First Person Plural

An innovative, interdisciplinary study of the nature, significance, and impact of “told-to” narratives in debates about Indigenous voice and literary and political sovereignty.

Focusing on the 1990s, when debates over voice and representation were particularly explosive, McCall investigates a wide range of “told-to” narratives that have shaped the struggle for Aboriginal rights in Canada, and asks what is at stake in crafting a politics and ethics of collaboration.

In this innovative exploration, told-to narratives, or collaboratively produced texts by Aboriginal storytellers and (usually) non-Aboriginal writers, are not romanticized as unmediated translations of oral documents, nor are they dismissed as corruptions of original works. Rather, the approach emphasizes the interpenetration of authorship and collaboration. Focused on the 1990s, when debates over voice and representation were particularly explosive, this comprehensive study examines a range of told-to narratives -- ethnography, life narrative, documentary -- in conjunction with key political events that have shaped the struggle for Aboriginal rights in Canada. Emphasizing the scope rather than the limits of the told-to narrative, McCall considers how Aboriginal voices have been represented in a variety of forums such as public inquiries, commissioners’ reports, and land claims cases.

A captivating inquiry, First Person Plural offers a vital, interdisciplinary discussion of how told-to narratives contribute to larger debates about Indigenous voice and literary and political sovereignty.