McGill launches Indigenous Studies undergraduate program
By Karl Hele After more than a decade in the making, on Dec. 10, 2014 McGill University officially launched its minor undergraduate program in Indigenous...
Book review: ‘Living with Animals’ a must-read for cultural knowledge
Review by Karl Hele Living with Animals is an important contribution that is respectful of Anishinaabeg traditions, stories, and beliefs, while presenting both cultural insiders...
Indigenous Studies explode in Montreal: More than a decade in coming
By Karl Hele MONTREAL – More than a decade ago faculty at Concordia University began the process to create a First Peoples Studies program. Around...
McGill’s first indigenous homecoming a success
By Karl Hele MONTREAL – As part of McGill University’s Fourth Annual Indigenous Awareness Week, the first ever Indigenous Homecoming event took place Sept. 18....
Book Review: ‘Healing Histories’ – A look at Indian Hospitals and the treatment of tuberculosis
Review by Karl Hele Laurie Meijer Drees. Healing Histories: Stories from Canada’s Indian Hospitals. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2013. Healing Histories is a marvelous...
Book Review: Oral History on Trial
Reviewed by Karl Hele Since Delgamuukw (1997) Canadian courts have failed to effectively incorporate oral narratives into Western legal practice. Bruce Granville Miller’s examination of...
Book Review: Criminal Law on the Aboriginal Plains
Reviewed by Karl Hele By exploring the southern Northwest Territory’s lower court records (modern Alberta and Saskatchewan) that were largely created by magistrate Hugh Richardson...
Book Review: Tribes maintained sense of community
Reviewed by Karl Hele Neil Ferris weaves a theocratically nuanced tale of culture continuance from the pre-European era to approximately 1850. By utilizing detailed archeological...
Book Review: Mohawk voyageurs journeyed to Egypt
Reviewed by Karl Hele Carl Benn’s study of Mohawk voyageurs in Egypt is fascinating. The Sudan, which was part of Egypt, faced an Islamic revolution...
Book Review: Sir John A. aided mass starvation
Reviewed by Karl Hele James Daschuk’s study of disease and policy on the plains from the 1700s to the late 1800s is a depressingly informative...
Book Review: How Great Lakes First Peoples dealt with colonialism
Reviewed by Karl Hele Edmund Jefferson Danziger’s study of Great Lakes Indian history from 1850 to 1900 examines how First Peoples living on both sides...
Book Review: Civilization schemes attributed to loss of land and culture
By Karl Hele Assault on a Culture is the story of the Anishinaabeg of Michigan’s interactions with the French, British, and American Empires. Written by...
Program teaches students about themselves
By Karl Hele First Peoples Studies programs offer students from both Indigenous and settler communities an opportunity to learn about themselves, while engaging with alternative...
Francis Pegahmagabow: controversial hero
Reviewed by Karl Hele Adrian Hayes. Pegahmagabow: Life-Long Warrior. Toronto: Blue Butterfly Books, 2009. Adrian Hayes’ brief biography of Francis Pegahmagabow from Parry Island First...
‘Decolonizing’ universities has a price
By Karl Hele MONTREAL – If you want to decolonize post-secondary institutions, have an Indigenous presence, and see our worldviews presented there are two fairly...