The Dispossessed

"The Dispossessed s a very readable treatise describing the conditions of Canada's native peoples. Divided into ten chapters, it covers a wide variety of topics beginning with gas sniffing and its probable cause, cultural dislocation. The second chapter deals with the education of native children. Land claims and the establishment of reserves are dealt with in Chapter 3. Suicide, gang violence and self-government are the focus of Chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 6 deals with problems of Canada's judicial system as it relates to the native population; the next chapter uses the example of Alkali Lake to illustrate the destruction of a community by alcohol abuse and its recovery. Chapter 8 deals with the dislocation of many adopted native children separated from their own families and communities. The last two chapters deal with Indian political activism.