Volume 11, numéro 1, 2020 Special Section: Indigenizing Entrepreneurship Sous la direction de Phil Glennie

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In this timely and morally necessary book, Tamara Starblanket gives particular attention to the forced transfer of Indigenous children to institutions whose raison d’être was to indoctrinate and “educate” them away from their culture and heritage so as to erase Indigenous memory and reprogram younger generations as “Canadians.” These institutions were notorious for death and disease, torture, forced starvation, forced labour, and sexual predation. The book’s structure is well-ordered, the argumentation compelling, but not in phoney “scholarly detachment,” instead in conscious compilation and analysis of the evidence, supported by the force of ethics and a commitment to truth and justice, regardless of zeitgeist and political correctness.

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Business is one of the fastest growing areas in post-secondary education, but there is little understanding of Indigenous business practices. This article looks at three Arctic communities in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, and their associated co-operative businesses. I examine how these businesses express cultural values, as well as the business skill needs within these communities. Key informant interviews were conducted in each of the three Arctic communities, and three conclusions were made: (a) Co-operatives act as links between communities and their economic activities, (b) Business skills within communities need to be developed, and (c) Business skills need to include cultural components, as co-ops represent cultural economic expressions.

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The urban Indigenous older adult population in Canada continues to grow; however, there is a lack of understanding of how non-Indigenous health and social services and Indigenous-specific organizations are responding to and addressing the growth of this population. Therefore, in this research, we conducted a postcolonial discourse analysis of semi-structured interviews with six decision-makers (e.g., managers and directors of health and social services organizations) and seven service providers (e.g., program coordinators and social workers) from Indigenous and non-Indigenous health and social service organizations in Ottawa, Canada, to examine how they produce understandings of supporting urban Indigenous older adults to age well. The participants produced three main discourses: (a) non-Indigenous organizations have a responsibility to support Indigenous older adults, (b) culturally specific programs and services are important for supporting Indigenous older adults to age well, and (c) it is difficult for community stakeholders to support Indigenous older adults to age well because this population is hard to reach. The results demonstrate the complexities and tensions that community stakeholders face in supporting Indigenous older adults to age well within a sociopolitical environment informed by reconciliation and a sociodemographic trend of an aging population.

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This study explored the benefits of the production, sale, and consumption of Indigenous black soap (ọsẹ dúdú) in southwest Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 71 participants from Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states. Participants were extensively interviewed, and their responses were analyzed and placed into themes. The study found certain economic- and health-related benefits attached to the production, sale, and consumption of black soap. These benefits could help drive sustainable development in Indigenous communities in Nigeria and the model could be used in Indigenous communities in other countries. Ọsẹ dúdú was also a major ingredient, in conjunction with other herbs, in medicines that were perceived to have important health benefits. Policy recommendations are suggested.

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The national Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has challenged governments and school boards across Canada to acknowledge and address the damaging legacies of residential schooling while ensuring that all students gain an adequate understanding of relations between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. This article explores the dynamics and prospects for effective change associated with reforms in elementary and secondary education systems since the release of the Commission’s Calls to Action, focusing on the policy frameworks employed by provincial and territorial governments to guide these actions. The analysis examines critically the overt and hidden messages conveyed through discourses within policy documents and statements. The key questions we address include: What do current education policy frameworks and actions regarding Indigenous Peoples reveal about government approaches to education and settler–Indigenous relationships in Canada? To what extent is effective reconciliation possible, and how can it be accomplished in the context of institutional structures and discourses within a White settler colonial society? The findings reveal that substantial movement towards greater acknowledgement of Indigenous knowledge systems and incorporation of Indigenous content continues to be subordinated to or embedded within Western assumptions, norms, and standards.

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Federally funded research in Canada is of significant scope and scale. The implications of research in the colonial project has resulted in a fraught relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Western research. Research governance, as an aspect of public administration, is evolving. The relationality inherent in new public governance (NPG)—a nascent public governance regime—may align with Indigenous relationality concepts. Recent societal advances, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission of Canada (TRC), and the Indigenous Institutes Act in Ontario, provide further impetus for Indigenous self-determination in multiple domains including research. This article advocates for Indigenous research sovereignty and concludes with suggestions for ways in which federal funding agencies, specifically the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), could contribute to the advancement of Indigenous research sovereignty.