The One Where IPIC had a Book Club: Valley of the Birdtail – An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation

Looking for some engaging end of summer reading? Join the IPIC Indigenous IP Community on a challenging, engaging, and inspirational journey laid out in an award winning book: "Valley of the Birdtail:  An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation".   Consider this your formal invite to join an IPIC Book Club webinar for a discussion with the authors, Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson, on Friday, October 18, 2024.

Given that it's summer, you might find welcome relief that this book sweeps you away from the structures of intellectual property law life.  But don’t be surprised.  Though the book will take you far from the office, reflecting on its contents will strengthen your practice as an IP practitioner (and human) in Canada and across Turtle Island. The Valley of the Birdtail will be relevant to every engagement you might have with an Indigenous artist, entrepreneur, inventor, business, their community, and beyond in the coming years.

The Engaging Story of the Valley of the Birdtail

Sanderson and Stobo Sniderman take us on a painful, inspirational, and necessary journey to the living reality of the Indigenous community on the Waywayseecapo Reserve from the late 1800s until 2010. The story of the Waywayseecapo Reserve is juxtaposed with the lives of the settler community in the town of Rossburn, that sat just across the Birdtail River valley from the Waywayseecapo Reserve, both about 150 km northwest of Brandon, Manitoba.  You are taken through contrasting personal stories, from the past and present, of the inhabitants of both communities.

The reader gets to see first-hand how two communities—one white and one Indigenous—become separate and unequal. The book is written in a way that makes the reader see the similarities between the communities and question through those similarities how one community was allowed to flourish, and the other was not.

Sanderson and Stobo Sniderman take the reader through a timeline of small and big events that contributed to the evolving racism, discrimination, and mistreatment of Indigenous people. There is a delicate and vivid re-telling of classical histories of how the Canadian Government approached the residential school system, negotiation of treaties across the prairies, before and after the Riel Rebellion (also called the North-West Resistance), and the brutal implementation of the Indian Act beginning in 1886, among other key moments in history that perpetuated the disregard to Indigenous territory and way of life.  The use of real-life families helps the reader explore the complex reactions from Indigenous individuals and communities. At the end we are left with the possibility that Waywayseecapo and Rossburn may begin to see each other as travellers on parallel roads, although there is no guarantee this future will hold.

Connection to the IP Profession

The IPIC Indigenous IP Committee has positioned itself to identify gaps in Canada's IP laws as they relate to Indigenous Knowledge and rights, and advocate for the evolution of these laws in a manner consistent with Canada's UNDRIP obligations.

The Committee recognizes that it is impossible to discuss Indigenous law without taking an honest look at the truth underlying Indigenous/settler relations since the time of contact.   Encountering the lived experience of Indigenous people is fundamental to understanding how laws and practices are conveyed.  As IP practitioners who have inherited a system of laws that have reinforced the separate and unequal treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada, it seems incumbent on us to take a hard look to recognize the truths of where we are coming from, before we can truthfully discuss visions or hopes for where we might go together.

So, while the book does not speak to IP expressly, the interconnected nature of history and how we practice law today will help IP practitioners develop a better sense of the differences in working with Indigenous peoples and communities as compared to non-indigenous.

Join Us for a Unique Book Club Experience

We hope that we have struck your curiosity, drive for deeper learning, and pursuit of reconciliation to join us October 18, 2024 for a unique book club experience. Find out how through this link.