“Canadians and politicians have a common responsibility: to learn from the mistakes inherited from a colonialist legacy; and to not repeat the wrongs, corruption, and injustices our people suffered in the hands of government officials, politicians, and their oppressive laws. Reading and learning from Cheated would be a good place to start reconciliation and reparation.” — Ovide Mercredi, former National Chief of the Assembly of First NationsThe story of how Laurier Liberals took hold of the Department of Indian Affairs in 1896 and transformed it into a machine for expropriating Indigenous land.You won’t find the Ocean Man and Pheasant Rump reserves on a map of southeastern Saskatchewan. In 1901, the two Nakoda bands reluctantly surrendered the 70 square miles granted to them under treaty. It’s just one of more than two dozen surrenders aggressively pursued by the Laurier Liberal government over a fifteen-year period. One in five acres was taken from First Nations.This confiscation was justified on the grounds that prairie bands had too much land and that it would be better used by white settlers. In reality, the surrendered land was largely scooped up by Liberal speculators — including three senior civil servants and a Liberal cabinet minister —and flipped for a tidy profit. None were held to account.Cheated is a gripping story of single-minded politicians, uncompromising Indian Affairs officials, grasping government appointees, and well-connected Liberal speculators, set against a backdrop of politics, power, patronage, and profit. The Laurier government’s settlement of western Canada can never be looked at the same way again.Sales and Market Bullets2021 CHERYL AND HENRY KLOPPENBURG AWARD FOR LITERARY EXCELLENCE: Bill Waiser won this award honoring a Saskatchewan writer who has written a substantial body of acclaimed literary work and has had a significant impact on writing in Saskatchewan. The jury said this of Waiser: “Throughout his long and accomplished career during which he produced 19 books, Bill Waiser has focused on chronicling the history and heritage of Saskatchewan. He has done so with passion and enviable skill, employing an accessible style to create captivating stories about events both great and small.”A RELENTLESS SEARCH: While researching, Jennie Hansen noticed the ability of the DIA to present itself as an untouchable monolith. She was persistent in her pursuit of the truth behind Thomas R. Ferguson’s sessional papers and what actually happened in the so-called “land surrenders” under the Laurier administration. Cheated lays bare what actually went on behind closed doors, thanks to Hansen’s extensive research.A NECESSARY READ FOR ALL CANADIANS: Just as the terrible legacy of Canada’s residential school system is being recognized, so too must be the Laurier government’s determined push to take away reserve land. Up to now, most of the public interest and focus has been on the Indian Affairs politics of Canada’s first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, and Cheated will shed light on another shameful period of Canadian history. ECW’S EXPANDING HISTORY LIST: A growing history list means ECW has key publicity contacts and a growing marketing strategy for how to reach history readers. In fall 2021 we published John Little’s two-volume series, The Donnellys, which saw virtual events with 1,000+ attendees and multiple publicity hits in London, Ontario, media.