A book that Dawson economics teacher Charles-Albert Ramsay has been working on for more than a year is now available. Aspects économiques de l’expérience autochtone au Canada, 2e édition is the French version of a book by Anya Hageman and Pauline Galoustian. In addition to translating the text, Charles contributed Quebec-specific content and added information about Indigenous nations in Quebec throughout the French edition.

“This book is the only college and university-level manual on Indigenous economic issues in Canada,” Charles said. “It is a very thorough review of the literature, and of economic theory, as it pertains to Indigenous nations. It was guided by Indigenous experts from many different parts of the country. Anya Hageman spent quite some time with the Mohawks of Tyendinaga, particularly, since she is based in Kingston, at Queen’s University.”

Charles said the book will also be valuable to instructors in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, geography, sociology, demography, anthropology, law, and spirituality.

“We have a great resource in both French and English, it’s free, and it’s printable as a manual,” he said. “It’s in a PressBook format which makes it accessible online and easily shareable.”

“Many important Indigenous authors are cited at length, such as Kimmerer and Wolf Collar,” Charles said. “The issues affecting Indigenous peoples are varied, and difficult to address in classrooms. This manual allows instructors to set their teachings on a strong foundation, and discuss important issues such as housing, employment, discrimination, land use, governance, and development.”

This winter, Charles will use the book in the multi-disciplinary Social Science course he teaches at Dawson, Enjeux thématiques – Aspects socio-économiques de l’expérience autochtone au Canada. During the same semester, he will also use it at Kiuna Institution, a CEGEP in Odanak by and for First Nations, in the courses Économie des territoires autochtones and Développement économique autochtone.

Charles said he and the two original authors are currently working on a third edition. He will join the project as a third author, contributing to several chapters and helping update the data tables using information from the 2021 Census.

The book is available online in PressBooks format and is expected to be available as a PDF soon, making it easy to print: https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/economiesautochtonescanada/

Charles-Albert Ramsay teaches economics at Dawson College and Kiuna Institution. He is an education advisor to the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) and is the author of articles and books published in both academic and popular media. He is also the co-author, with Dawson colleague Marie-Pierre Gosselin, of Introduction to Research in the Social Sciences.