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Q&A on the Indian Act with Bob Joseph open to Greater Victoria residents

Bob Joseph is the author of 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
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Bob Joseph, author of 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, will be available for a Q&A through the Vancouver Island Regional Library Jan. 28. (Courtesy of Vancouver Island Regional Library)

Greater Victoria residents will soon have the chance to set their questions to bestselling novelist of 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Bob Joseph.

Hosted by Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL), Joseph will be presenting a virtual seminar and taking questions during a limited-capacity Zoom event on Jan. 28 at 2 p.m.

“Bob’s presentations are informative, thought-provoking, insightful, entertaining, and accessible — they shed a clear light on a dark chapter in our history, and provide us with opportunities to learn from the past as we strive for a better future,” Melissa Legacy, VIRL director of library services and planning, said.

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Joseph decided to write 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act after an article of his on the subject went viral and he realized there was a real desire from Canadians to understand a piece of history they are rarely taught. As founder of Indigenous Corporate Training, Joseph said he would often notice during training sessions that people knew Indigenous history dates from the start of colonization and more recent ones like the Oka Crisis, but very few knew about the Indian Act.

In his book, Joseph focuses on 21 parts of the legal document that was first introduced in 1876, such as denying Indigenous women status if they married a non-Indian man, introducing residential schools, establishing the band council system and renaming Indigenous people with European names. Joseph’s Indigenous name is K’axwsumala’galis. He is a member of the Gwawa’enuxw Nation and Gayaxala (Thunderbird) clan.

Because space for Joseph’s event is limited, interested people are asked to register ahead at virl.bc.ca.

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