Thesis (M.A.)--McGill University, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references : p. 105-110.

This thesis examines the discourse surrounding the debate over whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ought to apply to First Nations governments in Canada. This is a constitutional and legal grey area at present because Section 32 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stipulates that this constitutional document applies to the federal, provincial and territorial governments, but does not mention Aboriginal governments. The lack of constitutional clarity on this issue has generated a debate involving three schools of thought. The first school proposes that the Charter ought to apply to First Nations governments just as it does to other governments in Canada. The second school of thought argues that the Charter should not apply to First Nations governments because it is an imposition of western liberal values on their governments that could limit their self-governing authority. Proponents of this view assert that recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights in the Constitution should entitle First Nations to develop their own rights practices, consistent with Aboriginal laws and customs. A third school of thought suggests that there may be alternatives between accepting the Charter as it is and rejecting it altogether. Two options have been advocated by this school. One option is for the Charter to apply with a caveat that it be done in a manner that is consonant with traditional Aboriginal laws and customs. The other option is that a parallel Aboriginal Charter of Rights and Freedoms be developed that better reflects Aboriginal traditions on rights. While this debate has been ongoing, the Government of Canada and some First Nations have entered into self-governing agreements that acknowledge the application of the Canadian Charter to those particular governments. This thesis concludes that there is no easy resolution to the debate, that it may take the courts to resolve the issue in law, and this outcome itself may be unsatisfactory to First Nations communities.

First Nations peoples in Canada are increasingly referred to as an ‘at risk’ population for the development of poor health outcomes. While these health inequalities are well established in the literature, there is a lack of understanding of how health is both defined by First Nations peoples. This thesis describes a community-based participatory research project with First Nations girls in the Battlefords Tribal Council region. The purpose of this project was to explore the ways in which these girls negotiate different meanings of health and the body, as guided by their words and stories. The project design incorporated various methods including individual interviews, sharing circles, photovoice, and art collages. The participants were given cameras with which to take photographs that represented their understandings of health in their communities; they also completed art collages that further explored the healthy body and body image. Following the completion of the photovoice and art projects, the girls discussed their photographs and their understandings of the healthy body and body image in further detail in both individual interviews and sharing circles. This research has been informed by feminist and sociological theories of the body, which acknowledge social and historical influences on health and the body and the agency of individuals. The thesis is organized in a manuscript style format and, as such, contains three analysis chapters comprised of manuscripts either published in or submitted to academic journals. The findings of this study reveal that the girls have both insightful and holistic definitions of both the healthy body and body image. The first manuscript discusses findings of the girls’ perceptions of health as a holistic concept. The second manuscript details findings of the girls’ personal resilience showcased in their narratives of the healthy body and body image. The third and final manuscript discusses in detail the undertaking of this community-based participatory project, focusing on the strengths and challenges of this particular research project. The discussions and knowledge created by the girls make a valuable contribution to the literature by increasing our collective understanding of how the healthy body and body image are defined by First Nations girls living on-reserve. In this thesis, I argue, as guided by the words of the girls, that health needs to be understood in a more holistic manner, particularly in the design of health promotion materials, programs, and services designed for First Nations youth. This compliments recent literature that views health in a holistic manner. I also discuss the empowering potential that a community-based participatory project presents when working with First Nations youth.

This thesis examines the discourse surrounding the debate over whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ought to apply to First Nations governments in Canada. This is a constitutional and legal grey area at present because Section 32 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stipulates that this constitutional document applies to the federal, provincial and territorial governments, but does not mention Aboriginal governments. The lack of constitutional clarity on this issue has generated a debate involving three schools of thought. The first school proposes that the Charter ought to apply to First Nations governments just as it does to other governments in Canada. The second school of thought argues that the Charter should not apply to First Nations governments because it is an imposition of western liberal values on their governments that could limit their self-governing authority. Proponents of this view assert that recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights in the Constitution should entitle First Nations to develop their own rights practices, consistent with Aboriginal laws and customs. A third school of thought suggests that there may be alternatives between accepting the Charter as it is and rejecting it altogether. Two options have been advocated by this school. One option is for the Charter to apply with a caveat that it be done in a manner that is consonant with traditional Aboriginal laws and customs. The other option is that a parallel Aboriginal Charter of Rights and Freedoms be developed that better reflects Aboriginal traditions on rights. While this debate has been ongoing, the Government of Canada and some First Nations have entered into self-governing agreements that acknowledge the application of the Canadian Charter to those particular governments. This thesis concludes that there is no easy resolution to the debate, that it may take the courts to resolve the issue in law, and this outcome itself may be unsatisfactory to First Nations communities.

This study examined the nature of the apparent increases in grade 12 enrolment patterns of status Indians in British Columbia from 1949 to 1985 in the light of a theory of context. This theory assumes that education takes place in, and is affected by, a context of conditions both external and internal to education. The external factors assumed to affect student achievement are the prevailing social, political, and economic conditions while the internal factors assumed to affect student achievement are curriculum and teacher characteristics. Historical evidence confirmed that a contextual change took place within the dominant society. This change was characterized as a move from a condition in which the dominant society excluded minorities (exclusion) to one in which the dominant society included minorities (inclusion) coincident with the apparent grade 12 enrolment increases of status Indians in British Columbia during the period covered by the study. When the enrolments were subjected to time-series analysis the results showed that the grade 12 enrolments had increased significantly between 1949 and 1985. This finding supported the hypothesis that inclusion was positively associated with academic achievement as measured by enrolment into grade 12. Inclusion by the dominant society was seen to have evoked at least two responses by Indian groups. Therefore, although a positive association between inclusion and academic achievement has been established it was necessary to compare contrasting responses to inclusion. For this purpose two British Columbia bands which were similar in terms of geographic, demographic, and cultural characteristics, but different in terms of their control of education, were selected. Band A was identified as having chosen to remain under government control with respect to Indian education between 1976 and 1985 while Band B had chosen to exercise Indian control with respect to Indian education during the same period. Their respective grade 12 enrolment patterns were then subjected to time-series analysis which revealed a significant difference in enrolment patterns. Band A's enrolment pattern was both linear and stationary, indicating a consistent level of enrolment over time. Band B's enrolment pattern, however, showed an abrupt constant intervention effect (significant at the .05 level, t=7.79) beginning at 1979. Since both bands began their enrolment pattern at about the same level, Band B's significant enrolment increase supported the prediction that Indian control of Indian education was positively associated with academic achievement as measured by grade 12 enrolments of status Indians while Band A's stationary enrolment pattern supported the hypothesis that government control of Indian education was associated with no increase in academic achievement as measured by enrolment into grade 12. The findings of this study indicate the explanatory value of a theory of context for academic achievement. Not only does the study suggest that improved student achievement of status Indians in British Columbia as measured by enrolment into grade 12 is found in a favorable context of external and internal conditions, but the study also suggests the necessity for a proactive response to these conditions. One such proactive response is Indian control of Indian education. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This paper explores and compares the ways in which novelist and playwright Tomson Highway and visual artist and poet Neal McLeod use traditional and contemporary Cree narratives to represent personal and collective cultural experiences, both past and present. In Highways novel <i>Kiss of the Fur Queen</i>, and in McLeods exhibition of paintings <i>Sons of a Lost River</i>, the mythic figure of the wîhtikow, a cannibalistic entity that symbolizes the destructive forces of colonialism and urbanization, as well as the self-abusive patterns found within the individual psyche, is used in counterpoint with the Cree trickster wîsahkecâhk, elemental spirits like the Thunderbird, and heroes such as ayash and pîkahin okosisa to express a multi-stylistic array of cultural meanings that avoid absolute interpretations. Highway and McLeod create myths that explore the oppressive as well as the redemptive processes of their cultural heritage over centuries of engagement with colonial powers and institutions.

This paper explores and compares the ways in which novelist and playwright Tomson Highway and visual artist and poet Neal McLeod use traditional and contemporary Cree narratives to represent personal and collective cultural experiences, both past and present. In Highways novel <i>Kiss of the Fur Queen</i>, and in McLeods exhibition of paintings <i>Sons of a Lost River</i>, the mythic figure of the wîhtikow, a cannibalistic entity that symbolizes the destructive forces of colonialism and urbanization, as well as the self-abusive patterns found within the individual psyche, is used in counterpoint with the Cree trickster wîsahkecâhk, elemental spirits like the Thunderbird, and heroes such as ayash and pîkahin okosisa to express a multi-stylistic array of cultural meanings that avoid absolute interpretations. Highway and McLeod create myths that explore the oppressive as well as the redemptive processes of their cultural heritage over centuries of engagement with colonial powers and institutions.

Education for First Nations must be understood within the historical context which saw their cultural, linguistic, and traditional knowledge undermined and devalued (Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). The conditions that exist for First Nations today are a result of First Nations people having been disadvantaged in a multitude of ways by colonization and nowhere more so than in the First Nations education system, because the structure of formal schooling has as its foundation colonial institutions (Battiste, 2013). It is for these reasons that I use a postcolonial theoretical framework to guide this study. As the education leaders in First Nations communities, I examine the nature of the work of First Nations Directors of Education working or who worked recently in First Nations band-operated on-reserve school systems in Manitoba, Canada. This qualitative research study explores selected aspects of their experiences, perspectives, preparation, and training. Through the eyes, voices, and stories of the participants, this study seeks to understand the milieu that is First Nations on-reserve education. The results of the study identify what can be done to bring about transformational change for First Nations students. The study found that the role of the First Nations Director of Education is multi-faceted and complex. The roles and responsibilities that the participants identified were categorized using Cuban’s (1988) typology of core roles: managerial, political, and instructional. Their work is influenced by many factors including underfunding, lack of resources, high teacher turnover, and the on-going impacts of the residential schools and colonialism. The study identifies the need for specific training and provides recommendations for practice and future research. / October 2016

This thesis examines the relationship between the provincial Crown and Aboriginal peoples in the particular context of the prairie provinces to determine whether or not it can be described as fiduciary and, if so, what obligations arise from it. <p>While very few judicial decisions have dealt with this specific issue, an analysis of the existing jurisprudence suggests that there are two types of fiduciary relationships in which Aboriginal peoples are involved. The first type is a manifestation of the more traditional fiduciary concept. It is similar to classic fiduciary situations, such as doctor/patient, director/corporation, partner/partner, in which a fiduciary having control over the property or person of another must act in that other person's best interests. In the Aboriginal context, the power of the federal Crown over surrendered Indian reserve lands and over Indian moneys is limited by its fiduciary obligations of this traditional type. The second type is unique to the situation of Aboriginal peoples. It arises out of the constitutional protection provided to Aboriginal and treaty rights and gives rise to obligations that limit the jurisdiction of federal and provincial governments over them. <p> This thesis concludes that the provincial Crown in the prairie provinces possesses no fiduciary obligations arising directly out of its relationship with First Nations peoples, in the classic fiduciary sense, because history and the Constitution have established that that relationship is with the federal Crown. Provincial fiduciary obligations are limited to those arising from the constitutional protection of Aboriginal and treaty rights and thus arise only in respect of constitutionally valid provincial laws that infringe on such rights. In Saskatchewan, the only infringing provincial laws that are possible are those made under the authority provided by paragraph 12 of the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, 1930, which authorizes Saskatchewan to make limited laws relating to hunting, fishing and trapping applicable to Indians.

This thesis examines the relationship between the provincial Crown and Aboriginal peoples in the particular context of the prairie provinces to determine whether or not it can be described as fiduciary and, if so, what obligations arise from it. <p>While very few judicial decisions have dealt with this specific issue, an analysis of the existing jurisprudence suggests that there are two types of fiduciary relationships in which Aboriginal peoples are involved. The first type is a manifestation of the more traditional fiduciary concept. It is similar to classic fiduciary situations, such as doctor/patient, director/corporation, partner/partner, in which a fiduciary having control over the property or person of another must act in that other person's best interests. In the Aboriginal context, the power of the federal Crown over surrendered Indian reserve lands and over Indian moneys is limited by its fiduciary obligations of this traditional type. The second type is unique to the situation of Aboriginal peoples. It arises out of the constitutional protection provided to Aboriginal and treaty rights and gives rise to obligations that limit the jurisdiction of federal and provincial governments over them. <p> This thesis concludes that the provincial Crown in the prairie provinces possesses no fiduciary obligations arising directly out of its relationship with First Nations peoples, in the classic fiduciary sense, because history and the Constitution have established that that relationship is with the federal Crown. Provincial fiduciary obligations are limited to those arising from the constitutional protection of Aboriginal and treaty rights and thus arise only in respect of constitutionally valid provincial laws that infringe on such rights. In Saskatchewan, the only infringing provincial laws that are possible are those made under the authority provided by paragraph 12 of the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, 1930, which authorizes Saskatchewan to make limited laws relating to hunting, fishing and trapping applicable to Indians.