This important work brings to an English-language audience the educational history of an Indigenous group whose experience is highly relevant to other minority populations internationally. The voices of Smi teachers and administrators are front and centre. This broadens our understanding of the agency of Indigenous peoples historically and helps the reader to recognize similarities and differences based on the contexts in which assimilation attempts occurred. Frances Helyar, Lakehead University [This book] grapples with conditions across the board in three neighbouring countries, allowing for useful comparative perspectives on their response to difference in education. Well written and easy to digest, the book combines a big-picture account with an in-depth engagement with the positions taken by Smi teachers, who often inhabited the roles of debaters and activists. [It] will be valuable for the historical understanding of the dynamics that have impacted the peoples indigenous to the Nordic north and beyond. *University of Toronto Quarterly *
Otso Kortekangas is a researcher at the Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.