The identities of mixed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal descendents in British Columbia is as varied as it is complex. In this paper I examine what caused some people of mixed Native and non-Native ancestry not to identify as Aboriginal while others did. The point of fracture for those who identify with their Aboriginal origins and those who do not can be traced to a specific time in our history. More importantly, specific variables were instrumental in causing that divergence of identity, spurred by a pervasive social stigma in colonial society. For many of mixed ancestry, the disassociation from their Aboriginal identity led to generations of silence and denial and eventually to a 'complete disappearance of race'. It was a deliberate breeding out of cultural identity through assimilative ideology and actions in order to conform to European norms. Determining what factors caused this divergence of identity for mixed-descendents entails considering why many Aboriginal women married non-Native partners in B.C. during the mid-19th century, how intermarriage affected identity formation for offspring, and what the multi-generational effects have been on the identities of mixed descendents. Today, this leaves a dilemma for those in-between who are eligible for status, and for those who are not but who choose to reconnect with, acknowledge and learn more of their ancestry. Both assertions of First Nations identity and choices to reconnect with a First Nations heritage while maintaining a non-Native identity, challenge the assumed inevitability of assimilation, and the federal government's continuing reluctance to understand the cultural significance of identification as 'Indian'.

This project explores the “Laurier Memorial,” a pivotal document written by Chiefs of the Secwépemc, Nlaka’pamux, and Syilx Nations of interior British Columbia, and presented to Prime Minister Laurier in 1910. With the assistance of Scottish-born ethnologist James Teit, the Memorial is written in lucid first-person narrative, charting the history of relations between these Interior Tribes and settler populations, then putting forward a different vision of relations based in traditional law, reciprocity, obligation, mutual sovereignty and shared jurisdiction. As the document continues to circulate a century later, drawing new relations around it, it provides insight into Indigenous-State relations throughout history and how we might make moves towards resolving them. This work looks at the document’s proposal, its continued relevance and circulation, its nuanced impacts on broader political relations, as well as its impacts on my own political, personal, and research relationships.

This thesis examines institutional change on Canadian First Nation reserves. Specifically, it looks at the factors that may affect a First Nation’s decision to adopt the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, which allows First Nations to opt out of the 34 land code provisions of the Indian Act and develop individual land codes. The Framework Agreement is promoted as a way for First Nations to gain greater autonomy over their lands and to promote economic development. Using data from First Nation reserves and populations, a probit model was used to determine the effects of certain characteristics on the probability a First Nation will adopt the Framework Agreement. The results of this study indicate that proximity to an urban centre positively affects the probability that a First Nation will adopt the Framework Agreement.

Grounded theory was used to collect and analyze data from a literature review and the lived experience with First Nations participants, a non-First Nations caseworker, and an Indigenous scholar in order to answer questions related to permanency for Aboriginal children-in-care. Assumptions underlying this study were the difference in child-rearing philosophies between First Nations and Western society – specifically as to what practice each culture considers to be in the best interests of the child. Also, negotiating “best interest of the child” lengthens the time it takes for children-in-care to find permanent homes, which may prevent them from achieving the self-confidence that comes from healthy identity formation. Research resulted in identifying effective practices, along with questions for further study. Some effective practices include ensuring the focus of care is on the child, reinforcing the importance of parenting; developing cross-culturally enhanced social work practices; cultural planning; open and custom open adoption; facilitating cross-cultural connections; and the importance of language in cross-cultural understanding.

Residential schools for Aboriginal children were a primary site of negotiations between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous subjects. These schools, and the records of peoples who occupied them, provide opportunities to better understand colonialism in British Columbia. Residential schools were places created to transform Aboriginal children, through assimilation, into a modernizing and colonial society. They are simultaneously places that offer access to Indigenous articulations of self and Indigeneity, expressions of resistance, and exertions of agency. Cultural products created by children in residential schools, particularly creative art products, allow us to visualize and understand Indigenous response to and evasions of colonial education. When taken together with Aboriginal peoples’ testimonies about the residential school experience, and with colonial records of the schools’ intents, children’s creative materials and expressions allow some access to the complex places that constituted the cultural geography of colonialism in British Columbia. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-28 12:31:18.229

Abstract This research explores the relationship between stories from the land and character education, and examines how the land forms the characters of those who live with Her. Twenty-seven participants were chosen through the snowball, or chain sampling, method from three groups of people living roughly within the boundaries of Hastings County, Ontario. Three groups of people were included: those living on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory; generational farmers, whose families had settled in this area; and relative newcomers who have come to the area as recently as twenty years ago and self-identified as coming here in order to be closer to the land. Ages varied, with the youngest participant being 30 years old and the eldest being 94. Each participant was asked to share a story from his or her experience of living with the land in this area. During personal visits, stories were conveyed through conversations between the participant and the researcher, and recorded using both audio and video equipment. After transcription, the stories were coded for evidence of character development and reflected upon using three lenses: Noddings (2003) circles of caring; Haig-Brown’s (2010) ways through which the land teaches us; and the traditional Ojibway story of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. This reflection process was guided by the notion of close reading of the transcripts, close listening to audio recordings for voice inflection and laughter, and close watching of video recordings for body language. Findings from the research revealed rich connections between the stories and the three lenses used. Every aspect of character development was evidenced in one or more stories. The stories affirmed that, as the elders have traditionally taught, the land moulds people. Those who live in the same area develop character in similar ways. There was no substantial difference shown between the character traits evident in the stories given by Mohawk people and those from the other two groups. Character traits identified were reflective of the skills necessarily developed to live and work on this land. Implications for the development of character education curriculum emerged from the consideration of the use of locally based stories within classrooms. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-12-17 11:03:25.805

This master’s thesis examines the extent to which collaborative planning and sustainable development theories and practices exist in First Nations’ Community-Based Land Use Plans in Canada. Collaborative planning has been developed from a westernized worldview. Despite its best intentions, collaborative planning has not always incorporated a First Nations’ perspective into its approach, which continues to reinforce a dichotomy between First Nations’ governments and Canadian federal and provincial governments (Porter, 2006). The dichotomy potentially exists due to the lack of grounds for successful collaborative planning between the various types of government bodies. It is important to examine, collaborative planning, and sustainable development in First Nations’ Community-Based Land Use Plans for theoretical/conceptual, practical, and ethical applications to Canadian planning. This thesis’ research was conducted using the following methodological processes: A literature review, thematic review and content analysis. The thematic review was of 14 First Nations’ Community-Based Land Use Plans throughout Canada. The thematic review resulted in a similarities, differences, and gap analysis. The content analysis was of three of the original 14 First Nations’ Community-Based Land Use Plans and used William C. Baer’s General Plan Evaluation Criteria (1997) adapted with collaborative planning and sustainable development elements to evaluate the three selected plans. The results from this research produced theoretical/conceptual, practical, and ethical contributions to the planning profession. / Thesis (Master, Urban & Regional Planning) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-10 19:05:31.748

This paper reports on a qualitative exploratory study focusing on the childbirth experiences of women and their families from a northern isolated community in Manitoba - who had to leave or were about to leave home to give birth. Perspectives from critical medical anthropology, cultural relativism and human ecological theory provided the theoretical foundation for this study. This study utilized ethnographic approaches to explore the perspectives of the women, their families and “significant others” and how they have been affected by policies, practices and structures at all levels of their environment in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the type of support and services that could potentially improve this experience. Presently, women from northern, rural and/or isolated communities leave home from a period of a few days up to 10 weeks to deliver their babies in an urban tertiary centre. They stay in boarding homes with others who have left home to obtain medical care, or with family and friends. During this period of time the women often do not access prenatal support or services within the regional health authority, other than medical care from a primary care provider (whom they may not have seen prior in their pregnancy) or to receive specialized medical intervention and monitoring. The boarding homes where they often stay do not offer any prenatal support or outreach services and are not conducive to housing women so close to delivering a baby. The women spoke of their experiences of giving birth marred by memories of fear, anger, frustration, tears and longing for family. They also spoke of a renewed sense of hope and excitement at the opportunity to share their ideas about possible ways that their experience could be improved. This paper breathed life into their thoughts and brought their ideas together to develop a new vision towards a system of supportive childbirth care for First Nation women in Manitoba, and more specifically, for women who are medically evacuated from the north to deliver their babies in urban Manitoba. For the Faculty of Medicine, it is a Master’s thesis, but for me and the many women and residents of Berens River, it is an opportunity for First Nation women to participate in shaping policy and influencing the direction for care and services that is created for them. It is important to acknowledge that evacuation and temporary relocation for birth is not an issue unique to First Nation women, it impacts hundreds of other northern and rural Métis and non-First Nation women every year. However, their experience is not included in this study. This paper suggests immediate and interim solutions for women who must leave home to give birth, albeit, the ultimate aim is to return birthing services closer to home.

Resistance to rectifying local injustice and methods of addressing such resistance are often studied in terms of motivational barriers (e.g., system justification, Jost & Banaji, 2004). I propose that a cognitive mechanism called construal level may also play an important role. Construal level refers to whether people are thinking concretely or abstractly. For example, if considering the act of locking a door, one might construe the behavior as putting a key in a lock (a concrete construal) or as securing a house (an abstract construal). Construal level theory (Liberman & Trope, 1998) states that people think concretely about near events and thinking concretely makes people more concerned about feasibility (e.g., “Is it affordable?”), whereas thinking abstractly makes people more concerned about morality (Eyal, Liberman, & Trope, 2008). Thus, inducing abstract thinking might increase support for addressing local injustice. I assessed this novel proposal in two experimental studies that focused on the lack of adequate water services in First Nations and included measures of social action as dependent variables. In Study 1 (n = 151 White Canadian undergraduates; 44% women), participants thought about either a local or distant injustice. I hypothesized participants would support the local injustice less as they would think more concretely and thus be more concerned with feasibility and less concerned with morality; no differences emerged (p’s > .36, d’s < .15). In Study 2 (n = 166 White Canadian undergraduates; 66% women), I directly manipulated construal level and had all participants consider a local injustice. People led to think abstractly (vs. concretely) were more supportive of addressing injustice because they were more morally outraged, experienced more empathy, and thought the problem was easier to solve, 95% CI = [0.22, 0.98]. Thus, the results suggest that induced abstract thinking may be an effective tool for achieving local social change.

Cultural oppression and marginalization through colonization of First Nation peoples has led to a variety of physical and mental health problems. Regaining health and well-being in these First Nations communities will require interventions sensitive to cultural needs and supportive of traditional practices. Anthropogenic induced climate change has the potential to warm the region around the Hudson and James Bay lowland by 3.9-4.5 ??C. This warming will affect both the traditional and conventional food system in the communities on the western James Bay coast. Western James Bay First Nations already face high levels of food insecurity. The traditional food system is becoming weakened as people participate less in hunting activities, and will become further degraded as climate change makes hunting practices more risky and expensive. However, climate warming may provide greater cultivation potential in the region improving local production of produce if these activities are pursued. Home gardening and community gardening have the potential to improve access to fresh vegetables, nutritional choices, and community cohesion if pursued in First Nations communities.