In 2008 the Canadian government apologized to the victims of the notorious Indian residential school system, and established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose goal was to mend the deep rifts between Aboriginal peoples and the settler society that engineered the system.

Unsettling the Settler Within argues that in order to truly participate in the transformative possibilities of reconciliation, non-Aboriginal Canadians must undergo their own process of decolonization. They must relinquish the persistent myth of themselves as peacemakers and acknowledge the destructive legacy of a society that has stubbornly ignored and devalued Indigenous experience. Today's truth and reconciliation processes must make space for an Indigenous historical counter-narrative in order to avoid perpetuating a colonial relationship between Aboriginal and settler peoples.

A compassionate call to action, this powerful book offers all Canadians - both Indigenous and not - a new way of approaching the critical task of healing the wounds left by the residential school system.

A compassionate call to action that points the way toward an honest and meaningful exploration of the legacy of the Indian residential school system and its impact on all Canadians

About the Author
Paulette Regan is the director of research for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. She holds a PhD from the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria.

Reviews
Seeking to navigate the complex terrain of reconciliation in Canada, Regan's text is an important contribution to settler studies in Canada ... Her ability to fuse literatures from the burgeoning field of settler studies and anticolonial scholarship is impressive. -- Robyn Green, Carleton University * Great Plains Research, Vol. 22 No. 2, Fall 2012 *
Regan weaves together her own profoundly personal experiences in Indigenous communities with wider historical study and narrative analysis ... most compelling. -- Adam J. Barker, University of Leicester * Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, Vol. 13 No. 3, Winter 2012 *


Awards
Short-listed for Canada Prize in Social Sciences, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences 2012 (Canada).



Book Information
ISBN 9780774817783
Author Paulette Regan
Format Paperback
Page Count 316
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 460g