In this pioneering book, Bonita Lawrence draws on the first-person accounts of thirty Toronto residents of Aboriginal descent, as well as archival materials, sociological research, and her own urban Native heritage and experiences to shed light on the Canadian government’s efforts to define Native identity through the years. She describes the devastating loss of community that has resulted and how urban Native people have wrestled with their past and current identities. Lawrence also explores the forms of nation-building that can reconcile the differences in experiences and distinct agendas of urban and reserve-based Native communities. "A participant-scholar who engaged in this dynamic study through her own personal involvement as an urban Indian, Lawrence, who currently teaches at Queens University, combined a rigorous interview process that included thirty mixed-blood Natives living in Toronto with solid secondary research to create a book that proves far more ambitious than the title might indicate." --;i>American Review of Canadian Studies" --Margaret Connell Szasz "American Review of Canadian Studies " "Her chapter detailing how sexism influenced Indian identities is already becoming a classic, used as it is in several introductory area studies courses. Also noteworthy is Lawrence''s handling of issues of appearance. . . . This book should interest scholars of Aboriginal studies and women''s studies." --Jean-Paul Restoule, "University of Toronto Quarterly" --Jean-Paul Resoule "University of Toronto Quarterly " "This valuable . . . Book makes relentlessly clear that Canadians of mixed heritage have fared little better than mixed-race Americans in creating political or personal identities."--;i>Western Historical Quaterly" --Beth LaDow "Western Historical Quarterly " "What is an Indian? What does it mean to be Indian? These are the questions Lawrence seeks to answer in this path-breaking study."--;i>Journal of the West" --Todd Leahy "Journal of the West " " What is an Indian? What does it mean to be Indian? These are the questions Lawrence seeks to answer in this path-breaking study. " A pioneering look at how mixed-blood urban Native people understand their identities and struggle to survive in a world that often fails to recognize them. Bonita Lawrence is an associate professor at York University, where she teaches anti-racism and Native Studies.