by Jaime Battiste, Citizenship Coordinator, KMKNO

The book Who is an Indian? by professor Maximillian Forte from Concordia University was published in 2013. The book discusses an important policy direction in Canada and beyond with “one of the worst questions to be posed against Indigenous peoples”. Drawing on a wide collection of writers, Forte presents case studies from Canada, United States, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, to explore how each of these nation states and countries have defined “authenticity” of Indian-ness, or Indigeneity. The writers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, share the internal and external complexities for asking questions like “who is an Indian”, “who gets to decide”, and how different approaches to defining what or rather who “counts” as being part of different Indigenous Nations.

As the Mi’kmaq Citizenship Coordinator, for Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn Negotiation Office, I have been helping to identify the issues surrounding citizenship in the context of Mi’kmaw peoples. I found this book particularly helpful in identifying the determining criteria on identity. Through the various chapters, I was able to review parallels between some of the Indigenous Nations showcased and ultimately what different Indigenous Nations decided is important for them in determining their citizenship and the challenges that were a result of colonization, relocation, and urbanization.

One of the consistent themes within each Indigenous Nation was the challenge ...