Warrior Life

Indigenous Resistance and Resurgence

By Pamela Palmater  

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Audiobook $21.99

Available June 21

EPUB $21.99

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In a moment where unlawful pipelines are built on Indigenous territories, the RCMP make illegal arrests of land defenders on unceded lands, and anti-Indigenous racism permeates on social media; the government lie that is reconciliation is exposed. Renowned lawyer, author, speaker and activist, Pamela Palmater returns to wade through media headlines and government propaganda and get to heart of key issues lost in the noise.

Warrior Life: Indigenous Resistance and Resurgence is the second collection of writings by Palmater. In keeping with her previous works, numerous op-eds, media commentaries, YouTube channel videos and podcasts, Palmater’s work is fiercely anti-colonial, anti-racist, and more crucial than ever before.

Palmater addresses a range of Indigenous issues — empty political promises, ongoing racism, sexualized genocide, government lawlessness, and the lie that is reconciliation — and makes the complex political and legal implications accessible to the public.

From one of the most important, inspiring and fearless voices in Indigenous rights, decolonization, Canadian politics, social justice, earth justice and beyond, Warrior Life is an unflinching critique of the colonial project that is Canada and a rallying cry for Indigenous peoples and allies alike to forge a path toward a decolonial future through resistance and resurgence.

“In this moment of multiple existential crises from climate change to species extinction, ocean degradation, toxic pollution and so on, the Indigenous struggle to regain authority over land provides an opportunity to see our place in the world differently. To me, that is what Palmater’s fiery rhetoric is calling for, a chance to see the world through the lenses of different values.”

— David Suzuki

“As governments try to pull the wool over the public eye by suggesting contemporary colonial acts are best for Indigenous peoples, Palmater helps us see the wrongdoing so we can become informed and be respectful change allies. Read this book to see the many faces of colonialism and to learn how truth, justice, and respect can defeat it.”

— Cindy Blackstock, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada

  • Audiobook
  • ISBN: 9781773634340
  • June 2022
  • $21.99
  • For sale worldwide
  • EPUB
  • ISBN: 9781773632919
  • October 2020
  • $21.99
  • For sale worldwide
  • Kindle
  • ISBN: 9781773632926
  • October 2020
  • $21.99
  • For sale worldwide
  • PDF
  • ISBN: 9781773634333
  • October 2020
  • $21.99
  • For sale worldwide

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Reviews

  • Pamela Palmater’s book Warrior Life positions readers within the fraught relationship between Canada and the Indigenous people who call Turtle Island their home. Palmater has achieved the near-impossible by clearly analyzing complex histories and politics in order to accessibly explain how the relationship between Canada and Indigenous people has become so vexing, so strained, and so harmful.

    — Hamilton Review of Books (full review)

  • Warrior Life is a fiesty podcast hosted by renowned Mi’kmaq lawyer Dr. Pam Palmater (who IndigiNews interviewed in the heat of the lobster conflict in Mi’kmaq territories). She takes her warrior heart and pours it into this podcast where she interviews grassroots activists, Indigenous leaders, and knowledge keepers, shining light onto important topics. Warrior life is a podcast meant to support a decolonizing journey in mind, heart, bodies and spirits, by educating and connecting a larger community.

    — The Star, December 2020 (full review)

  • Warrior Life unflinchingly dismantles the concept of Canada as a progressive and inclusive nation working to common, unified goals, holding a mirror to the hollow rhetoric of reconciliation and demanding accountability for failures to address ongoing atrocities. In short, direct segments Palmater does not ask for your interest, she demands your attention and states her case with undeniable force of will. This book sits somewhere between an exposé and a call to arms, revealing government oppression and the reality of life in a country that has frequently sought to assimilate or eradicate its Indigenous people. Particularly in the wake of the horrific discoveries of the victims of residential schools in Saskatchewan and British Columbia in recent months, Warrior Life gives strength and shape to battles that often feel overwhelming.

    — Chris Martin, British Journal of Canadian Studies, Volume 34, Number 1, 2022 (full review)

Contents

  • Foreword by Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair
  • Introduction New Governors, Same Colonialism
  • Section One: Politics and Promises Harper’s Gone, Now It’s Time to Look Within
  • The Worst Thing That Could Happen Is A First Nations Minister of Indian Affairs
  • Will We See Real Nation to Nation Respect With Trudeau?
  • Evidence of Good Faith Lacking in Trudeau’s Indigenous Agenda
  • Why Is Trudeau Government Opposing Charter Equality for Indigenous Women?
  • Trudeau’s Nation-to-Nation Relationship Disappeared with Empty Budget Promises
  • Trudeau’s Dance of Deception on Indigenous Rights
  • Trudeau’s Forked-Tongue Reconciliation At UN
  • Indigenous Issues Disappear Slowly from Election 2019
  • Section Two - Racism Kills Canada Called to Account by UN for Ongoing Racial Discrimination Against Indigenous Women and Children
  • Lethal Impact of Racism on Indigenous Health
  • Overincarceration Of Indigenous Peoples Nothing Short of Genocide
  • First Nations Water Crisis Problems: A Crisis of Canada’s Own Making
  • Saskatchewan: The Land of The Living Skies and Lethal Racism
  • Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp
  • How Canada Turned A Blind Eye to The Suicide Crises In First Nations
  • Don’t Forget the Racist Canadians Behind the Racist Systems
  • The Ongoing Legacies of Canadian Genocide
  • Section Three - Sexualized Genocide Sexualized Genocide
  • Corporate Conquistadors Rape Indigenous Lands and Bodies
  • Bill S-3 Amendments to the Indian Act and the Never-Ending Battle for Equality for Indigenous Women
  • What You Need to Know About Sharon McIvor’s UN Victory on Indian Status
  • The People Left Behind by Trudeau’s Promised Nation-to-Nation Relationship (Co-Authored with Sharon McIvor)
  • Federal Budget 2019: Indigenous Women and Children Left Behind Again
  • Public Inquiry Needed to Address Sexualized Violence in Policing and Corrections
  • Why Canada Should Stand Trial for Tina Fontaine’s Murder
  • Justice System Still Not Protecting Indigenous Women and Girls
  • Missing and Murdered: Canada’s Genocide Cover-Up
  • Transitional Justice Plan Needed to End Genocide in Canada
  • Section Four - Canada Is An Outlaw Indigenous Child Welfare Act: More Pan-Indigenous Legislation Risks Continuing the Status Quo
  • Respecting Indigenous Languages: More Hollow Reconciliation
  • Canada’s Criminalization of the Indigenous Tobacco Trade
  • Cannabis Legalization Ignores First Nations
  • NAFTA 2.0: Time to Get It Right or Kill It
  • Anti-Terrorism Act: Testimony at the Senate Committee on Public Safety and National Security
  • RCMP Invasion of Wet’suwet’en Nation Territory Breaches Canada’s Rule of Law
  • Killer Whales, Trans Mountain Pipeline and The Public Interest
  • It’s Up to Indigenous and Environmental Groups to Protect the Public Interest
  • Clearing the Lands Has Always Been at the Heart of Canada’s Indian Policy
  • The Blockades No One Talks about Devastate Indigenous Communities
  • Section Five - Reconciliation Is A Lie, Resistance Is Hope The Liberals’ Plans for Indigenous Reconciliation Are Just Beads and Trinkets
  • Abolishing the Indian Act Means Eliminating First Nations’ Rights
  • The Source of Our Power Has Always Been in Our Peoples, Not Voting in Federal Elections
  •   Indigenous Rights Are Not Conditional on Public Opinion
  •   Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Universities and Colleges
  • True Test of Reconciliation: Respect the Indigenous Right to Say No
  • The Indigenous Right to Say No
  • A Modern Treaty to Save Our Peoples and the Planet
  • Social Conflict Is Inevitable in the Decolonization Battle
  • Indigenous Women Warriors Are the Heart of Indigenous Resistance
  • Wet’suwet’en: A Wake-up Call for Canada
  • Conclusion Power of the People
  • References
  • Index

Authors

  • Pamela Palmater

    Pamela Palmater is a Mi’kmaw lawyer, professor and Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University. She is the author of Indigenous Nationhood and Beyond Blood.

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