I really appreciate the chance to address this particular issue.
First of all, in our publishing program we have made a big shift from having a lot of non-indigenous people writing about indigenous subject matter to trying to make more of an effort to engage indigenous people to write about indigenous subject matter. Then there's the complicated issue of people bringing forth the traditional stories, the traditional oral stories from their particular nation.
How is that handled? Publishers in Canada are developing a lot of practices around making sure that either the author or the publisher has gone back and talked to the stakeholders involved in those stories, whether it be the band council, the elders, the particular group of people, or the particular family, because sometimes within the indigenous tribe, stories will be dear to particular families and clans. We go to a lot of trouble now to make sure that trail is traced and those permissions are in place, and that quite possibly the royalties are being paid either to the band or the indigenous elders where the story is being derived from. We will no longer take a story from an indigenous author that is traditional material unless we've made sure they've gone through some process to basically validate why they're able to present that ownership.
Our second vein of attack right now is putting as much effort and study as we can to get more people at the editorial level, whether from an indigenous background or other diverse backgrounds, into the Canadian publishing industry. One good way to make sure indigenous material is treated more respectfully is by having indigenous editors.