Purich Publishing was founded by Don Purich and Karen Bolstad in 1992. Together, they built an influential and enduring list of books in Indigenous studies and law, and about Western Canadian issues. On December 1, 2015, Purich Publishing’s list was acquired by UBC Press, whose existing strengths in the fields of Indigenous studies and law made it an ideal home for Purich.
UBC Press will continue to build on this significant legacy under a new imprint, Purich Books. We are moving forward with a clear purpose: to publish impassioned and experienced voices that will ignite understanding and champion change. Informed by substantive knowledge and written with the vigor of direct engagement, these are the books, the authors, and the ideas that readers will come to know as essential.
A Healthy Society, Updated and Expanded Edition
How a Focus on Health Can Revive Canadian Democracy
A Healthy Society draws on one doctor’s experience in family practice, community building, and politics to envision a new approach to politics – and a healthier world.
- Copyright year: 2018
Hunting the Northern Character
This deeply personal account of recent developments in the Canadian North tells the story of a region that leaders in Oslo, Ottawa, Moscow, and Washington often refuse to see and that only insiders fully know.
- Copyright year: 2018
Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada, Third Edition
Current Trends and Issues
An interdisciplinary guide for learning about government policy and the aspirations of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples.
- Copyright year: 2008
Cree Narrative Memory
From Treaties to Contemporary Times
Drawing upon the narrative memory of his family from the James Smith and Sandy Lake reserves in Saskatchewan, Neal McLeod gives a narrative history of the determination and adaptability of Plains Cree.
- Copyright year: 2007
The Cypress Hills
An Island by Itself
Building on the success of their earlier work, The Cypress Hills: The Land and its People, Hildebrandt and Hubner revisit the hills and bring new and updated material to this book.
- Copyright year: 2007
Two Families
Treaties and Government
Through an examination of treaty rights, Johnson makes a passionate plea for equality and harmony between First Nations, governments, and society in general.
- Copyright year: 2007
Gambling with the Future
The Evolution of Aboriginal Gaming in Canada
Slots, cards, and casinos: what does gambling mean to First Nations communities in Canada?
- Copyright year: 2006
Justice for Young Offenders
Their Needs, Our Responses
This ground-breaking analysis of complex issues of youth justice challenges the assumptions behind Canada’s approach to youth justice and mental health disorders.
- Copyright year: 2006
Treaty Promises, Indian Reality
Life on a Reserve
In a respectful and personal account of his life and the Cowessess people, Harold LeRat, shares the history and many successes of Indian peoples, despite the numerous challenges they faced.
- Copyright year: 2005
A Breach of Duty
Fiduciary Obligations and Aboriginal Peoples
The government, Guerin, and the golf course: the inside story of the Musqueam people’s 26-year struggle to right the injustice done to them by the federal government in leasing their land as a golf course.
- Copyright year: 2005
Advancing Aboriginal Claims
Visions/Strategies/Directions
Policy, philosophy, strategy, and legal arguments are combined to build innovative strategies to advance Aboriginal claims.
- Copyright year: 2005
Tough on Kids
Rethinking Approaches to Youth Justice
In this compelling, thought-provoking and sometimes heartbreaking book, the authors use the stories of their young clients to illustrate the very real costs of the current system, analyzing theories behind youth justice, and how these are reflected in Canadian legislation both past and present.
- Copyright year: 2003