21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act by Bob Joseph

The follow-up to 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Bob Joseph has returned with a very practical guide on what Indigenous self-government may look like – and how settlers can support Indigenous self-government, the untangling of the Indian Act, and ways to pull levers of power to move back to Indigenous self-government. Joseph is an educator, a Status Indian, and a hereditary chief in the Gayaxala (Thunderbird) clan, of the Gwawaʼenux̱w, one of the tribes that make up the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, whose traditional lands are on the Pacific Northwest coast. Joseph’s work has long been educating about Indigenous relations, and here, he once again speaks to a mainstream settler audience, with an easy to understand text on what happened, why it happened, and how we move forward with truth and reconciliation in a meaningful manner, at a societal level, but also what you, a random person, can do.

Once again, in reading Joseph’s work, I’m struck with the thought that this is a gift. This is a book you can find pretty much anywhere in Canada, and you can pick it up and learn about what Indigenous self-government can be, even after hundreds of years of colonialism in North America and the necessary healing and repair that needs to be done. We still have so much work to do! Case in point, the fact that Joseph even needed to write this book! But we’ve come so far in having this conversation at a societal level that this book exists and you can go find it easily—and you should.

Joseph divides the text into two parts: part 1 recaps the history of colonialism and cultural genocide in North America, while part 2 contains 21 chapters talking about different facets of Indigenous self-government, including information about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), dissolving the trustee-wardship relationship outlined in the Indian Act, being clear that Indigenous peoples get to decide who’s part of their community and how to govern their communities, and talking about the partnerships that local settler governments can have with Indigenous governments, so that the whole area can be stronger.

Bob Joseph, the founder of Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., has provided training on Indigenous and Aboriginal relations since 1994. As a certified Master Trainer, Bob assists both individuals and organizations in building Indigenous or Aboriginal relations. His Canadian clients include all levels of government, Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, including the World Bank, small and medium-sized corporate enterprises, and Indigenous Peoples. He has worked internationally for clients in the United States, Guatemala, Peru, and New Caledonia in the South Pacific. In 2006, Bob co-facilitated a worldwide Indigenous Peoples’ round table in Switzerland which included participants from the United Nations, Australia, New Zealand, North, Central and South America, Africa, and the Philippines.

In May 2001, Bob was profiled in an annual feature called, “Training: the New Guard 2001” by the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) in their prestigious Magazine, “T + D”. Bob was one of nine trainers selected for the feature from over 70,000 members who from more than 100 countries and 15,000 organizations.

Bob additionally has worked as an associate professor at Royal Roads University. He has an educational background in Business Administration and International Trade.

As an author and co-author, Bob has contributed to a number of resources relating to working with Aboriginal or Indigenous Peoples. He also manages a blog called “Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples”®, which is a resource that supports people in their Indigenous relations endeavours.

Bob Joseph is an Indigenous person, more specifically a Status Indian, and is a member of the Gwawaenuk Nation. The Gwawaenuk is one of the many Kwakwaka’wakw tribes located between Comox and Port Hardy on Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland of British Columbia. He comes from a proud potlatch family, is an initiated member of the Hamatsa Society, and a Hereditary Chief.

Publisher: Page Two Books (September 2, 2025)
Paperback: 8″ x 5″ | 216 pp
ISBN: 9781774586273

Alison Manley

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Alison Manley has ricocheted between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for most of her life. Now in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she is the Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian at Saint Mary's University. Her past life includes a long stint as a hospital librarian on the banks of the mighty Miramichi River. She has an honours BA in political science and English from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University. While she's adamant that her love of reading has nothing to do with her work, her ability to consume large amounts of information very quickly sure is helpful. She is often identified by her very red lipstick, and lives with her partner Brett and cat, Toasted Marshmallow.