Serpent River Resurgence: Confronting Uranium Mining at Elliot Lake

Serpent River Resurgence tells the story of how the Serpent River Anishinaabek confronted the persistent forces of settler colonialism and the effects of uranium mining at Elliot Lake, Ontario. Drawing on extensive archival, participant interview, and newspaper sources, Lianne C. Leddy examines the environmental and political power relationships that affected her homeland in the Cold War period.

Leddy details the establishment of uranium mining operations at Elliot Lake and the ways in which the lives of the Serpent River Anishinaabek were changed by an influx of settlers in the 1950s and 1960s. Focusing on Indigenous-settler relations, the environmental and health consequences of the uranium industry, and the importance of traditional uses of land and what happens when they are compromised, Serpent River Resurgence explores how settler colonialism and Anishinaabe resistance remained potent forces in Indigenous communities throughout the second half of the twentieth century. While the book emphasizes the persistence of settler colonial forces and policies in Canada, it is also optimistic in its focus on the power of Indigenous voices and community mobilization in mounting successful resistance and reclamation of the land.