Mixed Blessings: Indigenous Encounters with Christianity in Canada

Mixed Blessings transforms our understanding of the relationship between Indigenous people and Christianity in Canada from the early 1600s to the present day. While acknowledging the harm of colonialism, including the trauma inflicted by church-run residential schools, this interdisciplinary collection challenges the portrayal of Indigenous people as passive victims of malevolent missionaries who experienced a uniformly dark history. Instead, this book illuminates the diverse and multifaceted ways that Indigenous communities and individuals – including prominent leaders such as Louis Riel and Edward Ahenakew – have interacted, and continue to interact, meaningfully with Christianity.