Aboriginal Conditions

Jerry White is Chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Western Ontario. Paul Maxim is Associate Dean (Research) at the University of Western Ontario, and Dan Beavon is Director of the Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

• Tables and FiguresAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Focus of Aboriginal Conditions / Jerry P. WhitePart 1: Thinking Outside the Box: Building Models Based on Communities / Jerry P. White1. Social Capital, Social Cohesion, and Population Outcomes in Canada's First Nations Communities / Jerry P. White and Paul S. MaximPart 2: The Limits of Our Knowledge and the Need to Refine Understandings / Jerry P. White2. Perils and Pitfalls of Aboriginal Demography: Lessons Learned from the RCAP Projections / Don Kerr, Eric Guimond, and Mary Jane Norris3. Impacts of the 1985 Amendments to the Indian Act on First Nations Populations / Stewart Clatworthy4. Changing Ethnicity: The Concept of Ethnic Drifters / Eric Guimond5 . Aboriginal Mobility and Migration Patterns and the Policy Implications / Mary Jane Norris, Marty Cooke, and Stewart ClatworthyPart 3: Confronting Culture with Science: Language and Public Policy / Jerry P. White6 . Aboriginal Language Retention and Socio-Economic Development: Theory and Practice / Erin O'Sullivan7. Aboriginal Language Transmission and Maintenance in Families: Results of an Intergenerational and Gender-Based Analysis for Canada, 1996 / Mary Jane Norris and Karen MacConPart 4: Measuring and Predicting Capacity and Development / Jerry P. White8. An Application of the United Nations Human Development Index to Registered Indians in Canada, 1996 / Daniel Beavon and Martin Cooke9. Dispersion and Polarization of Income among Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Canadians / Paul S. Maxim, Jerry P. White, and Dan Beavon10. Toward an Index of Community Capacity: Predicting Community Potential for Successful Program Transfer / Paul S. Maxim and Jerry P. WhiteConclusion: The Research-Policy Nexus -- What Have We Learned? / Jerry P. WhiteIndex

The authors of Aboriginal Conditions are unapologetically quantitative in their approach, and, it must be said, sophisticatedly and successfully so. Ultimately, I think this book represents an important addition to any serious discussions regarding Aboriginal issues in Canada and I highly recommend its adoption in any number of courses with Aboriginal issues content. - Chris Anderson, School of Native Studies, University of Edmonton (The American Review of Canadian Studies, Spring 2005) Grounded in recent research, this book successfully identifies key issues bearing on the current social challenges Aboriginal people face in Canada. - Nathalie Piquemal, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba (Great Plains Research, Spring 2005)