From Wooden Ploughs to Welfare

From Wooden Ploughs to Welfare examines the reserve system imposed by the Canadian government in the 1870s - a system, rooted in theories of racial difference, that stifled initiative, opportunity, and self-esteem. The 1960s saw the collapse of the reserve economy, until then sustained by casual wage work or trapping. The government's answer was a welfare program which marked a new era of deeper dependency. Helen Buckley argues that later government programs have proven equally discouraging: schooling has improved but drop-out rates remain high, economic development remains a low priority, and large sums are spent on manpower courses that seldom lead to jobs. The many who sought a better life by moving to the city received no government assistance at all. Buckley argues that self-government is the only solution to the economic isolation and underdevelopment of native Canadians. She focuses on Status Indians in the Prairie provinces, but her analysis and conclusions are applicable to Status Indians in other regions.

"Buckley's persuasive book is a much-needed history lesson on how Indians in so many Prairie reserves were systematically reduced to welfare cases ... Books that help us see our country more clearly are rare. This is one of them." Boyce Richardson, Ottawa Citizen. "Buckley compellingly outlines the enormous poverty and suffering that has been allowed to develop in the midst of a relatively prosperous Western Canadian society ... there are many insights of the kind that need to be disseminated as quickly as possible if we are to avoid the kind of confrontations that took place at Oka and Kanewake." Tony Hall, Native American Studies, University of Lethbridge. "Buckley holds federal policy directly responsible for the squalor of the native communities and calls unabashedly for native self-government." Ian Petrie, The Queen's Journal. "Buckley points out not only the shortcomings of past policies and programs but suggests new directions and strategies for the nineties ... fresh interpretations and approaches appear throughout ... reflecting the author's long acquaintance with the subject, and her first-hand experience." Sarah Carter, Department of History, University of Winnipeg.