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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.

Our world is experiencing a crisis of unsustainability with ecological, socioeconomic, and existential dimensions. Thus, planning for the transition to sustainability is a challenge requiring transformation of the dorrunant cultural paradigm. I address this problem of planning between cultural paradigms by examining the discourse between First Nations Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Western Science, and identify lessons that contribute to a sounder epistemological basis for planning theory and practice. To link planning theory, sustainability and TEK, I combined literature reviews, interviews and lessons from my experience with First Nations. I derived a cross-cultural analytical framework based on epistemology, cosmology and ontology (ECO), and applied it to planning theory, case studies of the Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound and my own professional work. Planning for sustainability must address multiple dimensions. My approach includes biophysical, social and cultural capital, postulating that greater social and cultural capital could decrease consumption of biophysical capital. In this framework "ECO" addresses cultural capital. My analysis of TEK reveals more than just "knowledge," rather a way of life which generates knowledge. I coined the term TEK-Systems (TEKS) to refer to the social and cultural capital, and methodological features of these lotowledge-generating systems. Applying ECO reveals philosophical elements of TEK, that are neglected in the literature. TEKS combine empirical knowledge with other ways of knowing offering alternative models of reality to the cultural mainstream. The Scientific Panel recognized all significant features of TEKS and ECO in my framework, and employed Nuu-Chah-Nulth TEK protocol in their planning model. Various forms of knowledge from wholly different philosophical origins informed complex planning and decision- making process with consensus outcomes. Similarly, the most significant lessons from my professional application was that respect, cultural framing, and community involvement are key professional tools. Planning between cultural paradigms requires recognizing different knowledge systems; including different ways of knowing strengthens planning for sustainability. This approach establishes new terrain for planning theory. It requires inclusive planning and decision- making processes which foster caring, respect and commitment. Enhancing social and cultural capital provides community and spiritual resources for sustainability. Planners need specialized framing to work in these areas.

This thesis argues that the Ned'u'ten, an indigenous people, have the right to decolonize and self-determine their political and legal status at the international level. The Ned'u'ten are currently negotiating a new relationship with Canada and are considering various treaty models to achieve this goal. This thesis advocates principles for a peace treaty model that accomplishes both Ned'u'ten decolonization and self-determination. The first chapter of this thesis demonstrates that indigenous perspectives in legal culture are diverse and not homogeneous. My Ned'u'ten perspective on treaty-making contributes to these perspectives. The second chapter challenges the legitimacy of the Canadian state, over Ned'u'ten subjects and territories. This is accomplished through the rejection of dispossession doctrines that Canada has used to justify colonial and oppressive practices against the Ned'u'ten. Decolonization principles are prescribed in this chapter. The third chapter takes a historical view of the right to self-determination and shows how state practice, indigenous peoples' participation, and international scholars have attempted to articulate the scope and content of this right in the contemporary context of indigenous self-determination. A Ned'u'ten self-determination framework is proposed based on indigenous formulations of the right to self-determination. Self-determination principles are also prescribed in this chapter. The final chapter compares two cases where indigenous peoples in Canada are attempting to create a new relationship with the state: the James Bay Cree and "First Nations" in the British Columbia Treaty Commission Process. This comparison will show that the degree of participation that indigenous peoples have in implementing their rights to self-determination, will determine the parameters of any new relationship that indigenous peoples create with the state. Negotiating principles are prescribed for a Ned'u'ten-Canada relationship as well as a peace treaty process to accomplish this goal. It is my thesis that the Ned'u'ten and Canada can achieve a peaceful and balanced relationship through the peace treaty model I propose.

This study deals with the changing dynamics of land use systems in an aboriginal community of British Columbia, namely the Lil'wat Nation, by employing the concept of property as an analytical tool. The focus on the concept of property clarifies the role played by the authority and institutions as regulators and decision-making factors in land use management. The description of the relationship between property and various transitions in aboriginal life constitutes the main contribution of this research project. The methodology used in this descriptive study is a combination of the participantobserver method and archival data collection. Issues around authority are discussed in terms of the power relationship between Canada and the Lil'wat Nation. Several historical events explain the way in which political and economic imperatives have shaped the relationship between the Lil'wat Nation and Canada, as well as the internal power relationship within the aboriginal community. It is found that the rapid and important changes in the decision-making situation (i.e., context of institution change) have significantly affected the land use projects on reserve grounds. Those changes include: high rate of population growth, extension of a money economy through forestry and agricultural activities, and exercise of various outside interests on reserve lands. Also, it is found that a number of governmental initiatives created and perpetuated a state of dependency and dissension among the aboriginal community. Since land use practices cannot be viewed in isolation, this study emphasizes the importance of political reform and sharing of authority. Also, some strategies for Lil'wat's selfdetermination are identified and the urgency to develop community-based economic projects is stressed.

This study investigates the importance of traditional hunting knowledge to Cree identity and experience. My fieldwork was conducted in Wemindji, James Bay, Quebec, with Cree trappers and on the interactions of scientific researchers and Cree trappers. I explore the connections between these interactions and wider relationships of the Crees with histories of extractive development and the State. The misrecognition or negation of Cree authority in development discourse and outcomes has contributed to subsistence practices and traditional hunting knowledge becoming politically and emotionally charged signifiers. I argue that subsistence practices and traditional hunting knowledge have come to encode cultural difference and the assertion of authority in relation to struggles for recognition of Cree authority over their traditional territories.

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.

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