Conversations with a Dead Man

As a poet and citizen deeply concerned by the Oka Crisis, the Idle No More protests, and Canadas ongoing failure to resolve First Nations issues, Montreal author Mark Abley has long been haunted by the figure of Duncan Campbell Scott, known both as the architect of Canadas most destructive Aboriginal policies and as one of the nations major poets. Who was this enigmatic figure who could compose a sonnet to an “Onondaga Madonna one moment and promote a “final solution to the “Indian problem the next? In this passionate, intelligent and highly readable inquiry into the state of Canadas troubled Aboriginal relations, Abley alternates between analysis of current events and an imagined debate with the spirit of Duncan Campbell Scott, whose defense of the Indian Residential School and belief in assimilation illuminate the historical roots underlying todays First Nations struggles.