First Peoples: Indigenous Cultures and Their Futures (Focus on Contemporary Issues

by Jeffrey Sissons

It is widely assumed that indigenous cultures are under they are rooted in landscapes that have undergone radical transformations, and the opposing forces of business corporations and ruling political powers only seem to grow stronger. Yet Jeff Sissons argues here in First Peoples that, far from collapsing in the face of global capitalism, indigenous cultures today are as diverse and alive as they ever were.

First Peoples explores how, instead of being absorbed into a homogeneous modernity, indigenous cultures are actively shaping alternative futures for themselves and appropriating global resources for their own culturally specific needs. From the Inuit and Saami in the north to the Maori and Aboriginal Australians in the south to the American Indians in the west, Sissons shows that for indigenous peoples, culture is more than simply heritage-it is a continuous project of preservation and revival.

Sissons argues that the cultural renaissances that occurred among indigenous peoples during the late twentieth century were not simply one-time occurrences; instead, they are crucial events that affirmed their cultures and re-established them as viable political entities posing unique challenges to states and their bureaucracies. He explores how indigenous peoples have also defined their identities through forged alliances such as the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and how these allied communities have created an alternative political order to the global organization of states.

First Peoples is a groundbreaking volume that vigorously contends that indigenous peoples have begun a new movement to solve the economic and political issues facing their communities, and they are doing so in unique and innovative ways.

176 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2005

Reviews

[Muhammed Nijim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is relatively an easy-to-follow book for those interested in indigenous cultures/peoples/issues. The book sheds light on past and contemporary issues that indigenous peoples worldwide encounter with the state. The book focuses particularly on Maori peoples in New Zealand but draws similarities from Canada, Australia and the US. This is an academic book with great arguments as well as practical solutions that the author displays in the hope to move the indigenous struggle forward. It discusses ideas such as oppressive authenticity, sovereignty, western epistemologies and colonial structures that are still in place yet need to be changed radically. The author situates his argument within a capitalist, a neoliberal context that cares less indigenous peoples or their culture and more about the land, exploitation of labour and more capital accumulation. A new framework that involves and respects indigenous peoples and their cultures is needed to move forward.

[Tifa_fifa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a class based around Indigeneity in cinema, and this novel was a very helpful tool in understanding the basic issues revolving around contemporary indigenous people.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptionally fine exploration of the historical and contemporary cultural politics of indigenism. Engaging, provocative, argumentative. It is just the thing for debunking essentialist and monolithic notions of indigeneity.