A follow-up to Claiming Anishinaabe, Gehl v Canada is the story of Lynn Gehl's lifelong journey of survival against the nation-state's constant genocidal assault against her existence. While Canada set up its colonial powers-including the Supreme Court, House of Commons, Senate Chamber, and the Residences of the Prime Minister and Governor General-on her traditional Algonquin territory, usurping the riches and resources of the land, she was pushed to the margins, exiled to a life of poverty in Toronto's inner-city. With only beads in her pocket, Gehl spent her entire life fighting back, and now offers an insider analysis of Indian Act litigation, the narrow remedies the court imposes, and of obfuscating parliamentary discourse, as well as an important critique of the methodology of legal positivism. Drawing on social identity and Indigenous theories, the author presents Disenfranchised Spirit Theory, revealing insights into the identity struggles facing Indigenous Peoples to this day.

Denied her Indigenous status, Lynn Gehl has been fighting her entire life to reclaim mino-pimadiziwin --the good life. Exploring Anishinaabeg philosophy and Anishinaabeg conceptions of truth, Gehl shows how she came to locate her spirit and decolonize her identity, thereby becoming, in her words, "fully human." Gehl also provides a harsh critique of Canada and takes on important anti-colonial battles, including sex discrimination in the Indian Act and the destruction of sacred places. "Gehl is at the cutting edge with her concepts and ideas... She is on a journey and documents it well." - Lorelei Anne Lambert, author of Research for Indigenous Survival "[C]lear, insightful, and desperately needed..." - Lorraine F. Mayer, author of Cries from a Metis Heart "[T]he discussion of the heart and mind knowledge, as well as the discussion on the Anishinaabeg Clan System of Governance, [are] major contributions to the research." - Marlyn Bennett, co-editor of Pushing the Margins

A follow-up to Claiming Anishinaabe, Gehl v Canada is the story of Lynn Gehl's lifelong journey of survival against the nation-state's constant genocidal assault against her existence. While Canada set up its colonial powersincluding the Supreme Court, House of Commons, Senate Chamber, and the Residences of the Prime Minister and Governor Generalon her traditional Algonquin territory, usurping the riches and resources of the land, she was pushed to the margins, exiled to a life of poverty in Toronto's inner-city. With only beads in her pocket, Gehl spent her entire life fighting back, and now offers an insider analysis of Indian Act litigation, the narrow remedies the court imposes, and of obfuscating parliamentary discourse, as well as an important critique of the methodology of legal positivism. Drawing on social identity and Indigenous theories, the author presents Disenfranchised Spirit Theory, revealing insights into the identity struggles facing Indigenous Peoples to this day.

From the Foreword: I am inclined to think that when Creator lowered Lynn to Mother Earth it was for her to complete this difficult task of bravery. Indeed we can all learn from her, as she has fulfilled her responsibility. - Heather Majaury In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Treaty at Niagara, The Truth that Wampum Tells offers readers a first-ever insider analysis of the contemporary land claims and self-government process in Canada. Incorporating an analysis of traditional symbolic literacy known as wampum diplomacy, Lynn Gehl argues that despite Canada's constitutional beginnings, first codified in the 1763 Royal Proclamation and ratified during the 1764 Treaty at Niagara, Canada continues to deny the Algonquin Anishinaabeg their right to land and resources, their right to live as a sovereign nation and consequently their ability to live mino-pimadiziwin (the good life). Gehl moves beyond Western scholarly approaches rooted in historical archives, academic literature and the interview method. She also moves beyond discussions of Indigenous methodologies, offering an analysis through Debwewin Journey: a wholistic Anishinaabeg way of knowing that incorporates both mind knowledge and heart knowledge and that produces one's debwewin (personal truth).