Still Ruffling Feathers

Let Us Put Our Minds Together

Wanda Wuttunee

• Publisher: University of Manitoba Press
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781772841213
• Subtopic: Sociology

Revisiting the political activism of WIC Wuttunee

William (Bill) Wuttunee was a trailblazing lawyer, a courageous native rights activist; and one of the architects of the process for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His 1971 book, Ruffled Feathers: Indians in Canadian Society, decried conditions on reserves and pressed for integration—on Indigenous peoples' own terms—supporting many of the aims of the Trudeau government's 1969 "White Paper." Though controversial at the time, Wuttunee's arguments were rooted in a foundational belief in the strengths of his people and a steadfast rejection of victimhood. In the fifty years that have followed its publication, Ruffled Feathers has been largely forgotten, though ideas that Wuttunee put forth—ending the Indian Act and the reserve system—continue to find space within contemporary Canadian political discourse.

In this volume, editor Wanda Wuttunee gathers a diverse cohort of scholars to engage with her father's ideas and offer their own perspectives on the opportunities and challenges facing Indigenous peoples in Canada, then and now. Favouring discourse over conclusions, Still Ruffling Feathers leads the reader to a nuanced understanding of the ongoing conversations and unresolved issues stemming from the Indian Act and invites us to envision miyo-pimâtisiwin, "the good life."

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Prologue: Excerpt from Ruffled Feathers (1971)
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Reflections on a Legacy—An Eagle Eye Perspective
• Chapter Two: Still Ruffling Feathers Too—More than Fifty Years later
• Chapter Three: William Wuttunee—Ruffling Feathers in “Indian” Time and Space
• Chapter Four: Learning to Straighten Our Ruffled Feathers—An Education
• Chapter Five: Ruffled Feathers—A Critical Assessment
• Chapter Six: Final Thoughts—Debating Our Future, Coming to One Mind
• Appendix: Discussion Questions
• Notes
• Bibliography