Lighting the Eighth Fire: The Liberation, Resurgence, and Protection of Indigenous Nations (review)

This book is part of an emerging field known as “Indigenous Resurgence” (see, for example: Taiaiake Alfred. Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2005; Ty P. Kāwika Tengan. Native Men Remade: Gender and Nation in Contemporary Hawai’i. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2008) that emphasizes community regeneration by reconnecting Indigenous people with the sources of their spiritual and cultural power (relationships, homelands, ceremonial life, languages, histories, etc.). Inspired by Nishnaabe prophecies that detail the emergence of the Oshkimaadiziig (new people) from the Seventh Fire and their revival of the cultural, political, and economic traditions of the people, Nishnaabekwe scholar Leanne Simpson has put together an impressive collaboration of Indigenous scholars with thirteen chapters that “rely heavily on the growing, yet still marginalized, body of fourth-world theory—theories, strategies, and analysis strongly rooted in the values, knowledge, and philosophies of Indigenous Nations” (15). One of the unique features of this edited volume is that each of the contributing authors writes from a strong foundation within their own Indigenous nation in connecting sacred living histories with present and future actions. This marks a departure from previous works that all too often rely on artificial “pan-Aboriginalism,” which emphasize a “manufactured hegemonic ‘Aboriginal’ culture” (16). Additionally, each of these chapters is written in a manner that makes them accessible to Indigenous communities while also reporting the latest and most innovative research that Indigenous scholars have to offer.

Whether examining Haudenosaunee land ethics and treaty agreements as the basis for restructuring relationships (Hill, chapter 1), the cultural and political implications of the Douglas Treaties and the WSANEC Reef Net Fisheries (Claxton, chapter 2), or the power and connection to land that can be found in a Mi’kmaq Honour Song (Metallic, chapter 3), each of the chapters addresses the power of traditional teachings and wisdom, and their importance in regenerating and maintaining our contemporary roles and responsibilities. For example, in Anishnaabe scholar Renée Bédard’s chapter on “Keepers of the Water” (chapter 5), she describes how Nishnaabe-kwewag are responsible for praying and caring for the water during ceremonies. As “carriers of the water,” Nishnaabe women have an “intimate connection with water because of their ability to bring forth life” (99). Yet today this community’s relationship with water is threatened by pollutants and “state-of-the-art filtration technology” that remove all life forms from the water. As a response to these current threats to Nishnaabeg people, the Mother Earth Water Walkers were formed in 2002 to “carry water from each of the Great Lakes in a copper pot, saying prayers and singing songs of the water along the route” (104). Josephine, one of the organizers of the walk, describes the event “as a calling, not just for herself, but for all women” (105). In this chapter, Bédard makes a crucial link between the importance of water to all women (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) in their role as lifegivers. By contextualizing Indigenous struggles in terms of their local and global implications, Bédard’s work reflects the resilience and rootedness of our communities when confronting contemporary colonial realties.

In chapter 4, Simpson presents a four-part strategy to further promote Indigenous decolonization and resurgence: “the need to confront our own ‘funding’ mentality; the need to confront linguistic genocide; the need to vision resurgence; and the need to awaken ancient treaty and diplomatic mechanisms for relating to, and building solidarity with, neighbouring nations” (76).

It is useful to keep these four strategies in mind when reading the other chapters in order to see how they reflect these principles. While all chapters do, for example, attempt to confront the contemporary impacts of “linguistic genocide” to varying degrees, only Fred (Gopit) Metallic directly addresses language loss in chapter 3 when he uses a Mi’kmaq honour song to show how Mi’kmaq can stay “connected with our environment, with...