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Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi'kmaw Quest for Justice
Now in paperback, the story of how Donald Marshall Jr.'s life-long battle against injustice revitalized Indigenous law in Canada.
The name “Donald Marshall Jr.” is synonymous with “wrongful conviction” and the fight for Indigenous rights in Canada. In Truth and Conviction, Jane McMillan—Marshall’s former partner, an acclaimed anthropologist, and an original defendant in the Supreme Court’s Marshall decision—tells the story of how Marshall’s life-long battle against injustice permeated Canadian legal consciousness and revitalized Indigenous law. Marshall died in 2009, but his legacy lives on. Mi’kmaq continue to assert their rights and build justice programs grounded in customary laws and practices, key steps in the path to self-determination and reconciliation.
The name “Donald Marshall Jr.” is synonymous with “wrongful conviction” and the fight for Indigenous rights in Canada. In Truth and Conviction, Jane McMillan—Marshall’s former partner, an acclaimed anthropologist, and an original defendant in the Supreme Court’s Marshall decision—tells the story of how Marshall’s life-long battle against injustice permeated Canadian legal consciousness and revitalized Indigenous law. Marshall died in 2009, but his legacy lives on. Mi’kmaq continue to assert their rights and build justice programs grounded in customary laws and practices, key steps in the path to self-determination and reconciliation.
- GenresIndigenous
230 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 18, 2019
A must read for all Canadians.
May 9, 2019
Very interesting read on two cases of Indigenous justice that helps better underatand the Mi’kmaq experience.
November 6, 2019
An outstanding read and orientation on ways we can right the wrongs of the past. This book should become required reading for all employed in the judicial field.
February 29, 2020
A must read for anyone interested in understanding Indigenous realities in relation to the Canada's justice system.
July 19, 2026
This is an insightful analysis of Donald Marshall Junior's wrongful conviction for murder as a teenager and his fight for justice. Then his almost unbelievable strength to fight the Canadian state to assert Indigenous rights to a decent standard of living.
Dr McMillan was Marshall’s friend and former partner and is now Chair of Anthropology at St Francis Xavier University. It's an accessible account showing how racism shaped Marshall's arrest and trial. It would have been relatively straightforward to get the witness statements from people who wanted to tell the truth about the murder of Sandy Seale. But John Macintyre, the racist thug of a police officer leading the "investigation” and the probably racist and certainly lazy prosecutor who didn't check evidence, meant 17 year old Marshall spent 11 years in prison. By the time he was released he had addiction and chronic health problems and PTSD.
The Canadians state’s racism practically guaranteed that Indigenous fishers would get arrested despite other Supreme Court decisions that Indigenous people had the right to hunt. Marshall triggered that fight by eel fishing with the Membertou community's permission, He was convicted and lost the appeal but wouldn't back down. It took years and a committed team including Mcmillan, his partner in “crime”. But the Supreme Court of Canada’s agreement that being Indigenous in Canada means you are entitled to make a living by fishing, hunting and selling the products – it boils down to that - triggered a political and social earthquake.
As a legal anthropologist, here McMillan has unpacked the expectations of Indigenous communities’ raised by the recommendations of the Marshall Inquiry. As well as the shortcomings of the government’s response.
The book raises obvious questions about how Indigenous communities ensure the Canadian government implements those recommended changes. There have been some real improvements in restorative justice, in translation and court worker services and in access to fisheries but it's a long way from what's needed for equality of opportunity and civil rights.
The book ends with a quote showing the frustration of Jim Maloney, “longtime advocate for Indigenous justice and policing services and Donald's head of security during the royal commission”. His analysis here is somewhat limited to racist oppression and looking to the state for solutions, however important it is to confront the state in the courts. But is probably a representative view.
Maloney said,
“I don't like the Mounties. I don't think they should be here. They are a racist group. They deal with racist lawyers who deal with racist judges. They deal with racist social services and people in health care, fisheries, all people with self-interests that don't want the Aboriginal rights and Aboriginal title and Aboriginal ways brought up. If the recommendations on the Marshall Inquiry came to be, and I was at the Donald Marshall Inquiry, and now I certainly don't see no changes. Marshall didn't get a good deal. It killed him. So the recommendations: I certainly don't know very many that made any difference. I wish I had a better story to tell you, but I am disappointed that the Marshall recommendations were never honoured, and the only way I suppose that is the case is because racism is alive and well. We tried it all. We fought in your wars, we joined your churches, we spoke your language and gave up our lands and just tried to be friends, signed treaties. What else can we give you? I know our people are generous, but come on now, it is time to give back.” (p157)
Since this was published in 2021, governments have changed and polarisation out of capitalist crisis has worsened, meaning reactionary denialism of Canada's violent history, racism and current gross inequality is rising in Canada. It's driven by people who want to strip Indigenous people of their rights and history. They are the same class that wants to privatise public services, drive down wages, cut benefits and pensions and drive up working hours. They are slashing services across Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada and use racism to divide workers and communities — recent immigrants from those of settler heritage and all of them from Indigenous people.
Fighting racism is a vital springboard to building unity across communities to defend and improve standards of living, protect water and the environment and fight climate change. It's clear many people in Turtle Island / Canada want this unity and they have already got some cuts reversed this year with protests and strikes. These included services that prioritised disadvantaged young people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. This unity is the mechanism to defeat their common enemies across the continent and strip power from the bigots and rich who create the gross legal and social injustices examined here.
Dr McMillan was Marshall’s friend and former partner and is now Chair of Anthropology at St Francis Xavier University. It's an accessible account showing how racism shaped Marshall's arrest and trial. It would have been relatively straightforward to get the witness statements from people who wanted to tell the truth about the murder of Sandy Seale. But John Macintyre, the racist thug of a police officer leading the "investigation” and the probably racist and certainly lazy prosecutor who didn't check evidence, meant 17 year old Marshall spent 11 years in prison. By the time he was released he had addiction and chronic health problems and PTSD.
The Canadians state’s racism practically guaranteed that Indigenous fishers would get arrested despite other Supreme Court decisions that Indigenous people had the right to hunt. Marshall triggered that fight by eel fishing with the Membertou community's permission, He was convicted and lost the appeal but wouldn't back down. It took years and a committed team including Mcmillan, his partner in “crime”. But the Supreme Court of Canada’s agreement that being Indigenous in Canada means you are entitled to make a living by fishing, hunting and selling the products – it boils down to that - triggered a political and social earthquake.
As a legal anthropologist, here McMillan has unpacked the expectations of Indigenous communities’ raised by the recommendations of the Marshall Inquiry. As well as the shortcomings of the government’s response.
The book raises obvious questions about how Indigenous communities ensure the Canadian government implements those recommended changes. There have been some real improvements in restorative justice, in translation and court worker services and in access to fisheries but it's a long way from what's needed for equality of opportunity and civil rights.
The book ends with a quote showing the frustration of Jim Maloney, “longtime advocate for Indigenous justice and policing services and Donald's head of security during the royal commission”. His analysis here is somewhat limited to racist oppression and looking to the state for solutions, however important it is to confront the state in the courts. But is probably a representative view.
Maloney said,
“I don't like the Mounties. I don't think they should be here. They are a racist group. They deal with racist lawyers who deal with racist judges. They deal with racist social services and people in health care, fisheries, all people with self-interests that don't want the Aboriginal rights and Aboriginal title and Aboriginal ways brought up. If the recommendations on the Marshall Inquiry came to be, and I was at the Donald Marshall Inquiry, and now I certainly don't see no changes. Marshall didn't get a good deal. It killed him. So the recommendations: I certainly don't know very many that made any difference. I wish I had a better story to tell you, but I am disappointed that the Marshall recommendations were never honoured, and the only way I suppose that is the case is because racism is alive and well. We tried it all. We fought in your wars, we joined your churches, we spoke your language and gave up our lands and just tried to be friends, signed treaties. What else can we give you? I know our people are generous, but come on now, it is time to give back.” (p157)
Since this was published in 2021, governments have changed and polarisation out of capitalist crisis has worsened, meaning reactionary denialism of Canada's violent history, racism and current gross inequality is rising in Canada. It's driven by people who want to strip Indigenous people of their rights and history. They are the same class that wants to privatise public services, drive down wages, cut benefits and pensions and drive up working hours. They are slashing services across Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada and use racism to divide workers and communities — recent immigrants from those of settler heritage and all of them from Indigenous people.
Fighting racism is a vital springboard to building unity across communities to defend and improve standards of living, protect water and the environment and fight climate change. It's clear many people in Turtle Island / Canada want this unity and they have already got some cuts reversed this year with protests and strikes. These included services that prioritised disadvantaged young people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. This unity is the mechanism to defeat their common enemies across the continent and strip power from the bigots and rich who create the gross legal and social injustices examined here.
October 15, 2024
Excellent book to start knowing a little bit better about indigenous people in Canada and more specifically the mik'maw community.
McMillan writes with in such an easy way that is able to transport you with her. She started by giving an introduction about Donald's life and wrong conviction, what happened through all the process (it took around 10 years) to then introduced you to the mik'maw world.
I think than reading this book within Canada has made the whole difference on how I read and understood it, the natives here have really complex problems that comes since colonization, I won't say how their life is because I dont know that, but from what I've seen and read in this short time, government and Canadian people owns a lot to them.
I have experience mostly anger when reading, is just such a unimaginable how we have accept colonization as something normal it happened when we should be speaking of invasion. But this anger I carry is for other app, not a book review. :)
I highly recommend this book if you live in Canada, and I truly hope is in the must reading books in their highschools.
McMillan writes with in such an easy way that is able to transport you with her. She started by giving an introduction about Donald's life and wrong conviction, what happened through all the process (it took around 10 years) to then introduced you to the mik'maw world.
I think than reading this book within Canada has made the whole difference on how I read and understood it, the natives here have really complex problems that comes since colonization, I won't say how their life is because I dont know that, but from what I've seen and read in this short time, government and Canadian people owns a lot to them.
I have experience mostly anger when reading, is just such a unimaginable how we have accept colonization as something normal it happened when we should be speaking of invasion. But this anger I carry is for other app, not a book review. :)
I highly recommend this book if you live in Canada, and I truly hope is in the must reading books in their highschools.
June 19, 2021
I found this book very interesting. I have been involved in the U.S. criminal justice system and being able to compare systems kept me reading. There is the law enforcement aspect, pretty similar to law enforcement in the U.S., the legal system, kept me going back and forth in goggle, so I would understand the comparisons, and lastly, the penal system, which kept me referring back in the book so I could understand and, in some cases, marvel at the differences.
I have Canadian friends who say Canadians are not as racist as Americans and Americans who say we are not racist. Personally, I say what a crock of B.S. to both! It may appear to be different on both sides of the border, but it is there and it is ugly, and ignoring it only allows it to remain part of life.
I have Canadian friends who say Canadians are not as racist as Americans and Americans who say we are not racist. Personally, I say what a crock of B.S. to both! It may appear to be different on both sides of the border, but it is there and it is ugly, and ignoring it only allows it to remain part of life.
October 18, 2020
A beautifully written book and much respect for the author. I think this should be required reading in Nova Scotia, Canadian right now.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews