On April 1, 1999, Akimiski Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, became part of the newly created Inuit-dominated territory of Nunavut, even though the Inuit never asserted Aboriginal title to this island. This is why the Omushkegowuk Cree of the western James Bay region of Ontario, Canada, assert Aboriginal title over this island. Essentially, the Government of Canada has reversed the onus of responsibility for proving Aboriginal title from the Inuit to the Cree. In this paper, we examined whether the Omushkegowuk Cree fulfill all the criteria of the common law test of Aboriginal title with respect to Akimiski Island, utilizing all available printed and online material. All criteria of the common law test of Aboriginal title were met; however, the written record only alludes to the Cree using Akimiski Island at the time of first contact and prior, Cree oral history was consulted to illuminate upon this matter. I documented and employed Cree oral history to establish that Cree traditional use and occupancy of Akimiski Island was “sufficient to be an established fact at the time of assertion of sovereignty by European nations” (INAC, 1993:5; INAC, 2008); thereby, fulfilling criterion 2 of the test for Aboriginal title. As the Cree have now met all criteria of the common law test for proof of Aboriginal title in Canada, with respect to Akimiski Island, a formal land claim should be considered by the Cree.

This thesis questions the adequacy of the Department of the Interior's response to the land claims of Metis settlers in Green Lake, Saskatchewan.<p> Metis people originally settled in Green Lake because of the pattern of development of the fur trade. Green Lake was a major nexus on the fur trade transportation system, which encouraged Metis settlement and community development. After Confederation, when the national policy generated regional differentiation through uneven development, Green Lake remained under fur-trade domination.<P> National policy expansion reached Green Lake with surveys in 1909 and 1911, replacing fur-trade property relations with the Dominion Lands Act. The surveys revealed Green Lake as a fur trade settlement with property claims consistent with the fur trade economy. Prior treatment of such claims under national policy regulations promised recognition of Metis claims based on prior settlement.<P> Economic recession and World War I led to the abatement of national policy expansion. As a result, the department postponed action on the Metis claims until renewed interest in national policy settlement. Legislation passed in 1919 provided new direction to departmental consideration of the Green Lake claims. The only remnant of recognition of fur trade settlement was reference to 1908 legislation requiring occupancy at the time of treaty. The department subsequently disposed of Metis claims by offering most claimants only a right to purchase claimed land.<P> Departmental response to Metis claims at Green Lake was inadequate on several grounds. It failed to consider adequately property relations extant from the fur trade economy. It acted without due consideration for established precedents associated with the national policy. It acted ultra vires to carry out and justify a restrictive and mean spirited response to Metis claims. The retroactive nature of 1908 legislation unfairly penalized claimants in the Treaty Six area. The department's limitation of the eligibility of claimants by constrictive criteria was compounded by its failure to examine seriously the evidence of Metis settlement that would have met such criteria.<P> At the time of the 1930 transfer of land administration to the prairie provinces, the land claims of the Metis settlers of Green Lake remained unsatisfied.

The central problem of the thesis is to investigate the international legal validity of the Canadian claim to the Arctic Archipelago. In order to consider the bearing on the problem of the "sector principl" the area investigated comprised the islands, waters and permanent ice lying between the the 60th and 141st meridians of west longitude extended to the North Pole, which meridians are northerly projections of Canada's easternmost and westernmost boundaries.<p> After a brief review of the facts and law surrounding the transfer of British Arctic possessions to Canada in 1870 and 1800, the international law applicable to archipelagic formations and to the acquisition of title to terrae nullius was examined. There followed, in the perspective of international law and the historical precedents, an examination of the Canadian claims to (a) the islands of the Arctic Archipelago, and (b) the adjacent waters, especially the aftermath of the two voyages of the Manhattan and the Canadian legislation of June, 1970, extending territorial waters to a breadth of twelve miles and creating a large anti-pollution zone.<p> It was concluded that Canada's claim to the islands was very strong, either under the "prescription" or the "consolidation" doctrines, especially in the absence of serious adverse claims, and in the light of a vigorous Canadian manifestation of animus occupandi for several decades, at least.<p> Although the validity of the recent Canadian Maritime claims had been questioned by the United States, it was suggested either on the basis of the "consolidation" doctrine or in view of the evolving, norms of the international law of the sea that here also Canada could make out a strong case in support of the legislation of June, 1970.

The purpose of this study was to increase the level of knowledge in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for wind power. The study includes six wind power farms in the County of Västerbotten in northern Sweden. The main questions were: What are the real dimensions of roadways and land claims for both roads and wind power turbines? How do those dimensions correlate with the dimensions stated in the EIA? Are there any differences in values of the dimensions between the wind power farms that are included in this study? The width of the roadways and the land claims for both roads and wind turbines in wind power farms were examined on site. The results from the examinations were compared with the dimensions available in the EIA for each wind power farm. When comparison was possible the outcome was that the measurements for roadways matched with the dimensions but measurements for land claims for roads and wind turbines exceeded the dimensions. The values of the measured dimensions vary within and in certain cases between the wind power farms. From the findings of this study it can be concluded that it is difficult to in advance estimate how much land roads and wind turbines in wind farms will claim. In addition the study shows that it is of great importance to specify the dimensions of roadways and land claims for roads and wind turbines in the EIA for wind power farms.

On April 1, 2011, the Maa-nulth Treaty went into effect. Negotiated between five First Nations, the province of British Columbia and Canada, the Treaty concerned territories never before ceded on the west coast of Vancouver Island. This study utilizes the Treaty as a point of departure to explore contemporary Indigenous-Settler relations. Using digital storytelling, youth from one of the five signatory First Nations identified their priorities for their Nation in a post-Treaty era. These stories are contrasted with a discourse analysis of mainstream media coverage surrounding the Treaty and a survey of local (mainly Settler) residents’ perceptions to explore dominant perspectives pertaining to this comprehensive land claims agreement. While youths’ ideas for the future were anchored to their Indigenous cultural identity, albeit integrating technology and novel art forms, Settlers’ perspectives remained statically centered upon ill-informed strains of colonial thought premised upon socio-political and economic stereotypes. Colonialism continues to be (re)produced structurally and individually; these findings point to the need for Settlers to engage in their own processes of decolonization.

<p>It has been over a century since African people were forcibly removed by official decree in 1901, from the Cape Town dockland barracks and District Six, to Uitvlugt, a farm where a location of corrugated iron &lsquo / huts&rsquo / had just been constructed. This occurrence followed an outbreak of a bubonic plague in Cape Town in 1901, which became predominant among the Africans who worked at the docks, and who were in direct and constant contact with the main carriers of the disease, i.e., the rats coming out of ships from Europe. The outbreak resulted in African being stigmatised as diseased, and being banished to the outskirts of the city. Since then, knowledge about this historical occurrence has been continuously produced, presented and communicated in many ways. It has featured in many representations through memory, heritage and history.In 1902, the new residents of Uitvlugt gave the location the name kwa-Ndabeni. Ndabeni was a nickname that the residents had given to Walter Stanford who had chaired the commission that recommended for the establishment of the location in 1901. The prefix kwa- was added to the name so that it meant in Xhosa language, the place of Ndabeni. In that way, the residents, who at that time did not consider the location as a potential place of their permanent abode, named it in a way that disassociated them from the place.</p>

On April 1, 1999, Akimiski Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, became part of the newly created Inuit-dominated territory of Nunavut, even though the Inuit never asserted Aboriginal title to this island. This is why the Omushkegowuk Cree of the western James Bay region of Ontario, Canada, assert Aboriginal title over this island. Essentially, the Government of Canada has reversed the onus of responsibility for proving Aboriginal title from the Inuit to the Cree. In this paper, we examined whether the Omushkegowuk Cree fulfill all the criteria of the common law test of Aboriginal title with respect to Akimiski Island, utilizing all available printed and online material. All criteria of the common law test of Aboriginal title were met; however, the written record only alludes to the Cree using Akimiski Island at the time of first contact and prior, Cree oral history was consulted to illuminate upon this matter. I documented and employed Cree oral history to establish that Cree traditional use and occupancy of Akimiski Island was “sufficient to be an established fact at the time of assertion of sovereignty by European nations” (INAC, 1993:5; INAC, 2008); thereby, fulfilling criterion 2 of the test for Aboriginal title. As the Cree have now met all criteria of the common law test for proof of Aboriginal title in Canada, with respect to Akimiski Island, a formal land claim should be considered by the Cree.

Some forestry industry operations in South Africa are currently on land that is under claim. This case study was aimed at identifying the most suitable model for future engagement of communities in forestry with forest land under claim in Mpumalanga. In total, 231 households were purposively sampled at Jessievale (n=100) and Roburna (n=131) where the primary data was collected through interviews and interactions with household heads. In general, 70% of the respondents indicated that they would opt for a settlement model that involves forestry. About 26.8% chose the joint venture model, whereas 18.6% chose the lease agreement model and 19.4% chose at least one of any other forestry settlement model among those that were given. The joint venture model was the most preferred due to its ability to transfer the land to the claimants and to transfer management skills, create jobs and empower communities. In addition, the study showed that age and forestry skills significantly contribute to the choice of a different model. The study also showed that while communities were interested in getting their land back, they are not fully utilizing the small portions of land currently available to them for agriculture and that the demand for land may be driven more by other land use options such as land for expanding new homes and grazing. In conclusion, communities are still interested in forestry as a land use option. However, future forestry models should clearly address land ownership and accommodate other land use options. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / This thesis relates what is referred to in the text as a 'chronicle' of the history of the Cloete family of Springbokfontein and surrounding areas in Namaqualand, with particular attention to the issue of a land transaction in the early 1850s between seven Cloete brothers and the English copper mining company Phillips & King. The sale of the farm Melkboschkuil has since been a source of long-standing dispute on the part of the Cloete family. It traces the circumstances of the Cloetes' settlement in Namaqualand, the archival and oral record regarding the highly contentious ‘sale’ of the land between these parties, and the subsequent resonances of this land dispute over decades and indeed right up to the 1990s when the Cloete descendants lodged a land claim. The author attempts to use the very specific story of a land deal to throw light on the wider story of the relations between a disadvantaged Baster and later 'Coloured' family, and the white-dominated local and regional government in Namaqualand -- particularly in Springbok. At the same time, attention is drawn to the political and economic forces shaping the people around Springbokfontein during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The small story of the Cloetes is used to illuminate the wider history of the inequitable relations between white capitalists and Baster/Coloured landowners dispossessed of their historic rights to land. The thesis is based on a detailed examination of the struggle of the Cloete family in Namaqualand to secure possession of the land that they once owned but which became the site of a copper mine and later on the town of Springbok. The narrative told from the perspective of certain members of the Cloete family and their descendants, follows a convoluted trail of legal papers, land deeds and oral pronouncements. But at the heart of the story is the question as to how the Nama and Baster people of Namaqualand came to be divested of their rights to the land and a fair share of the mineral wealth of the district following the development of copper mining.