The St. Lawrence Seaway, constructed between 1954 and 1959, had a significant impact on the Mohawk community of Kahnawake. Located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, Kahnawake was faced with the expropriation of 1,262 acres of land for the construction of a canal that effectively cut off the community's access to the river and reduced its land base. Regarded by its members as one of the most important events in Kahnawake's history, the Seaway has become part of the everyday discourse of the community. This thesis examines two recurring themes in the discourse about the Seaway---the factionalism in the community at the time of the construction, and memories about the river---and illustrates how this event informs the present political identity of Kahnawake. The Seaway has become a metaphor for the intrusiveness of the Canadian government and the necessity of resisting any encroachment on Kahnawake's autonomy, and as such has played an important part in the development of nationalism in this community.

My dissertation focuses on the rise and spread of Aboriginal mobilization in Canada between 1951 and 2000. Using social movement and social-political theories, it questions the relationship between contentious actions and formal organizational growth comparing among social movement and political sociological perspectives. In most accounts, contentious action is assumed to be influenced by organization, political opportunity and identity. Few scholars, however, have examined the reverse relationships, namely the effect of contentious action on each of these. Drawing upon time-series data and qualitative interviews with Aboriginal leaders and representatives of organizations, I found that critical events surrounding moments of federal state building prompted contentious action, which then sparked mobilization among Aboriginal communities. I argue that three events: the 1969 White paper, the 1982 patriation of the Constitution, and the 1990 'Indian Summer' led to mass mobilization and the semblance of an emerging PanAboriginal identity. This finding returns to older collective behaviour perspectives, which note that organizations, opportunities, and identities are driven by triggering actions and shared experiences that produce emerging norms. Nevertheless, in the case of Canadian Aboriginal mobilization, unlike that of Indigenous movements in other countries, building a movement on triggering actions led to mass mobilization but was not sustainable because of a saturation of efficacy. As a result, Aboriginal mobilization in Canada has been characterized by divergent interests and unsustained contention.

Aboriginal governments are organizations like any other, but they have some important differences that stem from the cultures of aboriginal peoples and the history and construction of aboriginal governments in Canada. Colonization brought particular conceptions of work and administration that are not always compatible with aboriginal cultures. Aboriginal governments are grounded in their respective communities and cultures and at the same time exist within a Canadian political system that reflects the values of a western, non-aboriginal society. The practice of administrative work in aboriginal governments is therefore complex and internally conflictual for the organization as well as for administrators. The institutional and financial arrangements of aboriginal governments in Canada only further complicate the work. Understanding the distinctiveness of administrative work in aboriginal governments is important for both aboriginal and non-aboriginal governments and administrators as a new relationship between Canadian and aboriginal governments is forged. This study explores the work of aboriginal administrators working in aboriginal governments. It considers the administrative environment of aboriginal government, particularly the complexities of accountability and the interrelatedness of culture, politics and administration. It suggests that aboriginal governments are expressions of the cultures, politics, spirituality, economics, values and emotions of aboriginal peoples. These governments are social movements as well as ruling bureaucracies. Government in this context is a complex and holistic notion as it does not necessarily separate church from state, politics from bureaucracy, or the personal from the professional. Within this context, the study examines the actual work of particular administrators and thereby develops a distinct picture of administration as it is practised in aboriginal governments. While such administrative practice is found to be more holistic in this context, the study further suggests that the construction of the actual work is influenced by key factors of accountability demands, cultural relevance and integrity, and the need for education of all people engaged with issues of governance. Given the dilemmas found in each of these factors, aboriginal administrators face the unique challenge of integrating the discordant demands of their communities, organizations and professions. / Graduate

For fifty-seven years the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has been interpreting Canada to Canadians through documentary films which have simultaneously reflected and shaped the identity of this country and its peoples. This study is concerned with the NFB's documentary film portrayal of Native Canadians. Over the half century that the NFB has been making films about Canada's indigenous peoples their portrayal has undergone much change. Comparisons are made in this study between three of the earliest examples and three of the most recent examples of such films, with regard to attitude, voice, and technique. The effect these choices have upon representation is also discussed. Changes in technical, artistic, and philosophical aspects of the documentary film genre have also had a significant effect upon representation of Native peoples over the past fifty years, and are considered as well. Educationally, the study considers issues of manipulation of knowledge and hidden curricula. Playing an increasingly important role in education today, the media is a powerful tool both for teaching and for the inculcation of social norms. Suggestions are made as to ways in which this medium can best be used in the classroom. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Aboriginal rights, and aboriginal fishing rights in particular, are topics which elicit a variety of responses ranging from the positive to hostile. In British Columbia, fish is big business and it is the fourth largest industry in the province. The stakes are high and the positions of the various user groups and stakeholders are clearly demarcated. The fight over fish has pitted aboriginal groups against other aboriginal groups as well as against the federal government and its department of fisheries and oceans - however, the fight becomes vicious, underhanded, and mean spirited when the aboriginal groups are matched against the commercial industry. In an attempt to even the odds the aboriginal peoples have turned to the courts for recognition and protection of what they view as inherent rights - that is a right to fish arising out of the very nature of being an aboriginal person. Up until the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Sparrow aboriginal rights had been virtually ignored by both the courts and the state. However Sparrow changed all that and significantly altered the fight over fish. And that fight has become a virtual no-holds barred battle. The Sparrow decision remains to this day one of the most important Supreme Court decisions pertaining to aboriginal rights. This thesis is a case study of Sparrow - it will examine the decision from a perspective of whether subordinate or disadvantaged groups are able to use the law to advance their causes of social progress and equality. The thesis examines the status and nature of aboriginal fishing rights before and after the Sparrow decision. The thesis will examine whether the principles of the decision have been upheld or followed by the courts and the government of Canada. Data will consist of interviews with representatives of the key players in the fishing industry, namely, the Musqueam Indian Band, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the commercial industry. In brief, the findings of my research do not bode well for the aboriginal peoples - the principles of the Sparrow decision have not been followed by the government of Canada and aboriginal fishing rights remain subject to arbitrary control. The thesis will examine why and how this happened. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Very little is known about the relationship between locus of control (LOC) orientation and mild or temporary hearing losses associated with chronic otitis media. Furthermore, it seems this relationship may never have been studied in the unique cultural context of Northern Canadian Native Indian societies. The present study investigated the relationship between LOC orientation and hearing status category among Carrier-Sekani children from Northern British Columbia. The relationship between LOC orientation, chronologic age, and academic achievement was also explored. Demographic data collected for a larger study, provided an opportunity to conduct some post hoc analyses on LOC orientation, place in the family, number of parents in the home and family income. Ninety Carrier-Sekani students from grades four to twelve, received a modified Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Students were divided into two broad categories, normally hearing and those having a history of a hearing loss. The latter category was further divided into students with a pure tone loss, students with a history of chronic otitis media and those with observed otitis media at the time of testing. Students could be members of more than one sub-group. Correlation coefficients and Analyses of Variance were computed to explore the relationship between LOC orientation and the independent variables. No significant relationship was discovered between LOC orientation and category of hearing loss. An internal LOC orientation was positively associated with chronologic age, medium family income, two parents in the home and partially associated with academic achievement. This study indicates that for Carrier-Sekani students, a mild or temporary hearing loss is not significantly associated with an external LOC orientation. It seems that school related variables and demographic variables commonly associated with LOC orientation in the samples described in the literature are also present in the sample studied in this project. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Efforts to clarify aboriginal rights in Canada have centered around the demand by aboriginal people for a constitutionally entrenched right to self-government but the substance and character of that form of government are not defined. Comparative political studies have sought to identify possible features of self-government from other political systems. This study observes that in several European countries there are regions with high degrees of local autonomy then compares them to existing Canadian developments, endeavoring to see what might be learned. From Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and from the British Isles, the Isle of Man and Guernsey, are compared with the James Bay Cree (Quebec) and the Sechelt Band (British Columbia) self-governments and the proposed Territory of Nunavut in Canada. Material was gathered from the literature, from telephone interviews with administrators in the three European jurisdictions, and from personal interviews in Canada. The nascent Canadian experience with self-government includes many of the features of self-government in the European cases and leads to some optimism. Important issues in Canada such as the multitude of cases and the paucity of resources in some aboriginal communities require further study. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

The Canadian child welfare system has increasingly found itself under attack for its treatment of First Nations children. The charge is made that it imposes a colonial regime on First Nations families which negates the importance of their cultural identity, and devalues their cultural practices and traditions. Self-government is consistently advanced as the only appropriate response. The question this thesis addresses is whether too much faith is placed in self-government, without sufficient protections for children in the communities. The issue of First Nations child welfare is placed within the wider debates over the need for decolonisation in Canada. It is a premise of this thesis that First Nations hold an inherent right to self-government which demands respect for their sovereign authority in core areas such as child welfare. However, self-government is not a panacea for First Nations communities. The legacy of colonialism continues to manifest itself in the socioeconomic problems prevalent on many reserves/These problems pose a direct challenge to self-governing child welfare agencies and to the safety of the children in their care. This raises the dilemma of how to ensure the fundamental rights of First Nations children are effectively protected, whilst also respecting the 'sovereign' jurisdiction of First Nations communities. The attempts of non-native society to impose controls on First Nations governments, principally through the imposition of the Canadian Charter, are rejected on the basis they continue to perpetuate a colonial philosophy. However, adopting a theory of 'rejuvenated universalism,' and on the basis of a dialogue with three native controlled child welfare agencies in British Columbia, it is argued that agreement on fundamental standards of child welfare could be forged across native and non-native cultures. It is suggested these standards should be guaranteed in a Children's Charter binding all governments in Canada. A Children's Charter which has been developed through fully inclusive cross-cultural dialogue, and which consequently reflects the values of all the various cultures, would provide an essential mechanism for the external evaluation and review of child welfare agencies in Canada, whether native or non-native, according to their own freely accepted values and principles. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

Indigenous languages in Canada are critically at risk of extinction. Many Indigenous communities are working hard to save their languages through various methods. One method proven to be largely successful in other parts of the world is early childhood heritage language immersion programming, which is commonly known as a 'language nest' program. However, this method is sparsely employed in B.C. and Canada as a method of language retention and revitalization. Using qualitative research methodologies involving observations and interviews this study included key community members in two Indigenous communities which have developed 'language nest' programs. The goal of the observations and interviews was to identity factors contributing to successes and challenges in initiating and maintaining 'language nest' programs. The findings of the study indicate that the 'language nest' model is adaptable to the First Nations context in Canada. The findings combined with a literature review yielded practical recommendations for other communities and possibilities for future action.

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