Although the rest of Canada has a long history of treaty making, British Columbia has refused to negotiate treaties with Natives since 1854. In 1991, B.C. reversed this position. Events across Canada in the years 1990 and 1991 provide a case study to explain why this decision was made. Quebec’s Oka crisis catalyzed the decision making process underway in B.C. First, during the Oka crisis, B.C. agreed to cooperate with the federal government on a strategy to settle Indian land claims. Second, following the Oka crisis, the First Nations and the federal and provincial governments set up the B.C. Claims Task Force to recommend how these negotiations should proceed. Third, the Task Force made recommendations to address numerous Native grievances and to prevent “another Oka.” Fourth, because of the changed political environment in B.C., both governments accepted all the Task Force’s recommendations by December 10, 1991. It can be argued that B.C. took a rational approach in making this decision to negotiate. The B.C. comprehensive claims conflict can be viewed as part of the evolution of the Native/non—Native relationship in Canada. In early Canada, the two parties initially cooperated through trading and military alliances. Next, in the coercive phase of their relationship, the parties interacted through treaty making and assimilation attempts. Starting in 1969, Natives used protests, lobbying, and legal cases to confront non—Natives. Although B.C. followed a similar pattern, this province’s most notable difference is that no major treaties were signed here. Now, by agreeing to negotiate comprehensive land claims, B.C. is starting to re—establish the cooperative relationship that Natives and non—Natives initially had. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

While Canada is often called a pluralist state, there are no sustained studies by political scientists in which aboriginal self-government is discussed specifically in terms of the analytical tradition of pluralist thought. Aboriginal self-government is usually discussed as an issue of cultural preservation or national self-determination. Aboriginal identity is framed in terms of cultural and national traits that are unique to an aboriginal community and selfgovernment is taken to represent the aboriginal communal desire to protect and preserve those traits. Is such an understanding of what motivates aboriginal self-government accurate, or does it yield an incomplete understanding of the complex phenomenon that aboriginal selfgovernment in Canada represents? The political tradition of pluralism allows for analysis of aboriginal self-government that addresses questions left unattended by the cultural and nationalist frameworks. Pluralism is often viewed as a public arrangement in which distinct groups are given room to live side by side, characterized by mutual recognition and affirmation. At the same time, there are different faces of pluralist theory and each addresses questions about the recognition and affirmation of aboriginal self-government in different ways. Those three contemporary faces can be distinguished by the labels communitarian, individualist, and relational. The major hypothesis advanced is that aboriginal self-government is better understood if an "identification" perspective on aboriginal identity is adopted as opposed to a "cultural" or "national" one and if that perspective is linked to a relational theory of pluralism as opposed to a communitarian or individualist one. The identification approach examines aboriginal identity not in terms of cultural and political traits, but in terms of identification with, and political commitment to, an aboriginal community. Relational pluralism in turn, examines the challenge of aboriginal self-government in terms of power differences within aboriginal communities and between aboriginal and Canadian governments. Applying these approaches to aboriginal politics in Canada confirms their suitability. Contrary to what previous scholarship has assumed, aboriginal self-government should not be seen primarily as a tool to preserve cultural and national differences as goods in and of themselves. The politics of aboriginal self-government should be seen as involving demands to equalize current imbalances in power so that aboriginal communities and the individuals within them can construct aboriginal identities according to their own design.

While Canada is often called a pluralist state, there are no sustained studies by political scientists in which aboriginal self-government is discussed specifically in terms of the analytical tradition of pluralist thought. Aboriginal self-government is usually discussed as an issue of cultural preservation or national self-determination. Aboriginal identity is framed in terms of cultural and national traits that are unique to an aboriginal community and selfgovernment is taken to represent the aboriginal communal desire to protect and preserve those traits. Is such an understanding of what motivates aboriginal self-government accurate, or does it yield an incomplete understanding of the complex phenomenon that aboriginal selfgovernment in Canada represents? The political tradition of pluralism allows for analysis of aboriginal self-government that addresses questions left unattended by the cultural and nationalist frameworks. Pluralism is often viewed as a public arrangement in which distinct groups are given room to live side by side, characterized by mutual recognition and affirmation. At the same time, there are different faces of pluralist theory and each addresses questions about the recognition and affirmation of aboriginal self-government in different ways. Those three contemporary faces can be distinguished by the labels communitarian, individualist, and relational. The major hypothesis advanced is that aboriginal self-government is better understood if an "identification" perspective on aboriginal identity is adopted as opposed to a "cultural" or "national" one and if that perspective is linked to a relational theory of pluralism as opposed to a communitarian or individualist one. The identification approach examines aboriginal identity not in terms of cultural and political traits, but in terms of identification with, and political commitment to, an aboriginal community. Relational pluralism in turn, examines the challenge of aboriginal self-government in terms of power differences within aboriginal communities and between aboriginal and Canadian governments. Applying these approaches to aboriginal politics in Canada confirms their suitability. Contrary to what previous scholarship has assumed, aboriginal self-government should not be seen primarily as a tool to preserve cultural and national differences as goods in and of themselves. The politics of aboriginal self-government should be seen as involving demands to equalize current imbalances in power so that aboriginal communities and the individuals within them can construct aboriginal identities according to their own design. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

This thesis studies the socio-political evolution of Nunavut, a proposed political entity in the Canadian Arctic, and tries to pinpoint its potential impact and influence for Canada, nationally and internationally. This study of political geography is done by way of discourse and content analysis of Inuit publications (Inuit Today, Nunavut Newsletters) and governmental documents (Hansard, the Gazette of Canada, etc). This analysis covers a time-period of 16 years, from the foundation of the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC) in 1971 to the last Conference of First Ministers on aboriginal rights in 1987. This time-period is subdivided into three segments of approximately 5 years: (1) Planning period (1971-76), (2) Preparation period (1976-82), (3) Negotiation period (1982-87). The introduction and conclusion of the thesis elaborate on the evolution of world affairs toward globalism and on the evolution of the Fourth World in this context.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of History. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/07/23. Includes bibliographical references.

Over the past two decades, aboriginal peoples in Canada have become involved in the process of constitutional revision. As they became engaged in constitutional debates, aboriginal peoples developed a discourse that centred on historic rights, past injustices, and differences from the broader Canadian community. New terms and concepts which described these identities were introduced into constitutional language. An analysis of the testimony of the national aboriginal organizations before Special Joint Committees on the Constitution and the transcripts of the First Ministers' Conferences on Aboriginal Constitutional Matters reveals how aboriginal peoples attempted to reshape the political world through the Constitution. Aboriginal discourse has highlighted the role of the Canadian Constitution as an emblem of status and inclusion in Canadian society. Aboriginal peoples have sought recognition in the Constitution as a way to improve their status and gain symbolic admission into the Canadian state. However, they have sought inclusion according to their own narratives of their history, identity, and aspirations. These separate identities have been reflected in the words they have chosen to describe themselves and their relationship to the Canadian state. Aboriginal constitutional language has served to develop aboriginal identities and alter the terms of Canadian constitutional discourse. The discourse reveals some of the problems posed by aboriginal use of terms such as nation, sovereignty and rights, both for aboriginal and Canadian political leaders. Ultimately, the discourse poses new challenges to concepts of shared Canadian citizenship and identity. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

The central problem addressed in this thesis was formulated in 1965 and 1966 during participation in a study of administrative and other problems relating to the Indians of Canada. As it is now generalized, it has become a problem of conceptualization posed by population aggregates within any larger polity. Most studies of contemporary Indians in Canada and the United States employ as a major model and unit of analysis concepts such as society and community, in which spatial and social boundaries are treated as coterminous. In the first chapter of this thesis, I have discussed the limitations of these concepts when they are applied to smaller population aggregates such as Indian bands or reserve populations. In the second chapter, I have constructed an alternative framework in which the conceptual distinction between people and systems of social relationship is made a central feature. In this model the unit of analysis is an aggregation of people either spatially or socially distinct, for which I have used the term population in an attempt to avoid the unwanted connotations of such terms as "community". The population is regarded not as having a social system in the way that societies and communities are conceived, but as being a nexus of many systems of social relationship, some of which may be contained within its boundaries and some extending far beyond them. The population is thus envisaged as the context or social field within which individuals act. The systems of social relationship intersecting in a population are conceived of as existing as models in the minds of the actors and the observer, with each actor holding at least two: an ideal model of his social context as he would like it to be, and a concrete model of how he believes it actually to be. Actors make choices of behaviour within the framework of constraints and incentives provided by these models, their situation, and the choices of others. In Chapters III, IV, and V, three Indian Reserve populations are described and discussed in terms of this conceptual scheme, using data I collected in 1965 and 1966. The potential of the scheme for explaining and interpreting behaviour and events is demonstrated in Chapter VI, where the position of the bands in the larger polity is analysed, and interaction between Indians and government personnel, the formation of reserve power groups, factionalism, and the quality of reserve life are discussed as further tests of the scheme's utility. In Chapter VII, it is concluded that in spite of differences in organization, location, cultural heritage, and economic activity, the three reserve populations have many features in common, and that these features may be accounted for in terms of the particular interconnections of systems that they represent. It is further concluded that the framework of concepts developed in Chapter II provides an improved model for the description, analysis, and comparison of aggregations of people that do not fit the standard definitions of community and society. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

In this thesis I have set out to examine the historic change in the primary unit of Kwakiutl property tenure as it reflects the changing character of social relations between the members of this society. In order to follow this particular development the units of Kwakiutl social organization have been situated within the history of the period under scrutiny. This study commences with the speculative reconstruction of Kwakiutl social organization just prior to direct European contact. The namima is presented here as a property holding descent group with an inalienable attachment to an exclusive estate composed of specific territories, supernatural powers, and prerogatives. As a unit of economic production and consumption the namima was able to derive all of its material sustenance from this estate. The relations between individuals and the degree of access to the fruits of the harvest were organized according to the hierarchical order within each of these descent groups. The Kwakiutl became involved in the fur trade before the end of the 18th century as European entrepreneurs extended their trans-continental network. The wealth gleaned from this trade was integrated into the Kwakiutl economy to the enhancement of the existing social order. European settlement on the Northwest coast introduced the option of participation in the wage economy. This economy offered individual Kwakiutl men and women the experience of creating wealth outside of the traditional economic unit. Individuals began to seek status on the basis of their achievements. This change exemplified the new mode of relations. Individuals who had previously related as members of a descent group were now distinguished on the basis of their acquired wealth. While namima members of high birth maintained their title to traditional properties, these properties no longer, figured significantly in the native economy. In the 1880's the Department of Indian Affairs imposed units of property tenure upon the Kwakiutl without regard for the traditional native units. The populations identified within each administrative units were forced to recognize the imposed structure in order to represent their interests. In the years following 1830, then, the namima declined as the primary unit of Kwakiutl property tenure. The Kwakiutl redefined the units of social interaction as the character of social relations changed due to the introduction of new forms of wealth and land tenure. Today the namima is a specialized concept shared by a few Kwakiutl elders, anthropologists, and several Kwakiutl individuals involved in cultural revitalization. As the Kwakiutl acquire greater political and administrative independence in the near future it is certain that the namima will continue to be redefined. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

In this thesis, I argue that the First Nations Governance Act (FNGA) shares the colonial aspirations of other pieces of historical legislation in the Canadian context. The FNGA attempted to have First Nations' local governing structures mirror those of the Canadian state. As a result, this piece of legislation fails to recognize and respect the jurisdictional authority of First Nations over their own internal socio-political structures and systems. The FNGA is therefore a colonial assault on First Nations' jurisdiction in the realm of governance undermining the right to self-government and self-determination of First Nations. / I demonstrate this by examining three major issues dealt with in the FNGA: the status of historical and modern Canada-First Nations treaties, the jurisdiction of First Nations governance authority as well as control over band membership and Indian status classification systems.