The fourth world : an Indian reality

Summary: The Fourth World is a moving narrative of the Canadian Indian, of all aboriginal peoples everywhere, told with wisdom and compassion, not with the harsh clamour of militant rhetoric. Its view of the world of tomorrow is of a nation state that would contain within itself many different cultures and life ways, some highly tribal and traditional, some highly urban and individual. George Manuel, a leader in the North American Indian movement, along with co-author Michael Posluns, presents an informative and important historical document which traces the struggle for Indian survival as a nation, culture, and as a reality. This struggle, as seen through the eyes and experiences of a leader in that battle, sheds new light on alternatives for co-existence. The Fourth World is an alternative to the new world, the old world and, of late, the Third World. The authors contrast the lives and cultures that presently exist on the North American continent. On the one hand, the native Indians - a culture of sharing, with an economy which is one with the land. On the other hand, the Europeans - coming to the new world with technology, manifest destiny, and the need to accumulate. These two cultures have NOT co-existed. The Europeans, according to the authors, have dominated and exploited, trying to assimilate and thus destroy the native culture. In order for that native way of life to survive and for European culture to continue and prosper, a new order must be developed. The authors call for a re-evaluation by "conquerors" of their European basis, structures, goals, and moral imperatives. The Fourth World is a nation state in which natives and Europeans can live together, one state within the other, without domination, but with respect for different ways of life. The thoughts in The Fourth World are as provocative as they are historically informative. They are thoughts not of one man, but of a culture which lives with the earth, not simply on it.

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