2012] 1 SCR 433. [Indigenous sen­tenc­ing, over-in­car­cer­a­tion, sys­temic bias]
• R v Barton, 2019 SCC 33. [myths and stereo­types, prej­u­dice against Indigenous women and girls, sys­temic bias]

Here are some read­ing lists that oth­ers have put to­geth­er

• First Peoples Law Reading List
• Indigenous au­thors were asked to rec­om­mend one book every­one in Canada should read
• Another CBC list