Voicing Identity: Cultural Appropriation and Indigenous Issues

by John Borrows (Editor), Kent McNeil (Editor)

Overview

Written by leading Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, Voicing Identity examines the issue of cultural appropriation in the contexts of researching, writing, and teaching about Indigenous peoples. This book grapples with the questions of who is qualified to engage in these activities and how this can be done appropriately and respectfully.

The authors address these questions from their individual perspectives and experiences, often revealing their personal struggles and their ongoing attempts to resolve them. There is diversity in perspectives and approaches, but also a common goal: to conduct research and teach in respectful ways that enhance understanding of Indigenous histories, cultures, and rights, and promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Bringing together contributors with diverse backgrounds and unique experiences, Voicing Identity will be of interest to students and scholars studying Indigenous issues as well as anyone seeking to engage in the work of making Canada a model for just relations between the original peoples and newcomers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487544683
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Borrows is a professor and the Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.
Kent McNeil is an emeritus distinguished research professor at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

Table of Contents

Introduction
John Borrows and Kent McNeil

1. Su-taxwiye: Keeping My Name Clean
Sarah Morales

2. At the Corner of Hawks and Powell: Settler Colonialism, Indigenous People, and the Conundrum of Double Permanence
Keith Carlson

3. Look at Your "Pantses": The Art of Wearing and Representing Indigenous Culture as Performative Relationship
Aimée Craft

4. Indigenous Legal Traditions, De-sacralization, Re-sacralization, and the Space for Not-Knowing
Hadley Friedland

5. Mino-audjiwaewin: Choosing Respect, Even in Times of Conflict
Lindsay Borrows

6. How Could You Sleep When Beds Are Burning? Cultural Appropriation and the Place of Non-Indigenous Academics
Felix Hoehn

7. Who Should Teach Indigenous Law?
Karen Drake and A. Christian Airhart

8. Reflections on Cultural Appropriation
Michael Asch

9. Turning Away from the State: Cultural Appropriation in the Shadow of the Courts
John Borrows

10. Voice and Indigenous Rights
Robert Hamilton

11. Guided by Voices? Perspective and Pluralism in the Constitutional Order
Joshua Nichols

12. NONU WEL,WEL TI,Á NE TȺ,EȻEȽ: Our Canoe Is Really Tippy kQwa'st'not and Hannah Askew

13. Sharp as a Knife: Judge Begbie and Reconciliation
Hamar Foster

14. On Getting It Right the First Time: Researching the Constitution Express
Emma Feltes

15. Confronting Dignity Injustices
Sa’ke’j Henderson

Contributors

What People are Saying About This

Brian Slattery

"A highly stimulating and engaging contribution to a much-debated topic — all the more absorbing because the authors come from a wide range of backgrounds and ground their contributions in their personal experiences. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in the subject."

Val Napoleon

"This book is a beautiful and fearless gift to those willing to be challenged about popular public claims regarding a range of cultural appropriation issues. The editors and contributors have created a rich and contextual resource to generate critical conversations about forms of lateral violence and unproductive silencing, and about our need for 'deliberate unknowing' so we have space for real learning, practical institutional change, and inclusivity. This collection invites us to ask how 'Raven steals the sun,' making sure 'we look both ways' when reconsidering history, and thinking about the 'we' and the 'ours.'"

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a beautiful and fearless gift to those willing to be challenged about popular public claims regarding a range of cultural appropriation issues. The editors and contributors have created a rich and contextual resource to generate critical conversations about forms of lateral violence and unproductive silencing, and about our need for ‘deliberate unknowing’ so we have space for real learning, practical institutional change, and inclusivity. This collection invites us to ask how ‘Raven steals the sun,’ making sure ‘we look both ways’ when reconsidering history, and thinking about the ‘we’ and the ‘ours.’"

—Val Napoleon, IPC, Cree, Saulteau First Nation, Acting Dean and Professor and Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria

"A highly stimulating and engaging contribution to a much-debated topic – all the more absorbing because the authors come from a wide range of backgrounds and ground their contributions in their personal experiences. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in the subject."

—Brian Slattery, Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

From the Publisher