Governance, Urban Reserves, and Indigenous Cultural Power

Defining Governance and Its Context in Canada

• General Definition of Governance: Governance is understood as the social structures that determine how decisions are made and how individuals are represented within societal decision-making processes.

• The Canadian State Model: An example of the federal governance model in Canada is the election of Members of Parliament to represent individuals and the specific processes through which decisions are made in the House of Commons.

• Indigenous Governance and Foundations:

  • Indigenous worldviews serve as the foundation for the development of indigenous governance structures.

  • Indigenous legal principles and concepts of law differ significantly from European models.

  • Fundamental laws and worldviews are the primary determinants of how indigenous communities govern themselves.

• Legislative Imposition:

  • The Canadian government has historically imposed state governance practices onto indigenous peoples through various pieces of legislation.

  • The Indian Act: This is noted as the most notorious piece of legislation instrumental in imposing state governance.

  • Current governance models for most First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities are imitations of the Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial systems rather than traditional indigenous models.

Challenges of Urban Indigenous Governance

• Structural Ambiguity: Governance in urban indigenous communities is particularly challenging due to the lack of a clear structure or consensus on which levels of government ($federal$, $provincial$, or $municipal$) should be involved.

• Recommendations by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP): The RCAP identified several strategies to improve governance for urban indigenous residents:

  • Institutional Modification: Changing existing public institutions to better accommodate and involve urban indigenous residents in decision-making.

  • Indigenous Self-Government: Exploring options based on the objectives of self-government, accounting for the high diversity of urban populations.

  • Inclusive Representation: Reforming existing structures to include indigenous representation, aimed at closing policy gaps.

• Specific Possibilities for Municipal Reform:

  1. Appointing indigenous members to institutional boards that affect urban indigenous lives, including school boards, boards of health, hospital boards, and police commissions.

  2. Establishing permanent indigenous affairs committees within municipal councils, school boards, and other localized agencies.

  3. Implementing the co-management of urban initiatives, specifically in sectors where existing legislation (federal, provincial, or territorial) recognizes a role for indigenous governments.

• Urban Community of Interest Model: The RCAP outlines a model where diverse indigenous communities in urban spaces represent themselves collectively through voluntary association. This model is designed to work alongside existing municipal, provincial, territorial, and federal government levels.

Urban Reserves: Classification and Development

• Two Primary Types of Urban Reserves:

  1. Reserves that existed prior to urban expansion, where cities eventually grew to surround them.

  2. Newly created reserves established within existing city boundaries.

• Urban Encroachment and Conflict: In some cases, urban sprawl has reduced the distance between city limits and indigenous land, leading to friction between municipalities and First Nations.

• Case Study: The Suquenan Nation (Soutinen Nation):

  • Location: Just Southwest of the Calgary city limits.

  • Conflict: A contentious negotiation occurred regarding the development of a Ring Road intended to pass through the nation's land.

  • Final Agreement ($2013$): An agreement between the government of Alberta and the Soutinen nation for the transfer of $428$ hectares of reserve lands.

  • Purpose: Construction of a utility corridor and road.

  • Financial Details: The total cost for the land and compensation for road impacts was $340,700,000$.

  • Project Deadline: Under the terms, the province has until the year $2022$ to complete the road.

  • Internal Division: The deal was not supported by all band members, despite being approved via a referendum.

  • Individual Payouts: Each band member was to receive approximately $60,000$ as a portion of the sale. This resulted in negative stereotyping by non-indigenous Calgarians regarding indigenous dependency on government support.

Creation of New Urban Reserves

• Policy Drivers: The mid-$1980$s saw an increase in new urban reserves, driven by specific federal policies:

  • Additions to Reserves Policy: Developed in $1987$ and consolidated in $1991$, intended to fulfill legal obligations such as negotiated settlements.

  • Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE): Particularly relevant in Western Canada, this process acknowledges that historical land allocation agreements under treaties were not always honored.

• Economic Development: First Nations use TLE processes to purchase land parcels with federal funding, often choosing urban locations to maximize economic potential.

• The Conversion Process: Purchasing land does not automatically grant it reserve status. The process involves:

  • Years of negotiation between the First Nation and the federal government.

  • Mandatory environmental assessments prior to the official designation as a reserve.

• Nature of Urban Reserves: Most urban reserves are not created for resident urban indigenous populations but serve as territorial extensions of a "parent reserve" located in a rural area.

• Case Study: Long Plain First Nation:

  • Location of Parent Reserve: Approximately $100$ km west of Winnipeg.

  • Urban Property: A $1.4$ hectare property in Winnipeg with reserve status.

  • Governance: Managed by the rural chief and council to provide urban economic opportunities for members.

• Case Study: Muskeg Lake First Nation:

  • Location of Parent Reserve: More than $130$ km northwest of Saskatoon.

  • Urban Presence: Established a business relationship with the municipality of Saskatoon through an urban reserve.

  • Impact: Allowed the nation to extend its economic potential into a large investment space within the city.

Urban Spaces as Hubs of Indigenous Power

• Cultural and Economic Growth: Urban centers have become central hubs for the development of modern indigenous culture, identity, and economic activity.

• Distinct Identity: Urban indigenous identity is distinct but remains connected to foundational cultural practices, history, and norms consistent with indigenous worldviews.

• Connectivity and Mobilization: High concentrations of indigenous people in cities are linked through:

  • Informal networks and extended families.

  • Urban-based indigenous institutions.

  • Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

• Social Movements: Increased connectivity makes it easier to communicate and mobilize around social issues, specifically against racism, marginalization, and continued oppression.

• Visibility: Urban concentration facilitates the reclaiming of city areas, making the indigenous presence more visible and influential.

• Protest and Activism: Urban spaces act as engines of cultural power, leading to increased engagement in social movements. Over the last $2$ decades, numerous urban protests have been led by indigenous groups.

• Idle No More: This movement is cited as a major flashpoint for indigenous activism, arising from objections to proposed legislation.