Authenticity for Raibmon is a category of analysis. Like other categories of analysis, such as race, class, and gender, Authenticity is used to subvert the idea that the "binary system" constructed between aboriginal authentic and non-authentic is "a natural manifestation of common sense" (206). In the place of a "manifestation of common sense" we have something, and idea, that is culturally constructed. Yet, as Raibom shows through her study, these cultural constructs have very real world effects on the native peoples of the North West. Keeping in mind the real world effects of this "authenticity we have manufactured" is something that i believe Raibmon was striving for with this work, and it's pretty evident within her conclusion (205).
Also, reducing the events and actions that historical actors take within Authentic Indians to that of economic determinism drastically reduces the agency that these actors could have. Also, reducing the situation to pure economics fails to reveal the power that the "Authentic" binary produced on both colonizer and subject. It is important to keep in mind the Catch-22 that Raibom refers to, that Aboriginal "engagement with colonial agents and categories - whether acquiescent, collaborative, or defiant- further entrenched colonial hegemony." (10)
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