Brothers: The Politics of Violence among the Sekani of Northern British Columbia

Description

A provocative analysis of a nativist movement. The creation of a huge artificial lake in western Canada led to the flooding of prime hunting and trapping territory of the Sekani Indians thus depriving them of their traditional occupations and livelihood. This caused considerable social distress resulting in a drastic increase of alcohol consumption and violence and seriously disrupting social relationships. Some Sekani made efforts to create new ties of solidarity through the adoption of Pan-Indianism however this ideology did not prove effective. The author concludes that their lack of unity stemmed from the same factionalism which characterized their personal relationships.

Guy Lanoue Universite de Montreal

'... a courageous attempt to produce the results of solid ethnographic research and theoretical interpretation against the tide of current political interests and will, in the long run, prove useful as well as informative to those with a genuine concern for Native political development.' David Turner