In the pre-reserve era, Aboriginal bands in the northern plains maintained fluid and inclusive membership through traditional kinship practices governed by the Law of the People as described in traditional Elder Brother stories. Elder Brother stories outlined social interaction, marriage, adoption, and kinship roles and responsibilities. In Elder Brother and the Law of the People, Innes offers a detailed analysis of the role of Elder Brother stories in historical and contemporary kinship practices in Cowessess First Nation, located in southeastern Saskatchewan. He reveals how these practices undermine legal and scholarly definitions of “Indian” and counter the perception that First Nations people have internalized such classifications. Elder Brother and the Law of the People presents an entirely new way of viewing Aboriginal cultural identity on the northern plains.
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