Speaking with Authority

Michael W. Posluns received his PhD from York University, in Toronto. He was the founding director of the parliamentary relations programme of the National Indian Brotherhood/Assembly of First Nations from 1976 to 1982.

• Introduction: Gaining a Purchase: An Introduction to the Public Emergence of the Vocabulary of First Nations’ Self-Government 1. The Interplay of Language, Policy & Ethics in the Discourse of First Nations’ Relations 2. Assimilation, Enfranchisement and the White Paper: An Overview of First Nations Relations Before 1970 3. Public Conversations on First Nations’ Self-Government 4. The Middle Period: A Minority Parliament and a First Patriation Bill 5. Notions of Sovereignty: Self-Help, Self-Confidence, And Individual And Collective Self-Fulfillment