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June 2016 Vol. 53 No. 10

In framing diverse perspectives and challenging hegemonic practices as a means to uncover "who speaks, who listens, and why," the contributors to this book deliberately focus attention on how relaying the context impacts and shapes perceptions, actions/reactions, relationships, and ethics in teaching about American Indians within the current North American university classroom.  The authors critically examine the embedded forms of resistance and assumptions that are deeply entrenched in the homogenizing portrayals and stereotypical (mis)representations of Indigenous peoples from the past to the present.  They identify an expansive array of references and resources drawn from contemporary Indigenous scholars, writers, artists, and elders, which they utilize to critique contemporary pedagogical practices and curriculum development while offering alternative frameworks for understanding the complexity of Native peoples in Canada and the US.  Storytelling serves as effective pedagogical practice that situates how context informs and gives meaning for understanding people and places.  Teachers are encouraged to connect survivance, sovereignty, and story to truly interrogate/model "what stories have been told, how they have been told, by whom and who these stories impact/benefit."  Although better editing could have avoided occasional spelling errors, this is a mandatory text for educators.

--E. Correa, Medaille College

Summing Up: Essential. Graduate students, faculty, professionals/practitioners.