The situation of Aboriginal people in Canada deserves close attention from academic researchers and policy makers. While it is important to explore the larger questions of self-government, sovereignty, and land claims, it is also necessary to conduct research based on the current reality of Aboriginals in order to develop relevant and effective strategies. This collected volume of essays brings together researchers and policy makers in an attempt to provide an empirical foundation for building better policy and better communities for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The research itself is structured around two central questions: What is the situation? How has it developed? The effort to answer these questions provides a substantial basis for future development and initiatives.

The authors argue that it is necessary to focus on Aboriginal communities when conducting research on the situation of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. They suggest that a focus on either the entire Aboriginal population of Canada or on individual situations distort the reality of Aboriginal lives. “The movement toward more sovereignty, and the continuation and development of collectivities of Aboriginal Canadians as nations with boundaries and rights, presupposes that the collective level is critical in terms of building capacity and success” (265). According to White and Maxim, the study of communities is central to understanding how factors in the make-up and functioning of communities lead to differential population outcomes. This leads to the development of a new conceptual model presented in the book that focuses on the centrality of communities and utilises a more group-based approach.

The community-based approach offers significant potential for overcoming the problems associated with research that either regards Aboriginal Canadians as a homogenous group or that focuses on individuals, ignoring the importance of functioning communities for individual well-being. At the same time, however, a community-based focus has the potential to exclude other external societal and political factors that impact the lives of Aboriginals in Canada; for example, structural racism. Thus, while a focus on community-based research and analysis is important, it should not be done in isolation. While some chapters address the impact of external factors (e.g., an analysis of the impact of federal definitions of who is an “Indian” on status and identity in Chapters Two and Three), the text sometimes gives the impression that Aboriginal people live entirely separate from other Canadians and that their communities are not affected by the larger Canadian society.

One of the main strengths of this collection is its recognition of the diversity of Aboriginal people in Canada and their varying situations in the collection and analysis of data. The researchers question the idea of who is Aboriginal and how this group is defined. They not only refuse to view Aboriginals as a homogenous group but address their diversity through their exploration of the differences between Aboriginal Canadians and Canadians as a whole, the differences between Aboriginal communities, and the differences within the communities: for example, between men and women, and the young and the elderly. The attention given to diversity is extremely important for building good policy and recognising the different needs of diverse groups across the country. This allows the authors to provide an empirical basis for some common beliefs regarding the situation of Aboriginal Canadians, as well as to refute others. For example, in Part Four, a modified version of the Human Development Index is used to measure development within Aboriginal communities and to compare them with each other, with Canada as a whole, and with other developed and developing states. In Chapter Five, Norris, Cooke and Clatworthy refute the common assertion of provincial premiers that a net migration from reserves to cities exists (116). While there is a greater focus on status and reserve-based Aboriginals in the book—likely due to the policy focus of the research and the fact that most policy is directed at these two groups—the common mistake of focussing solely on these two groups, excluding Inuit, Metis, and urban Aboriginals, is avoided.

One of the aspects of this book that I appreciated the most was its refusal to offer simple answers and solutions to what are very complicated questions and situations. The diversity of Aboriginal people in Canada and the need for diverse policy initiatives is reflected in the approach of the authors. This can be seen in Guimond's analysis of shifting identities in Chapter Four; Norris, Cooke and Clatworthy's analysis of Aboriginal mobility and migration in Chapter Five; and in the work of O'Sullivan (Chapter Six) and Norris and MacCon (Chapter Seven) on language retention and transmission. Overall, the authors recognise the pitfalls of a simplistic or homogenous approach to understanding these issues and developing policy. While the book could go further in presenting policy options based on their research, the authors do provide an initial step towards finding appropriate solutions to some of the problems Aboriginal communities face.

The aim of Aboriginal Conditions is to strengthen the ties between policy and research. The empirical work presented here provides a strong foundation for future research and policy development, as well as contributing to our understanding of the situation of Aboriginal communities in Canada.