have altered the context and practices of the First Nations culture and by so doing, compromised their will and capacity to implement traditional education policies, a situation that must be linked to realization of the Education Action Plan’s goals. The goal of the study was to assist policy makers, community leaders, and educators in recognizing the attitudes, social norms, and practices that are interwoven with post-colonial trust issues at the community level and to focus on the viability of preservation of First Nations heritage and culture. The inquiry documented and analyzed, in a case study approach, the dynamics of colonialism on two First Nations communities. Interviews and questionnaires, utilized in communities, were based on a matrix that directed comments to areas associated with traditional knowledge, remnants of colonialism and areas of will and capacity. The focus of the inquires referred to curriculum content, funding, school and community structure, as well as traditional knowledge, communication, participation, and the role of members in shaping the community values and school curricula. In all, 32 people were formally interviewed including teachers, Elders, education council members, principals, and community leaders. The study comprised 14 interviews and 17 questionnaires in Two Rivers, and 18 interviews and 8 questionnaires in Round Rock. The study intended to establish whether colonialism would play out in the implementation of the traditional knowledge aspect of the Education Action Plan and if so, in what areas and in what manner. Through research, it was

have altered the context and practices of the First Nations culture and by so doing, compromised their will and capacity to implement traditional education policies, a situation that must be linked to realization of the Education Action Plan’s goals. The goal of the study was to assist policy makers, community leaders, and educators in recognizing the attitudes, social norms, and practices that are interwoven with post-colonial trust issues at the community level and to focus on the viability of preservation of First Nations heritage and culture. The inquiry documented and analyzed, in a case study approach, the dynamics of colonialism on two First Nations communities. Interviews and questionnaires, utilized in communities, were based on a matrix that directed comments to areas associated with traditional knowledge, remnants of colonialism and areas of will and capacity. The focus of the inquires referred to curriculum content, funding, school and community structure, as well as traditional knowledge, communication, participation, and the role of members in shaping the community values and school curricula. In all, 32 people were formally interviewed including teachers, Elders, education council members, principals, and community leaders. The study comprised 14 interviews and 17 questionnaires in Two Rivers, and 18 interviews and 8 questionnaires in Round Rock. The study intended to establish whether colonialism would play out in the implementation of the traditional knowledge aspect of the Education Action Plan and if so, in what areas and in what manner. Through research, it was

ABSTRACT In North West British Columbia, First Nations women are playing an essential role in a cultural shift that is positively affecting community health and the education of Aboriginal youth. Historically, the First Peoples of the North West coast were profoundly transformed by European contact. Policies, oppressions and disease disrupted lives and communities that had existed in stasis since time immemorial. The results, described by Thomas Berger as “third world” conditions, are predictable --young and old afflicted with addictions and dysfunctions. Recently, the dominant politics have begun to acknowledge the First Nations as having a legitimate voice in the social and political processes that concern them. This research is one part of the national multi-disciplinary study, Coasts Under Stress: The Impact of Social and Environmental Restructuring on Environmental and Human Health in Canada. In this phase of the larger project, the importance of the educational and community leadership of First Nations women is recognized as they struggle to break cycles of dysfunction that afflict their communities. Increasing enrollment of coastal youth and adults in secondary school and college programs, and in educational programs on reserve over the past decade is one sign of positive change. The main purpose of my study is to explore the role of First Nations women in supporting social and educational opportunities in their villages and in society-at-large. The central research question asks what supports and barriers First Nations women encounter as they assume leadership roles within their villages and without. A purposive sample of seven women joined the research conversation, involved because of the formal leadership roles they have assumed, and because of their perceived influence on the general health of their communities and the region. Their responsibilities represent a wide spectrum of educational and community leadership, and counter a prevailing stereotype of First Nations people generally and women particularly. Carefully chosen qualitative research methods were employed to ensure consistency with Kwakwakawakw practices and protocols. Sustained dialogue was used as a way of drawing on the historical and cultural tapestry framing the research question. Given the hermeneutic nature of the study, the individual narratives became the heart of the study and a voice-centred relational data analysis followed. Analysis based on a theory that characterizes human beings as interdependent, historically and culturally contextual and embedded in a complex web of intimate and larger social relations resonates with First Nations ontology and epistemology. The narratives reveal detailed historical and cultural data, providing for enhanced cultural understanding and knowledge-based theory building. In addition to the contextual material, the narratives provide direction for Aboriginal and cross-cultural research protocols as well as an opportunity for the interested reader to “listen and learn” as Joseph Couture propounds. The stereotypes that continue to confine and condemn Aboriginal women are rightfully eroded by the life histories themselves and their illustration of the process of reclamation of Aboriginal identity. Finally, further evidence is offered for Sylvia Maracle’s assertion that Aboriginal women have been leading community development initiatives for the past thirty-five years. Education and health are the primary beneficiaries of their efforts.

First Nations in Canada face numerous challenges when it comes to water. First Nations experiences with water range from individual and family challenges, including limited or no access to safe drinking water, to broader collective concerns such as exercising aboriginal or treaty rights to hunt, fish or gather. Many changes are in play, centered on the element of water: the implementation of a new federal act regarding drinking water on First Nations reserves; numerous amendments to various federal and provincial environmental laws and regulations; and a recent set of ground-breaking court decisions on First Nations identity, aboriginal title, historic treaties and water. A sense of urgency comes from these developments. Over the last number of decades, First Nations have been negotiating complex and unwieldy relationships (or the absence of relationship) with federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments regarding water — for spiritual/ceremonial use, domestic use, waste disposal, and economic development; and as a function of treaty and aboriginal rights and title. Over this time, the laws and standards used to frame such relationship(s) have been “mainstream” or Canadian. This thesis proposes that in combination with powerful Indigenous legal traditions, the new constitutional and legislative paradigm signifies a transformative and re-formative shift with regard to First Nations and water. / Graduate

In 2010 the lands of the Cariboo-Chilcotin became a site of contestation and collaboration. Through media coverage of a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency Review Panel process sources were quick to frame the issue (a potential gold-copper mine and the destruction of a lake in Tsilhqot’in territories) as one between First Nations and development, with 'development' taken as an unquestioned tenet of non-Aboriginal interest. The polarization visible in the media obscured on-the-ground efforts of First Nations and non-Aboriginal people alike to support each other in opposition to this project; a collaboration that saw the application ultimately rejected by the federal government. My research reflects on the review process that acted as a forum for a diverse range of First Nations and non-Aboriginal peoples to vocalize concerns outside of the stereotypes or expectations attached to ethnicity. Statements from the opposition covered a breadth of concern, encompassing a social, physical and cultural environment, and addressing larger issues of Aboriginal rights, title, and self-determination. These concerns offered the Panel a remarkably broad base of potential adverse effects to transparently justify their decision that the multi-billion dollar mine not proceed. Establishing visibility for these acts of solidarity and common ground may be a means of re-thinking the perception of division between ethnic communities in rural British Columbia; a perception that often perpetuates tense relationships in the face of large-scale resource development. / Graduate

The migration of Registered Indian people to and from their reserves has attracted much scholarly attention over the decades. A significant theme in early literature suggested Indian people migrated back and forth between their rural homes and urban destinations because they could not cope with life in the city and their movement in between the two places was seen by some as urban failure. To some extent Indian peoples authenticity was challenged if they chose city life. In later years scholarly literature began to explore the notions that many Indian people were quite capable of succeeding as urban dwellers, but there was still no rich understanding of migration patterns. Some scholars cautioned other scholars not to misinterpret federal statistics that lack in qualitative detail which may result in misinformed policy and program initiatives. There was a call for more qualitative studies to explain the statistics and present a better understanding of Indian migration patterns and hence population changes in cities and on reserves. Additionally, there was sufficient evidence that more Indian women were migrating to cities than Indian men, a phenomenon that required some attention.<p> Interviewing Registered Indian women about their migrating experiences was an attempt to provide additional detail and understanding of the migration patterns between rural origins and urban destinations. The interviewees in this study clearly revealed that the circular migration of Registered Indian people to and from reserves showed the significance a particular migrant has to their home reserve. This significance should not be understood only as an a reflection of inability to succeed in the city as many registered Indian women return to their reserves with higher educations to work in their communities, only to leave again for further education. Some women leave their reserves to escape domestic problems, only to return to try to work things out with their partners. Many women end up leaving again. But economies, educations, domestic problems etc. are not the only influences on migration. The sanctity of the land and the many years of history that are symbolized by reserves are also factors of circular migration between reserves and cities.

In recent years we have witnessed an increase in the number of two unrelated phenomena in Canada collaborative partnerships and First Nations casino development. This thesis focuses on the integration of these two phenomena by examining the gaming partnership that the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the Province of Saskatchewan established in 1995. The thesis explores the factors that produced the partnership, the issues of negotiations that influenced the partnership arrangement, and the general nature of the partnerships framework from 1995 to 2002. In analyzing these aspects of the partnership, the thesis will address its fundamental question what is the precise nature of the regulatory framework and its implications for the gaming partnership in Saskatchewan? This study reveals that there were deficiencies in the nature of the partnerships framework, particularly with respect to the accountability provisions of the partnering arrangement. Those deficiencies created an accountability crisis in the year 2000, which caused problems both for and between the partners. Eventually, however, the partners decided to move forward in a relatively positive and constructive manner towards a sustainable and successful partnering arrangement.

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of Aboriginal school-site administrators regarding effective leadership behaviors in First Nations schools. Thirteen Aboriginal educational administrators were interviewed over a period of one month and a half using a semi-structured interview approach. The sample of participants was drawn from a list of Tribal Councils and Independent First Nations in Saskatchewan. The interviews lasted approximately 45 minutes to 70 minutes. Participants were asked to reflect on: (1) what leadership characteristics an effective administrator of a First Nation school must possess; (2) whether ethnicity and gender of the educational administrator were important considerations in First Nations schools; (3) positive characteristics of role models of Aboriginal educational administrators; (4) personal and social problems on First Nations that affected the role of the educational administrator; and (5) what training activities were helpful in the preparation of potential educational leaders. <p>Findings suggested that the main characteristics of effective administrators in First Nations schools included being person-oriented and flexible. All thirteen administrators interviewed considered the ability to speak a First Nation language important, although not essential, if the major language spoken on the First Nation was English. Ethnicity of the administrator may not be a necessary consideration for administrators in First Nations schools. Being able to adapt to the cultural milieu of the First Nation was more important. Findings further suggested that gender of the administrator in a First Nation school was not an important consideration. Female administrators could be effective if given the opportunity. Role models in the lives of the participants played a major part in the overall success of the participants. <p>Findings of this study further suggested that effective administrators had definite plans and programming in place when dealing with social problems which exist on First Nations. Being knowledgeable about the types of support services available at the Band level was important. The main strategy employed by the interviewees involved the utilization of a team approach to problem solving. When dealing with student behavioral problems, most administrators followed policies set by the school board. Last of all, the participants made recommendations which potential Aboriginal educational leaders could use in order to move into administrative positions at the First Nation level.

The Two-eyed Seeing Garden is an ethnobotanical garden that is a living description of the interrelationships between land, plants and people that explicates two ways of seeing. The goal of the Two-eyed Seeing Garden is to combine two frameworks, one of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and one of Western Scientific Knowledge, in an attempt to create a bridge between the two knowledges in order for the inter-relationships between the two systems to be made visible. The Two-eyed Seeing Garden emphasizes the worldview of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge as an independent valid knowledge system that describes local knowledge in connection with other local knowledges, nearby and far away. These knowings can be thought of as layers that begin to intersect and eventually connect the same way as ripples do in a pond. Small and central, yet moving out. The physical garden is this too. It is a small place that is nested within a larger region. Although it may have walls and be distinct from it’s immediate surroundings, it can connect to the larger region. The Two-eyed Seeing Garden is an example of wholeness and connectivity from its most minute aspects to its situatedness in the larger context. The relationships make the invisible visible and describe the co-creation and co-existence of all those that inhabit this land now and since time immemorial.

The Two-eyed Seeing Garden is an ethnobotanical garden that is a living description of the interrelationships between land, plants and people that explicates two ways of seeing. The goal of the Two-eyed Seeing Garden is to combine two frameworks, one of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and one of Western Scientific Knowledge, in an attempt to create a bridge between the two knowledges in order for the inter-relationships between the two systems to be made visible. The Two-eyed Seeing Garden emphasizes the worldview of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge as an independent valid knowledge system that describes local knowledge in connection with other local knowledges, nearby and far away. These knowings can be thought of as layers that begin to intersect and eventually connect the same way as ripples do in a pond. Small and central, yet moving out. The physical garden is this too. It is a small place that is nested within a larger region. Although it may have walls and be distinct from it’s immediate surroundings, it can connect to the larger region. The Two-eyed Seeing Garden is an example of wholeness and connectivity from its most minute aspects to its situatedness in the larger context. The relationships make the invisible visible and describe the co-creation and co-existence of all those that inhabit this land now and since time immemorial.