VALLEY OF THE BIRDTAIL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

(for classrooms & book clubs & keen readers)

1. In reading Valley of the Birdtail, what did you learn about Canadian history that surprised you? Does it change your understanding of Canada?

2. In what ways was the treatment of Ukrainian immigrants similar to the experiences of Indigenous Peoples in Canada? In what ways was it different?

3. Do you recognize any of the characters of this book in people in your own life? If so, who and why?

4. Try to imagine an alternative history in which Indigenous Peoples in Canada were treated fairly. How might things have gone differently?

5. Identify three injustices described in this book. How should we—as individuals, as communities, as a country—address past harms, including those committed before we were born, or even before our families immigrated to Canada?

6. What sorts of changes would you have recommended to better meet the needs of Indigenous students at the Rossburn schools during the 1960s? What are the potential upsides and downsides of integrated education, versus separate schools on reserves?

7. Did Hayter Reed think he was doing the right thing? If so, is that relevant for how we judge him from the present?

8. How can we explain Clifford Sifton’s open-mindedness with respect to Ukrainian immigrants but closedmindedness with respect to Indigenous Peoples?

9. Imagine that you wake up tomorrow to find that you and your neighbours are now subject to a pass system, and if you want to go anywhere beyond a ten-block radius of your home, you now need permission from a government official, which can be given or denied at the official’s discretion. How would this affect your life?

10. Nelson Luhowy describes his younger self as “a racist” (p. 276). If you were hoping to change the opinions of one such individual, what do you think would be the most effective means of shifting their thoughts and feelings?

11. The government and First Nations had very different understandings of Treaty 4. What are the implications of this? And what is to be done about it?

12. Consider the following quote from Lord Tweedsmuir, governor general of Canada in 1936: “I do not believe that any people can be strong unless they remember and keep in touch with all their past. Your traditions are all valuable contributions toward our Canadian culture which cannot be a copy of any old thing—it must be a new thing created by the contributions of all the elements” (p. 180). Although he was addressing Ukrainian Canadians, does this quote apply equally well to Indigenous Peoples? If so, what would this mean for Canada? 13. Why, in your own words, did Canada underfund students on reserves for so long?

14. What lessons can we draw from the partnership of Waywayseecappo and the Park West School Division? Are there limits to how applicable these lessons might be to other Indigenous and settler communities?

15. As the authors note, whether Canadians are arguing that Indigenous individuals and communities receive too little funding, or benefits that are too generous, “both sides invoke equality, but there is no basic agreement on what equality means or what fairness entails” (p. 254). How do you think equality is relevant to relations between Indigenous Peoples and settlers?