HALIFAX—A Mi’kmaw lawyer, professor and activist has started a national book club she hopes will foster conversations that help Canadians turn the page toward reconciliation.

Last week Pam Palmater launched an online Reconciliation Book Club where each month she’ll pick a book and announce it on her YouTube channel. The primary focus will be on Indigenous authors, although Palmater plans to include some written by allies whose work she considers important.

Four weeks after the book club selection, she will post a video review incorporating readers’ comments and answering their questions.

Palmater, a member of the Eel River Bar First Nation in northern New Brunswick, is a Ryerson University professor who holds the chair in Indigenous Governance. She said the book club project will promote reconciliation with Indigenous people by helping Canadians learn more about how they can be allies.

“How can we celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day and have hot dogs and picnics when we haven’t addressed the National Inquiry’s finding of genocide and that our people are dying? What do we do with all that?” Palmater said in an interview.

“Those are hard conversations. There’s a big lack of understanding, and I’m trying to bridge the divide between what people think they know about history and what they don’t know about right now.”

The idea to start a free and accessible book club was sparked by the interest of those attending her public lectures, many of whom approached her after with questions. It was always followed by a similar deluge of inquiries on her social media accounts from people wanting more information.

“There were always people who wanted to share their view that they wished they knew more, they never learned about it in school, where do they start. And I always used to give them a list of some things to read or I’d put some resources on my website,” Palmater said.

“But then I thought that’s kind of leaving them hanging … I need to close the loop here, not just give the recommended reading, but an opportunity or some kind of space to ask a question or offer feedback or share their impressions and ask more questions. That way it’s more of a conversation.”

When she announced the book club launch on July 6, Palmater said she received “a flood” of responses from Indigenous people in both Canada and the U.S. But she was overwhelmed to receive even more feedback from non-Indigenous Canadians. They included teachers, social workers, nurses, doctors, lawyers and others whose work brings them into regular contact with Indigenous people.

She said many of the teachers told her they welcomed the resource and planned to use it in their classrooms.

Palmater said although it’s somewhat of an “unfair burden” that Indigenous people have to do this work themselves, she believes it’s necessary to start these conversations.

“I believe self-education is important, and I think every Canadian has the obligation to self-educate on native issues, but it’s not that easy so I just want to help it along a little bit,” she said.

Indigenous allies, she explained, can help in many ways, ranging from advocacy on social media, voting differently, supporting a local First Nation or donating land in a will.

“There are so many things, some that have a price tag and some that don’t, that people can be doing,” she explained. “But they’re not going to be spurred to do it unless they know the injustice.”

The first book selection, “Whose Land Is It Anyway: A Manual for Decolonization,” is available free online as a PDF and ebook.

Published by the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of B.C., it was inspired by Arthur Manuel’s 2016 speaking tour that took place less than a year before his death in January 2017. In addition to essays written by leading Indigenous academics, writers and activists in Canada, it contains two essays by Manuel, who served as a chief of B.C.’s Neskonlith Band and chairman of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council.

“This book is in memory of the late Arthur Manuel, who is well known amongst native people and others as a staunch native activist who was always about protecting our lands and our rights, and I thought it would be a nice tribute to him to make it the first (book club selection),” she said.

Palmater’s biggest hope is that by providing this resource and fostering these conversations, Indigenous people in Canada will gain more allies to help them push for things like social and climate justice, human rights and economic equality.

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“Think of all the youths that could be part of that or kids in high school or even universities in a non-debating, non-confrontational way, because most native issues that I deal with in the media ... it’s always a debate, it’s always is a vicious battle,” Palmater said.

“This isn’t going to be a debate … It’s just, ‘Let’s work through the issues.’ I’m pretty excited about it.”

The video review of the first book will go live on her Reconciliation Book Club channel on July 27.

Yvette d’Entremont is a Halifax-based reporter focusing on health. Follow her on Twitter: @ydentremont

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