The Rise of Indigenous Economic Power: Deconstructing Indian ACT Economics

Indigenomics in action--moving beyond Indian Act economics towards Indigenous economic sovereignty

In this groundbreaking new work, Carol Anne Hilton, author of the bestselling Indigenomics, explores the phenomenon of growing Indigenous economic power and sovereignty, achieved despite monumental historic injustices.

The Indigenous economy in Canada is on track to exceed ＄100 billion. Yet full Indigenous participation at the economic table is still fundamentally lacking, due in large part to the inherently colonial and racist policies of the Indian Act. Hilton deconstructs these systemic barriers and maps an ethical way forward based on radical inclusion and Indigenomics in action.

Coverage includes:

• The far-reaching social and moral consequences of Indian Act economics--a tool used to legislate away Indigenous rights and jurisdiction with the express purpose of erasing First Nations
• The true cost of maintaining the status quo, from perpetuating inequality and cycles of Indigenous poverty, to lost opportunities for value-creation in Indigenous and settler economies
• Twenty-five transformative trends driving Indigenous economic growth.

Required reading for Indigenous organizations, Nations, and allies; business leaders and investors; lawyers and policymakers; governments at all levels; and everyone interested in reconciliation, decolonization, and building a just, prosperous, and inclusive society.

Carol Anne Hilton, MBA, is founder of the Indigenomics Institute, the Global Center of Indigenomics, and the Global Indigenous Technology House, which focuses on the economic empowerment of Indigenous Peoples. She is a Hesquiaht woman of Nuu chah nulth descent from the west coast of Vancouver Island, and is from the house of Mam’aayutch, a chief’s house, a name which means ＂on the edge.＂ Hilton is the first generation out of Canadian residential schools, fifth generation since the establishment of the Indian Act, and comes from over 10,000 years of the potlatch tradition of giving and the demonstration of wealth and relationship. Her work focuses on building a collective reality that centers Indigenous peoples in social and cultural well-being and economic empowerment today, and is leading the evolution of Canada’s ＄100 billion Indigenous economy. An advisor to governments, business, and First Nations, she is author of the award-winning Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economic Table. She lives in Victoria, BC.