Established narratives portray Indigenous unity as emerging solely in response to the political agenda of the settler state. But the concept of unity has long shaped the modern Indigenous political movement.
With Indigenous perspectives and frameworks in the foreground, Assembling Unity explores the relationship between global political ideologies and pan-Indigenous politics in British Columbia through the history of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). Sarah Nickel demonstrates that while unity has been an enduring goal for BC Indigenous peoples, its expression was heavily negotiated between UBCIC members, grassroots constituents, and Indigenous women's organizations.
Nickel draws on oral interviews, newspaper articles, government documents, and UBCIC records to expose the uniquely gendered nature of political work, as well as the economic and emotional sacrifices that activists make. This incisive work unsettles dominant Western and patriarchal political ideals that cast Indigenous men as reactive and Indigenous women as invisible and apolitical.
Table of Contents:
Beginnings
Part 1: Pan-Indigenous Unity
1 Unity: "United we stand, divided we perish"
2 Authority: "Ordinary Indians" and "the private club"
3 Money: "A blessing and a golden noose"
Part 2: A Philosophical Revolution and Competing Nationalisms
4 Refusal: "Empty words and empty promises"
5 Protest: Direct Action through "Militant May"
6 Sovereignty: "If you really believe that you have the right, take it!"
Reflections
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Sarah A. Nickel is Tk'emlupsemc (Kamloops Secwépemc), French Canadian, and Ukrainian. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Saskatchewan and has contributed to American Indian Quarterly and BC Studies.
Review :
"Assembling Unity offers a great deal to scholars interested not only in the Canadian context but more broadly in Indigenous politics and Indigenous feminisms. Nickel's conceptual framework stands as a model to inspire other scholars who seek to use insights from Indigenous studies in order to reframe old debates and frameworks."
- Paige Raibmon (Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal) Assembling Unity is an important book. Sarah Nickel's timely study of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs was shortlisted for the Canadian Historical Association's 2020 Best Scholarly Book in Canadian History Prize and was recently announced the winner of this year's CHA Indigenous History Book Prize. Both accolades are much deserved. - Chelsea Horton (Ormsby Review) A rich examination of the work Indigenous political leaders and grassroots organizers did to negotiate unity as part of a longer history of political activism in the context of continued settler colonialism. - Lianne C. Leddy (Herizons, Fall 2019)
