Late-Life Homelessness: Experiences of Disadvantage and Unequal Aging

with origins that predated the creation of their community. As Rück has stated, The Laws and the Land examines primarily the actions committed on an Indigenous community by the state instead of presenting these relationships as Indigenous history. While the author begins with a focus on settler colonialism, he gradually reveals his work is much more than a micro example of colonization on the outskirts of one of Canada’s largest cities. Kahnawa’kehró:non did not simply respond to these enormous pressures, they innovatively made decisions to protect their community and minimized the harm. Kahnawà:ke law may have been the basis of this resistance, but new ideas emerged from dire situations. While settler colonialism is a popular approach to Indigenous history, it should be asked if there is a danger in over emphasizing its strength. It seems that Kahnawà:ke experienced a higher degree of settler colonialism than its neighbors. Other reserves in the valley surely had similar challenges, but by the nineteenth century, Kahnawà:ke’s location—once prized for trade and alliance formation—was on the front lines of industrialization that could not be stopped. Rück knows the invasion of the setter state of Canada that he so carefully lays out caused considerable harm to Indigenous people, and it continues to do so. He values forging positive relationships with Indigenous community members, and these personable connections have not only changed him as a scholar, but also reveal the benefits they produce in writing about Indigenous communities. While some readers may hesitate with the author’s movement toward a declension narrative, Rück truly makes us appreciate the significant obstacles that Kahnawa’kehró:non confronted to protect their land base and assert their own laws.