Thank you Jeff, Aiden, and Riley. Jeff, without your support, this adaptation would not have been possible. I am so grateful for the time you, Aiden, and Riley gave me. Jeff—you are the best personal finance teacher I have ever had. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. Thank you to my grandparents, parents, and brothers. You have all been a source of inspiration on this topic. Brittany and Athena—you have also been a source of inspiration. Mom and Dad—thank you for everything. I wouldn’t have got here without you. Bob and Donna—thank you for all of your support.
Thank you to the original authors of this textbook. Certainly, there would be no text without your knowledge, hard work, and vision. I want to thank University of Regina Press for giving me this opportunity. I am particularly thankful for Elsa Johnston’s unwavering support and guidance throughout this process; I couldn’t have done this without her. I am incredibly thankful for the support of the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv), my colleagues there, and the Elders who contributed to this text. Many thanks to Elder Florence Allen, Elder Millie Anderson, Elder Rose Bird, Elder Norma Jean Byrd, Elder Audrey Cochrane, Elder Willie Ermine, Elder Gilbert Kewistep, and Elder Margaret Reynolds. I am very grateful to the Elders for their time and insights. Thank you to Grace McLeod for her assistance with the Kehte-ayak Council and her encouragement to create the Financial Empowerment course that led to this textbook project. I would particularly like to thank Dr. Bob Kayseas, FNUniv’s VP Academic, for his constant support and review of the introduction. The evolution of this project and my work in personal finance would never have come to be without the support of FNUniv.
Thank you to Robert Anderson for all of the encouragement and support of my research over the years. I would also like to thank Kim Wenger, the Newo Yotina Friendship Centre, and the Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network for supporting the initial research that eventually led to this textbook adaptation.
A big thank you to Karen Duncan (University of Manitoba) for your review of the textbook and your detailed feedback. I greatly value your extensive knowledge in the field of Canadian family finance. I would also like to thank Brenda Spotton Visano (York University) for her review of the text and her very valuable comments. Many thanks to Jodi Letkiewicz (York University) for your revisions and significant contributions to Chapter 4; I am extremely grateful for your help. A big thank you to Randy Linton (University of Regina) for your review of Chapter 6; Jim MacKenzie (University of Regina) for your review of Chapter 10; Kris Wanner (Conexus Credit Union) for your review of Chapter 11; and Arturo Rubalcava (University of Regina) for your review of Chapter 13. Many thanks as well to Jane Rooney and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada for its valuable contributions to the text. Thank you, Juliet Bushi, for your work on the text as a research assistant and the help you provided me. Many thanks to Terry Massey and Merelda Fiddler for their assistance with the video production of the Elder interviews. Thank you to Mercedes Keshane and Terry Massey for the beautiful cover photo. I am also very grateful to Ryan Perks for his detailed copy-edit of the text, to Marionne Cronin for her thorough proofreading skills, and to Mo Mirbagheri for the creation of searchable tables. Thank you to James Holobetz, Trevor Cunningham, and Trevor Kiel at the University of Regina for all their technical support and assistance with hosting and promoting this textbook and the Elder interviews. This text is far better because of all of you.
I am grateful to First Nations Development Institute, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, AFOA BC, and other Indigenous organizations for the innovative work they have accomplished and the teachings they have provided with regard to Indigenous-relevant financial literacy. I also want to thank Forward Visions Games, Conexus Credit Union, and the USAND group for their support of FNUniv’s Financial Empowerment course. Without their support, this course and textbook project would never have come to be. I want to particularly thank Eric Dillon, Annette Revet, and Kris Wanner from Conexus Credit Union for their additional support throughout this textbook project.
Bettina Schneider