Pragmatic and optimistic
21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government
by Bob Joseph
Vancouver: Page Two Books, 2025
$24.95 / 9781774586273
Reviewed by Kate Gunn
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2025 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report on the devastating harms caused by Canada’s residential school system. The TRC’s Final Report, and accompanying 94 Calls to Action, set out a pathway of specific, concrete steps to address the past harms of colonization and advance reconciliation in Canada.
The anniversary of the TRC’s Final Report comes at a time when Canada is at a crossroads. Over the past 10 years, some of the Calls to Action have been fully or partially implemented. Others, notably Canada’s failure to enact legislation formally denouncing the racist and outdated Doctrine of Discovery, have floundered. At the same time, heightened political tensions and global instability are putting Canadians’ commitment to reconciliation to the test.
In this climate of uncertainty, Bob Joseph’s new book, 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation about Dismantling the Indian Act, is a breath of fresh air.
The book builds off Joseph’s previous work, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, which provided clear, accessible information to everyday Canadians about the devastating impacts of the Indian Act on the lives of Indigenous peoples.
Joseph’s new book takes this concept one step further through a thoughtful discussion about the importance of both dismantling the Indian Act and meaningfully recognizing Indigenous peoples’ right to govern themselves in accordance with their inherent laws and governance systems.
For many non-Indigenous people in Canada, learning about the Canadian government’s efforts to systemically dispossess Indigenous peoples from their lands and cultures has come belatedly. Until recently, the legacies of the imposition of the reserve and band council system, residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop, were given little, if any, attention in the public school system. As a result, many people are still coming to grips with the injustices which were inflicted by the Canadian state on Indigenous children and their families.
At the same time, Indigenous peoples across Canada continue to grapple with the enduring legacy of colonization, while working hard to revitalize and restore their cultures, laws, and communities.
21 Things serves as an important bridge between these two poles of experience. Part 1, Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, Where We’re Going sets the stage by providing a concise overview of the political, economic, and social forces which shaped the process of colonization in Canada, including the development and imposition of the Indian Act and its impacts on Indigenous systems of governance.
Part 2, 21 Things About Indigenous Self-Government, sets out a clear, point-by-point explanation of what Indigenous self-government agreements are, how they work, and why they play an important role in the reconciliation process. Along the way, Joseph includes real-life examples of self-government agreements, including the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, Nisga’a Final Agreement, and Westbank First Nation Self-Government Agreement, along with personal anecdotes highlighting his lived experience working with, and as part of, Indigenous communities.
Throughout, Joseph’s book is striking for its pragmatic, clear-eyed description of workable solutions for thorny issues related to Indigenous governance and jurisdiction. It is also refreshingly optimistic. Over and over, Joseph reminds us that reconciliation is not a vague or amorphous concept that can only be resolved through the judicial system. It is a process which can be realized by taking tangible, definite steps towards recognizing and respecting Indigenous peoples’ right to make decisions about their own communities.
As Joseph himself acknowledges, different Indigenous Nations will choose different paths to realize and restore their inherent laws and jurisdiction. Likewise, the negotiation of self-government agreements will not be for everyone. It will be for each Indigenous Nation to chart its own path, and this may include taking a very different stance on self-government agreements than the one laid out in 21 Things. This is particularly true for First Nations outside of BC who entered into treaties with the British Crown in the decades leading up to and following Confederation.
21 Things provides us with positive examples of Indigenous peoples’ reclaiming their right to make decisions by and for their communities. Just as importantly, it serves as a call to politicians and non-Indigenous people to step up and do more to recognize and respect Indigenous law-making authority. In a time of political and economic destabilization, Joseph’s book reminds us that all is not lost for the project of reconciliation.
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Kate Gunn was born and raised on Galiano Island. She was the recipient of the 2024 CBC Short Story Prize for her story “Old Bones”. Her short fiction has also appeared in PRISM International, the Antigonish Review, Existere, and elsewhere. Kate is a partner at First Peoples Law LLP, a law firm dedicated to advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples. She currently lives with her family in Vancouver, BC.
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The British Columbia Review
Interim Editors, 2023-26: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction)
Publisher: Richard Mackie
Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an on-line book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.
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