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humanities 337 university of toronto quarterly, volume 73, number 1, winter 2003/4 teacher concerned about the plight of Aboriginal people in the province. Laurie served as the secretary to the IAA, in the 1940s and 1950s, and assiduously worked to cultivate and deepen alliances between the IAA and non-Aboriginal citizen groups. Laurie saw the IAA as an organization that encouraged engagement between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state. Meijer Drees notes astutely that the coexistence of the sometimes competing visions of Laurie and many IAA members, who sought to affirm their treaty rights and a measure of political autonomy within Canada, produced a creative tension within the IAA and affected its historical trajectory as a political organization. This tension came to a head with the publication of the federal government=s White Paper in 1969. In response, the IAA published a document that has become known as the >Red Paper= (produced with assistance from Preston and Ernest Manning=s consulting firm!) and launched Aboriginal politics firmly on a path towards autonomy. Towards the end of The Indian Association of Alberta, Meijer Drees compares the political thought of Calihoo and John Tootoosis, Calihoo=s counterpart and arch-rival in neighbouring Saskatchewan. It is in this chapter where Meijer Drees=s overall historical method becomes clear. The disagreements between Calihoo and Tootoosis are extensive and complex, but Meijer Drees identifies the differing political philosophies of the two men as a major source of conflict. Whereas Calihoo was practical and forward looking, Tootoosis was deeply rooted in the historical experiences of his people and their treaty relationships with the Crown. In teasing out the diverse and complex political visions of Aboriginal political leaders on the prairies, The Indian Association of Alberta unearths an important factor in the evolution of Aboriginal politics: the intellectual voices of Aboriginal people themselves. Calihoo=s ideas and orientation participated in the production of what Meijer Drees calls >a particular language of citizenship and sovereignty.= This language was not the only language of citizenship and sovereignty; others vied for attention, producing an unpredictable dynamic between thought and action in Aboriginal politics. Attending to the elusive contours of this dynamic makes The Indian Association of Alberta an important contribution to Aboriginal political history in Canada. (PATRICK MACKLEM) Richard Ouzonian. Stratford Gold: 50 Years, 50 Stars, 50 Conversations McArthur. 398. $29.95 Robert Cushman. Fifty Seasons at Stratford McClelland and Stewart. 224. $60.00 The fiftieth anniversary of the Stratford Festival inspired three books in celebration. Martin Hunter=s Romancing the Bard pre-empted the others and was reviewed here last year; Richard Ouzonian=s Stratford Gold is based on a series of interviews for CBC television; and Robert Cushman=s Fifty Seasons is 338 letters in canada 2002 university of toronto quarterly, volume 73, number 1, winter 2003/4 the Festival=s official commemorative volume. Stratford Gold is a bright idea that transfers imperfectly from television to print. There is a certain showbiz cuteness in having fifty interviews because it was the theatre=s golden anniversary (and then including oneself as the final person interviewed); and several of the interlocutors B e.g., Andrea Martin, William Shatner B have been chosen more because they would be familiar to viewers than because they were very important at Stratford. On the other hand, some central figures are missing, most lamentably and mysteriously Douglas Campbell, a member of the very first production who was acting admirably as Falstaff in both parts of Henry IV during the anniversary season. Moreover, well-known actors such as Christopher Plummer and Bill Hutt are given significantly more space than either Michael Langham or Robin Phillips, the Festival=s most brilliant and influential artistic directors. The series is entertaining, occasionally illuminating , and obviously excellent publicity, but as a view of Stratford it is simplified and skewed for the television audience, and without their glamorous visuals the words seem flat. Cushman=s book is quite a different matter. To chronicle the more than 450 productions in Stratford=s first fifty years is a staggeringly difficult undertaking, and I do not see how it could possibly have been done better. To start with, Fifty Seasons is visually a...

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