From Treaty Peoples to Treaty Nation: A Road Map for All Canadians

Canada is a country founded on relationships and agreements between Indigenous people and newcomers. Although recent court cases have strengthened Aboriginal rights, the cooperative spirit of the treaties is being lost as Canadians engage in endless arguments about First Nations "issues." Greg Poelzer and Ken Coates breathe new life into these debates by looking at approaches that have failed and succeeded in the past and offering all Canadians - from policy makers to concerned citizens - realistic steps forward. The road ahead is clear: if all Canadians take up their responsibilities as treaty peoples, Canada will be a better place for all Canadians.

Greg Poelzer is the founding director and executive chair of the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development at the University of Saskatchewan. He has written extensively on Aboriginal and northern issues and is coauthor (also with Ken Coates) of Arctic Front: Defending Canada in the Far North, winner of the 2009 Donner Prize. Ken S. Coates is the Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. He is the author and editor of over a dozen books on Aboriginal issues, including Best Left as Indians: Native-White Relations in the Yukon and A Global History of Indigenous Peoples.