Not long after this, the federal Department of Indian Affairs hired Manuel for a position with the Cowichan Tribes government at Duncan.
In addition to assisting the tribe, he also worked to increase wider awareness in the government and society of the problems and conditions faced by the Cowichan people.
[2] He had begun to think deeply about the effects of successive waves of European expansion on Indigenous societies in the Americas, and considered these native peoples together as "the Fourth World."
Manuel wrote a book, The Fourth World: An Indian Reality, expanding on this idea, co-written with Michael Posluns; it was published in 1975.
"[4] George Manuel was President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)[5] from 1979 to 1981, where he continued to inspire indigenous action.
He developed the Aboriginal Rights Position Paper and organized what came to be regarded as one of the UBCIC's most ambitious projects: the Indian Constitutional Express.
[7] In 2023, Canada Post announced that Manuel will be one of three people, alongside Nellie Cournoyea and Thelma Chalifoux, honoured as indigenous pioneers on new postage stamps.