Darrell Dennis

Yes, this book should definitely be required reading in all Canadian schools. The way I learned about First Nations people was pretty much all pre-colonial. Before settlers came, there were Native folk! In high school, I learned a little bit about how Aboriginal people were screwed over, but nothing about how they are living now. It definitely felt like they all disappeared at some point. As an adult, of course I've heard all the stereotypes that First Nations people get government handouts that the rest of us don't get, they don't have to pay taxes, their leadership is corrupt and that's why all the money sent their way is wasted, they're alcoholics, they should just accept the fact that Canada exists now and stop complaining about things that happened so long ago. I've always tried to argue against these stereotypes and opinions while not really understanding how the treaties worked or how to explain that tax exemptions aren't worth all the other bullshit. Next time, I'm just going to refer everyone to this book. The subtitle of this book is exactly right; I learned so much that I didn't know about "the truth about lies about Indians". I also love the tone of this book. It's surprisingly light for being so sarcastic and about something so heavy.

Here's a passage that explains how the land and treaty process works:
"Let's say you walk into McDonald's and order a Big Mac. You hand over your money and get a receipt. You now have an agreement that in exchange for your money you will receive a Big Mac. Five minutes goes by, then another five minutes, and before you know it you have been waiting over three centuries. Finally you approach the cashier and demand your delinquent Big Mac. The cashier asks to see your receipt, which you promptly display. He then informs you that you need to prove that the original intent of the receipt was a promise to provide you with a Big Mac. 'After all, that receipt is from three centuries ago. It could have meant anything.' To top it off, the other customers around you are receiving their Big Macs, no questions asked, and they're shouting at you: 'Get over it and move on. Quit looking for free handouts!' So you take McDonald's to court and their lawyers are happy to stretch out the proceedings until you are flat broke because they know if you could actually afford a legal battle, you wouldn't be eating at McDonald's in the first place."… (altro)