tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/indigenous-land-rights-15000/articles
Indigenous land rights – The Conversation
2023-10-23T12:24:40Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214929
2023-10-23T12:24:40Z
2023-10-23T12:24:40Z
For the Osage Nation, the betrayal of the murders depicted in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ still lingers
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555069/original/file-20231020-17-onzwxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C76%2C5520%2C3623&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Osage man on the Arkansas River sometime between 1910 and 1918 – about a decade before the Osage Reign of Terror.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photograph-of-an-osage-man-on-the-arkansas-river-between-news-photo/956086514?adppopup=true">Vince Dillion/Oklahoma Historical Society via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article contains plot spoilers of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”</em></p>
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>The sheriff disguised her death as whiskey poisoning.
Because, when he carved her body up,
he saw the bullet hole in her skull.
Because, when she was murdered,
the leg clutchers bloomed.
But then froze under the weight of frost.
During Xtha-cka Zhi-ga Tze-the,
the Killer of the Flowers Moon.
</code></pre>
<p>The excerpt is from the poem “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/this-osage-writer-remembers-one-of-the-first-victims-of-infamous-reign-of-terror">Wi’-gi-e</a>,” or “Prayer,” which Osage author Elise Paschen wrote in 2009 to honor Anna Kyle Brown, who was thought to be the first victim of the Osage Reign of Terror.</p>
<p>Brown’s body was found at the bottom of a ravine near Fairfax, Oklahoma, in 1921, with the cause of death ruled as “whiskey poisoning.” In truth she’d been murdered for her share of the hereditary mineral rights that had made her wealthy. Years later, a widespread investigation would reveal that Brown clearly died by gun violence and her cause of death was a cover-up.</p>
<p>“Killers of the Flower Moon” refers to the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/this-osage-writer-remembers-one-of-the-first-victims-of-infamous-reign-of-terror">Osage lunar cycle during which late frosts will often kill young flowers</a>. It’s also the title of Martin Scorsese’s new film, which was adapted from <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/208562/killers-of-the-flower-moon-movie-tie-in-edition-by-david-grann/">the bestselling book</a> written by David Grann. </p>
<p>The film and book trace the true story of greed, brutality and government complicity in the assassination of wealthy Osage citizens.</p>
<p>Brown was one of many Osage people murdered for their money in 1920s Oklahoma. Accurate numbers of the victims are hard to come by, but Geoffrey Standing Bear, the Osage Nation’s current principal chief, estimates that at least <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">5% of the tribe were murdered</a>, or roughly 150 people.</p>
<p>In 1923, the Osage Nation asked the Bureau of Investigation – the predecessor to the FBI – to look into a string of mysterious deaths. After a long investigation, the bureau uncovered a massive conspiracy masterminded by white men like <a href="https://ualr.edu/sequoyah/thisday/hale-given-life-sentence-february-1-1929/">William King Hale</a>, <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS005">Ernest Burkhart</a> and other non-Osage members in the community of Fairfax, Oklahoma, particularly those in positions of authority. By 1929, Hale, Burkhart and some of their co-conspirators had been tried and <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/osage-murders-case">sentenced to prison</a>. </p>
<p>But for the Osage, the story didn’t end there. Existing federal policies and persistent anti-Indigenous sentiment still left Osage people vulnerable to further violence and exploitation. </p>
<h2>Guardians in name only</h2>
<p><a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/english/toll-shannon.php">As a scholar of Indigenous literary and cultural studies</a>, I’ll often teach the political and social landscape of early Oklahoma.</p>
<p>When I tell my students at the University of Dayton about this spate of unchecked violence, someone inevitably asks how this was allowed to happen. </p>
<p>There is no one answer. But there is a central cause: laws that enabled settlers’ access to – and control over – Osage capital and, by extension, Osage lives.</p>
<p>In 1872, the Osage were forced from their homelands <a href="https://www.nps.gov/fosc/learn/historyculture/osage.htm">in Kansas and sent to Indian Territory</a>, a region that became the state of Oklahoma. Once resettled, the Osage Nation was compelled to negotiate with the federal government. Through the resulting <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807872901/colonial-entanglement/">Osage Allotment Act of 1906</a>, the Osage retained all rights to minerals found on the land, or subsurface rights.</p>
<p>There was also a legal policy known as “guardianship” that purported to protect Native American lands and investments. But it actually functioned as a way to give local courts in Oklahoma <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-disturbing-history-of-how-conservatorships-were-used-to-exploit-swindle-native-americans-165140">jurisdiction over land, persons and property of Indian minors and incompetents</a>.</p>
<p>When oil drilling <a href="https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/did-you-know">began in earnest in 1896</a> on Osage lands, the Osage became one of the richest communities on the planet, with many citizens receiving substantial annual payments. This money fueled resentment among the non-Indigenous public, and guardianship became a means for them to get their hands on it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Eight women and girls, young and old, pose for a group photograph." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of Osage Nation pictured in Oklahoma in the early 20th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/postcard-features-a-photograph-of-a-group-of-unidentified-news-photo/1311286595?adppopup=true">William J Boag/Oklahoma Historical Society via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Affluent Osage citizens – who no longer fit <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807872901/colonial-entanglement/">the stereotype of the impoverished Indian</a> – were criticized for their spending habits. So <a href="https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2021/11/24/terror-on-the-osage-reservation/">in 1921, Congress passed a law</a> that required Osage people to prove themselves competent enough to manage their vast wealth, with competence often based on their percentage of Osage blood: The more one had, the more likely one would be declared incompetent. </p>
<p>Enter guardianship. Once deemed “incompetent,” an Osage citizen would have a guardian appointed to help manage their assets. It was also common for young Osage people to have a guardian appointed to them until they turned 21. Ultimately this law, as Grann explained in a 2023 interview with the Oklahoma Historical Society, “<a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/grann-david/">ushered in one of the largest state-and-federally-sanctioned criminal enterprises</a>.” Many guardians recklessly spent or embezzled their ward’s assets, while facing little or no consequences. </p>
<p>Increasingly, Osage people under guardianship began to die under mysterious circumstances, with their guardian set to inherit their share of oil royalties. Tax documents from that era reveal a number of white guardians with multiple Osage wards, <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">the majority of whom were dead within a few years</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of oil derricks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Once oil was discovered on Osage land, the tribe became wealthy overnight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/osage-hominy-ca-1918-1919-news-photo/1371405766?adppopup=true">HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Osage actor Yancy Red Corn pointed out, once the Bureau of Investigation closed the case, “<a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/red-corn-yancey/">the killings just kept going on</a>.” While the bureau’s focus was on the murders that took place in the Gray Horse community, many more cases went unsolved in <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">other Osage communities, including Pawhuska and Hominy</a>. Standing Bear describes walking through those local cemeteries <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">and noting how</a> many “young people whose grave markers show ‘deceased: 1920 … 1921 … 1919 … 1923 … 1925.‘”</p>
<p>Red Corn notes that his grandparents kept a close eye on their children, never knowing who they could trust, even after the murders had been exposed and prosecuted; many Osage left Oklahoma altogether, moving to states like <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">California and Texas to escape the violence</a>. </p>
<h2>Denial and disrespect</h2>
<p>Despite the truth of these murders being brought to light, anti-Indigenous sentiment still roiled in the area. The families of conspirators, survivors and those who continued to exploit guardianship laws had to coexist, at times with great tension. While Hale and Burkhart were both convicted and spent time in prison, they were eventually freed.</p>
<p>After Hale was paroled in 1947, some Fairfax inhabitants even welcomed him with open arms.</p>
<p>“The word went around town, 'Bill Hale is here,’” <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">recalled Dr. Joe Conner</a>, an Osage citizen who had lost relatives during the Reign of Terror. “And people gathered as if there was a parade.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS005">Burkhart received a pardon</a> from Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon in 1965, despite protests from the Osage. </p>
<p>To the Osage still living in the area, many of whom had endured the Reign of Terror, excusing the actions of men who masterminded so many deaths spoke volumes.</p>
<p>Years later, in the 1970s, an Osage teacher named Mary Jo Webb conducted her own painstaking research into the murders and created a small booklet detailing her findings. She donated the book to the Fairfax Library. <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">Within a week, it vanished</a>.</p>
<p>Most recently, <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/grann-david/">Grann mentioned</a> that while he was conducting research for his book, some of the descendants of guardians resisted being interviewed and attempted to dodge him. Dr. Carole Conner explains that it seems as though white community members would “<a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">rather just ignore the whole topic than have the feeling that they might be blamed</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a jean jacket and sunglasses gazes at gravestones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Margie Burkhart visits the cemetery where some of her murdered Osage ancestors are buried.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-granddaughter-of-mollie-burkhart-margie-burkhart-visits-news-photo/1721271931?adppopup=true">Chandan Khana/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether the film might create openings for new conversations, or new opportunities for reckoning in these communities, remains to be seen. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/this-osage-writer-remembers-one-of-the-first-victims-of-infamous-reign-of-terror">Paschen’s poem</a> concludes with the lines, “I will wade across the river of the blackfish, the otter, the beaver. / I will climb the bank where the willow never dies.” </p>
<p>I see this poem as both an act of remembrance and a call to action: It is up to the speaker – and perhaps the reader – to explore, rather than ignore, spaces of loss and injustice. </p>
<p>It is also a testament to the fact that the stories of the Osage people neither begin nor end with the events that will be portrayed in Scorsese’s film; <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/grann-david/">as one Osage citizen declared</a>, “We were victims of these crimes. We don’t live as victims.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Toll does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Despite the perpetrators being tried and convicted, anti-Indigenous sentiment roiled the area for decades.
Shannon Toll, Associate Professor of Indigenous Literatures, University of Dayton
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196196
2022-12-11T13:32:44Z
2022-12-11T13:32:44Z
Delgamuukw 25 years on: How Canada has undermined the landmark decision on Indigenous land rights
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500742/original/file-20221213-10619-5y6q93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C8%2C2955%2C2182&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en First Nations hug to celebrate the Supreme Court of Canada's decision to recognize Indigenous land rights. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Stoody</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/delgamuukw-case"><em>Delgamuukw</em> case</a> on Aboriginal title. In 1997, the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Nations brought the watershed case before the Supreme Court, yet a countrywide battle remains over implementation of the <em>Delgamuukw</em> decision involving all First nations.</p>
<p>The Nations sought a declaration of ownership and jurisdiction over their lands. The Supreme Court agreed that Indigenous Peoples held a unique property right to their land that was held as a collective interest by a nation.</p>
<p>The court’s ruling addressed a number of issues including the <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2002CanLIIDocs24">extinguishment</a> of <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-title">Aboriginal title</a> and the use of <a href="https://www.dgwlaw.ca/indigenous-oral-history-in-the-courts/">oral history</a> in establishing land rights. </p>
<p>The case presented First Nations with new possibilities to seek legal action against the government for control over Indigenous territories.</p>
<h2>Aboriginal title and the Crown</h2>
<p>First Nation leaders aimed to reform the <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100030577/1551196153650">comprehensive land claims policy</a>. The policy provides the only negotiating framework for Indigenous Peoples to resolve their outstanding territorial land claims with the Crown.</p>
<p>As a result of the <em>Delgamuukw</em> decision, Indigenous leaders argued the policy no longer aligned with Canadian law because it required Indigenous people to cede their title to the Crown. </p>
<p>If <em>Delgamuukw</em> recognized the unique proprietary rights of Indigenous Peoples to their land, why should they be forced to surrender those rights through a federal policy?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing tinted glasses speaking to reporters." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500531/original/file-20221212-24-rbisur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Herb George, who has served as Speaker for both the Gitxsan and the Wet’suwet’en Nations, was a key figure and strategist in the Delgamuukw case.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hanson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Before <em>Delgamuukw</em>, the concept of Aboriginal title as a property right was subject to a kind of plausible deniability.</p>
<p>The 1973 Supreme Court of Canada decision in <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/5113/index.do"><em>Calder v. British Columbia</em></a> was the first to wobble that deniability. The court found that the creation of British Columbia did not automatically extinguish “Indian title.” The decision led then-prime minister, Pierre Trudeau to <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/36-2/AAND/meeting-4/evidence">reportedly observe</a>: “Maybe you have more rights than we thought you did.”</p>
<p>The case led to the creation of the comprehensive claims policy. What soon became clear, though, was that the new claims policy rested on the old colonial model of sovereignty established by the British: it required Indigenous Peoples to surrender and release their title rights to the Crown. It was, in essence, a policy that extinguished Indigenous land rights. </p>
<p>While some nations optimistically entered negotiations, others turned to the courts, especially after the <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/constitution_act_1982_section_35/">patriation of Aboriginal rights</a> into the constitution in 1982.</p>
<h2>Government indifference</h2>
<p>By the time <em>Delgamuukw</em> reached the courts, the struggle was long underway to reform the comprehensive claims policy. When the Liberals came to power under Jean Chrétien in 1993, the party’s <a href="https://www.poltext.org/sites/poltext.org/files/plateformesV2/Canada/CAN_PL_1993_LIB_en.pdf">Red Book</a> committed to an independent claims commission to address the government’s conflict of interest in the resolution of claims. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man siting in front of a Canadian flag hold up a red book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1117&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1117&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499896/original/file-20221208-19874-ktdtu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1117&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jean Chrétien holds a copy of the Liberal Red Book during the 1993 election campaign.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/Tom Hanson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in 1996, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) national chief, Ovide Mercredi, <a href="https://ricochet.media/en/534/first-nations-and-the-federal-election-an-exercise-in-self-termination">publicly burned the Red Book</a> outside a Liberal convention, disgusted with the government’s failure to fulfil its promises.</p>
<p>Government indifference persisted. But <em>Delgamuukw</em> increased pressure across the country.</p>
<p>One AFN resolution in 1998, for example, found in <a href="https://archives.library.torontomu.ca/index.php/peter-di-gangi-papers">archived records</a> created by policy researcher <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/author/peter-di-gangi">Peter Di Gangi</a>, called for the “complete rejection of the concept of extinguishment, and any equivalent concept, such as ‘surrender and grant back’ as the premise for settling new treaties.”</p>
<p>In 1998, Canada set up discussions with the AFN to undertake a <em>Delgamuukw</em> national review process. </p>
<p>But within a couple of years, documents I received as part of a Freedom of Information request from B.C.’s Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation show that some First Nations viewed the process as a “smokescreen for the continued refusal to recognize Aboriginal title.”</p>
<p>The AFN created the <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/INAN/Brief/BR9225211/br-external/AssemblyOfFirstNations-e.pdf"><em>Delgamuukw</em> Implementation Strategic Committee (DISC)</a> in 1998 to prepare legal briefs and recommendations for the Department of Indian Affairs to establish new mandates to review and revise the land claims policy in light of the legal decision.</p>
<p>The DISC made several <a href="https://archives.library.torontomu.ca/index.php/disc-june-2000">key recommendations</a> to Ottawa in May 2000. They included establishing a panel of experts to compare the comprehensive land claims policy to the principles contained in <em>Delgamuukw</em>. </p>
<p>However, Canadian officials instead said that “there was no Cabinet mandate to consider changes to the policy.” Others <a href="https://archives.library.torontomu.ca/index.php/disc-october-2000">were informed</a> that treaty negotiations are not “rights” based.</p>
<h2>Land claims to #LandBack</h2>
<p>The struggle over the land claims policy following <em>Delgamuukw</em> is a crucial chapter in the <a href="https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/what-is-land-back/">#LandBack movement</a>. And it forecast the possibilities for land reclamation and decolonization moving forward. </p>
<p>Grassroots movements brought the issue back to national attention as part of the <a href="https://idlenomore.ca/">Idle No More</a> movement. In its wake, two senior oversight committees (SOC) were established in 2013 with First Nation representation. <a href="https://www.afn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Policy_Discussion-Paper_ENG_FINAL.pdf">One on treaties and one on comprehensive claims</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wearing winter clothing carry signs that read: Idle No More" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499894/original/file-20221208-20279-3fgs0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An ‘Idle No More’ gathering on Parliament Hill in January 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sidelining these efforts, the then-Harper government commissioned a <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/aadnc-aandc/R3-221-2015-eng.pdf">special report</a> in 2015 to independently review the land claims policy. The report led to a new “<a href="https://intercontinentalcry.org/harper-launches-major-first-nations-termination-plan-as-negotiating-tables-legitimize-canadas-colonialism/">results-based</a>” approach to negotiations. But that approach maintained the same frameworks that extinguished Aboriginal title.</p>
<p>While First Nation leaders were pushing for fundamental reform, the government instead created off-ramps into sectoral, incremental and revenue-sharing agreements. The new generation of policies over land and resources, such as forestry and fishing specific tables, would avoid discussion of title altogether. </p>
<p>The Trudeau government would continue this tradition. In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to develop a <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2018/02/14/remarks-prime-minister-house-commons-recognition-and-implementation-rights">Recognition and Implementation of Indigenous Rights Framework</a>. The new framework promised to “replace policies like the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy and the Inherent Right to Self-Government Policy.” Trudeau promised, instead, a co-development approach to negotiations and mandates.</p>
<p>But the <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1536350959665/1539959903708">proposed framework</a> was never tabled. Instead, the federal government focused its energy on establishing <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1511969222951/1529103469169">Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination discussion tables</a>.</p>
<p>The mandates of these over 70 tables have never been made public. Whether and how Aboriginal title is recognized <a href="https://www.afn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Sector-Update-Inherent-Right-to-Self-Government-June-2021-EN.pdf">remains a mystery</a>.</p>
<p>While extinguishment clauses no longer appear in the comprehensive land claim policy’s wording, it still requires the exchange of title lands for private property. The new policy off-ramps set aside any acknowledgment of title as the basis for negotiations.</p>
<p>Indigenous groups have made the best out of an impossible situation. But the #LandBack movement has shown both the possibilities and the dangers of working outside federal land claims frameworks.</p>
<p>Many nations have <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/gitanyow-ipca-bc-government/">asserted Indigenous law</a> on the ground by issuing declarations and <a href="https://dasiqox.org/">exercising their jurisdiction</a> to govern their territories and resources. They put the onus of “land claims” back on Canada to prove.</p>
<p>But this strategy for title recognition has also proved dangerous. For the Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership, who brought the <em>Delgamuukw</em> case to court, <a href="https://unistoten.camp/">asserting their rights</a> in a coveted energy corridor has provoked <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/rcmp-locks-down-wetsuweten-territory-as-enforcement-of-injunction-begins/">one of the most violent colonial conflicts in Canadian history</a>.</p>
<p>That violence reflects many things, but foremost among them: Canada’s refusal to align land claims policies with its own law.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shiri Pasternak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Twenty-five years after the landmark Delgamuukw case, Canada is still failing to fulfil its legal obligations to Indigenous Peoples.
Shiri Pasternak, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/188695
2022-11-23T15:03:23Z
2022-11-23T15:03:23Z
Wilma Mankiller, first female principal chief of Cherokee Nation, led with compassion and continues to inspire today
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496534/original/file-20221121-16-2a0kww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C5%2C3464%2C2271&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wilma Mankiller served in the top leadership role of the Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chief-wilma-mankiller-of-the-cherokee-nation-news-photo/635967157">Peter Turnley/Corbis Historical via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you fish in your pocket or purse for a U.S. quarter today, there’s a chance you’ll see Wilma Mankiller’s face. She was the <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wilma-mankiller">Cherokee Nation’s first female principal chief</a>, and she inspired generations of Cherokees and young Native people like me.</p>
<p>In 2022, <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/wilma-mankiller">Mankiller</a> was one of the first women honored by appearing on a <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-women-quarters">series of quarters</a>, along with renowned poet and activist <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/maya-angelou">Maya Angelou</a> and physicist and astronaut <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/sally-ride">Sally Ride</a>. Mankiller’s quarter, issued in the summer of 2022, marks the first time that a Native American woman has been featured on a U.S. coin since <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/circulating-coins/sacagawea-golden-dollar">Sacagawea appeared on the golden dollar</a> in 2000.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://history.la.psu.edu/directory/julie-reed/">historian of Native American history</a>, I credit my professional career to Mankiller, whom I heard speak at Salem Women’s College when I was an undergraduate student there. I had never seen a non-Native audience listen so intently to a woman who looked like my father’s ancestors and grew up in rural Oklahoma, as he did. Like many young Cherokee people, I was raised outside the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation.</p>
<p>Following her lecture, I tore through her autobiography, “<a href="https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/mankiller">Mankiller: A Chief and Her People</a>.” In her book and through her life’s work, Mankiller introduced a generation of people not just to Cherokee history but also to a model of <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sifters-9780195130812?cc=us&lang=en&#">Native women’s leadership</a>, leading by listening to the voices from her community and supporting the programs they sought. </p>
<h2>Early life</h2>
<p>Mankiller’s life resembled many Native people’s lives in the 20th century before she assumed the role of principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985.</p>
<p>She was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, at an Indian hospital in 1945. She grew up on land secured by Cherokee people over three generations of shifting U.S. federal Indian policies, each with devastating results: the <a href="https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2015/12/29/the-treaty-of-new-echota-and-the-trail-of-tears">Treaty of New Echota</a> in 1835, <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RE001">the Treaty of 1866</a> and the <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CU006">Curtis Act</a> in 1898.</p>
<p>Mankiller’s family relocated to San Francisco in the 1950s after Congress passed the <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469651385/indians-on-the-move/">termination and relocation policy</a>, seeking to <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/488.html">break up and relocate Native American tribes</a> to assimilate them. In San Francisco she met Indigenous people from diverse communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="woman with thick brown hair sitting at a desk in a classroom and outstretching her arm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mankiller’s duties as chief included attending the Arkansas Riverbed Authority meetings to discuss multiple Native communities’ access to water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Maya-Angelou-Quarters/7b49eecf3fcf4b5bb3bc2852a8704cf8/21/0">Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She came of age in San Francisco during the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/red-power-movement-radical-fight-native-american-sovereignty">Red Power Movement</a>, which was marked by Indigenous people’s activism across the country and aimed to draw attention to broken treaty promises, widespread dispossession and police brutality. She and her siblings supported <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/us/native-american-occupation-alcatraz.html">the occupation of Alcatraz</a>, a takeover by Native activists that lasted 18 months. </p>
<p>She married young, had children and willed herself through a college education. She divorced and returned home to Oklahoma in 1976 as a single parent with two daughters. Mankiller’s family history, like that of so many Native Americans in this country, cannot be told or understood without understanding changes in federal Indian policy, which often dictated where Native people lived and the economic opportunities available to them.</p>
<h2>What she means to Cherokee people</h2>
<p>Mankiller’s life was similar to those of many families who remained in Oklahoma on allotments or within Cherokee communities after Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Until the age of 11, she grew up in Adair County, which was <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/adaircountyoklahoma/RHI325221#RHI325221">about 46% Cherokee in the 2020 census</a>. </p>
<p>When she returned to Oklahoma from California in the late 1970s to work for the Cherokee Nation, she prioritized and supported a community-driven project that <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wilma-mankiller">brought running water to the Bell community</a>. Bell, a rural community in Adair County, is still home to large pockets of Cherokee people. This effort was later dramatized in the 2013 film “<a href="https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/523674">The Cherokee Word for Water</a>.” Mankiller’s commitment to improving the lives of Cherokee people was central to her work, even before she became chief.</p>
<p>Her rise to the position of principal chief in 1985 coincided with a moment when the efforts of civil rights activists, Black nationalists, Red Power and women’s rights activists of the previous decades were bearing fruit. She represented and modeled what people like <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/2010/04/08/gloria-steinem-reflects-on-friendship-with-wilma-mankiller/61264327007/">Gloria Steinem</a>, with whom Mankiller formed an enduring friendship, hoped to see more people achieve in the larger U.S.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A tall white man with thick gray hair places medal around neck of shorter woman with cropped brown hair" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Clinton awards Wilma Mankiller the Presidential Medal of Freedom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-bill-clinton-places-the-presidential-medal-of-news-photo/51640661?phrase=wilma%20mankiller&adppopup=true">Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mankiller’s impact extended beyond Cherokee people. In a nod to her accomplishments, President Bill Clinton awarded her the <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4173791/user-clip-wilma-mankiller-presidential-award">Presidential Medal of Freedom</a> in 1998. Mankiller understood that she <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/mankiller-wilma/#:%7E:text=so%20that%20helped.-,Chapter%2014%20%E2%80%94%205%3A18,-advice%20to%20Female">represented how far women leaders had come</a> and the hope we might still arrive where we need to be.</p>
<p>I still remember learning of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/us/07mankiller.html">her death from pancreatic cancer in April 2010</a> when I was a graduate student in history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, not far from Salem College where she first inspired me. I, like many others I imagine, wept for her, enormously proud of all she had achieved.</p>
<h2>The Cherokee value of gadugi</h2>
<p>Mankiller’s transition to chief wasn’t easy. People <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/mankiller-wilma/#:%7E:text=took%20some%20doing.-,Chapter%2013%20%E2%80%94%206%3A34,-Opposition%20to%20Wilma">initially questioned</a> a woman’s ability to lead the tribe. If there was any doubt of Mankiller’s capabilities as a leader when she took over as chief in 1985, in her second election to office six years later, she received <a href="https://womenshistory.si.edu/stories/wilma-mankiller-led-first-woman-principal-chief-cherokee-nation">almost 83% of the vote</a>. </p>
<p>She gained support by exemplifying <a href="https://cherokee.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/22035/2020/02/Cherokee-Community-Values.pdf">gadugi</a> – a Cherokee word that means working together collectively for the benefit of the whole community. She drew upon her culture, history and tribal identity as a leader, and she raised her daughters <a href="https://osiyo.tv/gina-olaya-a-living-legacy/">Gina</a> and <a href="https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/with-kidney-transplant-wilma-mankillers-daughters-saved-each-others-lives/article_aa42a8d1-63fa-566e-8bc0-a94d3d34f6f9.html">Felicia</a> Olaya to do the same. Though neither held office, both have worked for and supported the Cherokee Nation throughout their lives. </p>
<p>During her time as chief, Mankiller provided a foundation for the continued growth of the Cherokee Nation. Enrollment in Cherokee Nation <a href="https://womenshistory.si.edu/stories/wilma-mankiller-led-first-woman-principal-chief-cherokee-nation">doubled under her leadership</a>. She championed education and secured a <a href="https://hankmemoir.wordpress.com/tag/parade-magazine/">US$9 million vocational center</a>. A 1991 Parade Magazine profile described her leadership style as quiet but strong. </p>
<p>At her mother’s memorial, Gina, <a href="https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/tahlequah-ok/gina-olaya-10969530">who died in October 2022</a>, said that <a href="https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/news/wilma-mankiller-also-left-legacy-as-mother/article_78c8f8f8-0ce8-578d-8650-f98b28e7273d.html">her mother taught her family</a> “how to laugh, how to dance, to appreciate Motown music, to be a humble servant to our people, to love one another unequivocally and to cherish each and every moment we spent together as a family.”</p>
<p>Mankiller articulated what generations of Cherokee people knew – that Indigenous people are capable of <a href="https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/rebuilding-the-cherokee-nation-april-2-1993/">generating the solutions</a> to the problems they face. As chief, she focused on issues that benefited some of the most vulnerable Cherokee people, such as rural development, housing, employment and education. Mankiller listened to community members to determine the way forward. I believe her legacy, now enshrined on a quarter, will continue to inspire new generations of people seeking to make a difference in the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Reed has received funding from various organizations for consulting work on Cherokee history including New York Historical Society, Cherokee Nation Businesses, and various k-12 textbook producers. She has also received fellowship and scholarship support from the Spencer Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and the Cherokee Nation Education Foundation. She is citizen of the Cherokee Nation.</span></em></p>
Wilma Mankiller’s groundbreaking tenure as chief of the Cherokee Nation introduced the US to the power of Indigenous women’s leadership.
Julie Reed, Associate Professor in History, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/191038
2022-09-29T16:49:14Z
2022-09-29T16:49:14Z
UNDRIP 15 years on: Genuine truth and reconciliation requires legislative reform
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486666/original/file-20220927-25-7mqf23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C5892%2C3772&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Indigenous flag flies in front of Parliament during the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept. 30, 2021. To live up to the intentions of UNDRIP, Canada must work with Indigenous communities to change harmful laws.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/undrip-15-years-on--genuine-truth-and-reconciliation-requires-legislative-reform" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>On Sept. 30 Canada marks the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html">National Day for Truth and Reconciliation</a> for the second time since the federal government made it a statutory holiday. As Canada struggles to come to terms with colonialism and its ongoing legacies, we must also talk about what needs to be done to bring about meaningful change in the future. </p>
<p>This September also marked the anniversary of the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html/">UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>. Fifteen years ago, the UN General Assembly adopted the declaration that serves as the global minimum standard “for the survival, dignity and well-being” of all Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>After <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2007/09/06/canada_ripped_for_opposing_un_declaration.html">initial resistance</a>, Canada is now positioned to be a <a href="https://www.declarationcoalition.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/EMRIP-14th-sess-UN-Decl-on-Rts-of-IPs-Act-Coalition-statement-Jun-23-21-1.pdf">world leader in putting these standards into practice</a>. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, much work still needs to be done to meet the minimum standards of the UN Declaration and to live up to its <a href="https://centre.irpp.org/research-studies/unfinished-business-implementation-of-the-un-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples-in-canada/">spirit and intent</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OQ3Imsz9U_U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples | Assembly of First Nations.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Canada’s Declaration Act</h2>
<p>Last year, Parliament <a href="https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/u-2.2/page-1.html">passed legislation</a> to “provide a framework for the Government of Canada’s implementation of the Declaration.” A key component of the legislation directs the government to work with Indigenous Peoples “to prepare and implement an action plan to achieve the objectives of the Declaration.” </p>
<p>The new Declaration Act states that the action plan must include “measures to address injustices, combat prejudice and eliminate all forms of violence, racism and discrimination, including systemic racism and discrimination” as well as “measures related to monitoring, oversight, recourse or remedy.”</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reparations-to-indigenous-peoples-are-critical-after-popes-apology-for-residential-schools-187823">Reparations to Indigenous Peoples are critical after Pope's apology for residential schools</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>If done right, the action plan could be a <a href="http://kukukwes.com/2021/05/28/opinion-canadian-implementation-of-the-undrip-would-benefit-all-treaty-people-in-atlantic-canada/">historic opportunity to address the human rights</a> needs of Indigenous Peoples in a concerted way and with solutions identified by Indigenous Peoples themselves. An action plan that is truly comprehensive in scope, developed in genuine partnership with Indigenous Peoples and that holds government accountable would be a momentous step forward.</p>
<h2>Urgent need for law reform</h2>
<p>Critically, however, the action plan is not the only requirement of the Declaration Act. It also requires the federal government to “<a href="https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/u-2.2/page-1.html#:%7E:text=Measures%20for%20Consistency%20of%20Laws%20and%20Achieving%20the%20Objectives%20of%20the%20Declaration">take all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent with the Declaration</a>” and do so “in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples.” </p>
<p>This consistency provision of the Declaration Act is every bit as important as the action plan. But with less than a year left to meet the deadline for an action plan, there is concern that urgently needed reforms to laws, policies and regulations are being overshadowed and neglected.</p>
<p>The vast majority of Canada’s laws were written without the participation of Indigenous Peoples and with little regard for their rights. In fact, many laws, such as the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-5/">Indian Act</a>, were specifically designed to dispossess Indigenous Peoples, curtail their rights and criminalize their cultures and traditions. Murray Sinclair, the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and former senator, has talked about the “<a href="https://openparliament.ca/committees/canadian-heritage/42-1/75/murray-sinclair-10/">war of law</a>” that Canada has waged against Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman holds a sign during a protest that reads: respect indigenous sovereignty" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486417/original/file-20220926-15030-wmt6uy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Canadian governments have waged a ‘war of law’ against Indigenous Peoples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Earlier this year <a href="https://justice.gc.ca/eng/declaration/report-rapport/2022/p4.html">the government of Canada announced plans</a> to review a number of laws with potentially far-reaching consequences for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. This includes legislation on safe drinking water, how lands are added to First Nations reserves and the language used in a standardized clause (known as a “non-derogation clause”) meant to avoid conflict between federal law and inherent title, rights and treaties. </p>
<h2>Indigenous collaboration essential</h2>
<p>Our immediate concern is not with any of the reforms being discussed, but with the process. Even with the best intentions, poorly designed processes can easily derail legal reform. It is not clear why the federal government chose to prioritize these particular legal issues over others. There is also little clarity on the role that Indigenous Peoples will play in deciding what reforms will be proposed to Parliament.</p>
<p>Additionally, comments from departments and agencies raise serious concerns about how the government understands the consistency requirement. For example, the federal Impact Assessment Agency asserts that the Impact Assessment Act — a critical flashpoint for conflict over use of lands and territories — already aligns with the Declaration and therefore “<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/impact-assessment-agency/programs/participation-indigenous-peoples/implementing-united-nations-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples.html">does not need to be changed.</a>” No indication is given about how they reached this conclusion.</p>
<p>The UN Declaration requires that governments only adopt legislative measures impacting the rights of Indigenous Peoples when free, prior and informed consent has been granted. <a href="https://quakerservice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Backgrounder-on-self-determination-and-FPIC.pdf">These are an essential requirement</a> to ensure the rights of Indigenous Peoples and prevent further human rights violations. </p>
<p>As the Declaration states, meaningful participation and consent are the minimum standards required of all governments. As we mark 15 years of the UN Declaration, the federal government must live up to its principles.</p>
<p><em>Cheryl Knockwood, Chair of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheryl Lightfoot receives funding from SSHRC
Sheryl Lightfoot and Cheryl Knockwood are active with the Canadian Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, <a href="http://www.declarationcoalition.ca">www.declarationcoalition.ca</a></span></em></p>
To fully implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada must engage in genuine and inclusive law reform.
Sheryl Lightfoot, Canada Research Chair in Global Indigenous Rights and Politics and Associate Professor in Political Science, Public Policy and Indigenous Studies, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/171384
2021-11-10T02:21:42Z
2021-11-10T02:21:42Z
Why the Australian government must listen to Torres Strait leaders on climate change
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430960/original/file-20211109-23-1sbwiqv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Paul Kabai and Pabai Pabai.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Talei Elu</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last month, First Nations leaders Pabai Pabai and Paul Kabai <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/non-us-case/pabai-pabai-and-guy-paul-kabai-v-commonwealth-of-australia/">filed a landmark class action</a> against the Australian government to protect communities in the Torres Strait from climate change.</p>
<p>In the Torres Strait, First Nations communities are facing an <a href="https://theconversation.com/torres-strait-islanders-face-more-than-their-fair-share-of-health-impacts-from-climate-change-165388">existential threat</a> as the planet warms. Rising seas are already inundating infrastructure and cultural sites, and some islands may be uninhabitable by the end of the century causing devastating harm to Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Ailan Kastom culture.</p>
<p>Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai have seen the impacts first hand. They have filed their class action to protect over 65,000 years of connection to land. Mr. Kabai has <a href="https://www.gratafund.org.au/climate_case_release">described</a> the class action as answering their responsibility to community and culture.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have a cultural responsibility to protect our communities, our culture and spirituality from climate change – for our ancestors and future generations.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai are part of a proud history of Torres Strait Islander Peoples fighting for their rights through the courts. They draw on the legacy of Eddie Mabo and his co-plaintiffs James Rice and David Passi, who took on the government and established that <a href="https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/mabo-native-title/">terra nullius was a lie</a>, paving the way for Native Title recognition as we know it today.</p>
<p>Mr. Kabai and Mr. Pabai are also part of the foundational tradition of First Nation stewardship of land and water. As Traditional Owners, their knowledge and protection of Country is vital to tackling climate change.</p>
<p>Indigenous Peoples have always known this. Our communities have adapted and thrived together by caring for country for countless generations. The scientific community has only recently caught up. </p>
<p>In 2019, the <a href="https://ipccresponse.org/home-en">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> recognised Indigenous Peoples, our knowledge and rights to land and water are key to tackling climate change.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1453280288176590859"}"></div></p>
<h2>Pabai and Kabai’s case</h2>
<p>In their class action, Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai will argue the Australian government has a duty to protect the people, islands, and culture of the Torres Strait. The duty arises from the common law of negligence, the <a href="http://www.tsirc.qld.gov.au/community-entry-forms/treaty-png-border-movements">Torres Strait Treaty</a> (between Australia and Papua New Guinea, providing protection for the way of life of traditional peoples of the Torres Strait Protected Zone), and the Native Title rights of Torres Strait Islander Peoples.</p>
<p>The legal rights Torres Strait Islander Peoples hold as Traditional Owners of their lands and waters are central to Mr. Kabai and Mr. Pabai’s case. As is their deep spiritual and personal connection to the islands. </p>
<p>Mr. Kabai has further <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/why-these-torres-strait-islanders-are-filing-a-class-action-against-the-australian-government/4d420d1a-2752-4f7c-bb2f-bbb898aae764">detailed</a> that if the government’s climate failure continues they will lose everything. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Becoming climate refugees means losing everything: our homes, our culture, our stories and our identity […] If you take us away from this island then we’re nothing. It’s like the Stolen Generation, you take people away from their tribal land, they become nobodies. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cross in front of ocean." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430981/original/file-20211109-17-yee01y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Boigu, Torres Strait.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Talei Elu</span></span>
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<p>The Australian government’s responsibility to Torres Strait Islander Peoples comes from the particular vulnerability of their communities to climate harms like sea level rise. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/11/norway-court-rules-two-windfarms-harming-sami-reindeer-herders-turbines-torn-down">Similar arguments</a> have been made and won by the Sami people in Norway to protect their rights as part of climate change mitigation. Although in different legal and political contexts, both Indigenous rights and climate action are entrenched, structural priorities.</p>
<p>Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai will argue the government’s failure to reduce emissions will extinguish the Native Title rights of Torres Strait Islander Peoples as their traditional lands are lost beneath rising seas.</p>
<p>In court, they will urge the government to take pre-emptive steps to stop climate change impacts from destroying their islands – and with them, over 65,000 years of custom and culture protected by Native Title.</p>
<p>The government’s responsibility to act is also said to come from legal protections provided by the Torres Strait Treaty. Australia entered into the Treaty with Papua New Guinea in 1978, after grassroots political pressure from Torres Strait Islander leaders like Getano Lui Snr.</p>
<p>The Treaty created a protected zone to acknowledge and protect the traditional way of life of Torres Strait Islander Peoples and requires the Australian government to prevent damage to the marine environment of the Torres Strait.</p>
<p>These protections exist to preserve the deep spiritual connection First Nations communities have to their islands and waters.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A concrete seawall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430963/original/file-20211109-17-u0jccz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A concrete seawall in the Torres Strait protecting against rising sea levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Talei Elu</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The importance of this connection to Country has been recognised by the High Court. In 2019, the court found the Northern Territory government was <a href="https://www.hrlc.org.au/human-rights-case-summaries/2019/7/23/high-court-recognises-significance-of-cultural-and-spiritual-loss-in-native-title-decision">responsible for spiritual hurt</a> caused to Ngaliwurru and Nungali native title holders by the building of roads and infrastructure on their traditional lands.</p>
<p>It is this combination of legal rights – unique to Torres Strait Islander Peoples – that Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai will rely on to ask the court to create a new duty of care.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-climate-change-activists-can-learn-from-first-nations-campaigns-against-the-fossil-fuel-industry-165869">What climate change activists can learn from First Nations campaigns against the fossil fuel industry</a>
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<h2>Recent developments</h2>
<p>Earlier this year, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-landmark-judgment-the-federal-court-found-the-environment-minister-has-a-duty-of-care-to-young-people-161650">Federal Court found</a> a novel duty of care not to cause climate harm to young people. The Court found that the minister for the environment had a responsibility to take reasonable care to avoid harm to children caused by greenhouse gas emissions when exercising her power to approve new coal mining.</p>
<p>Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai’s case is the first of its kind because it argues a far broader case: that the Australian government has a duty to protect the Torres Strait from climate harm.</p>
<p>While this may sound ambitious, these kinds of cases have worked before. Most notably, in the Netherlands, where the <a href="https://www.urgenda.nl/en/home-en/">Urgenda Foundation</a> and 886 people took the Dutch government to court for climate inaction – and won.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.urgenda.nl/en/home-en/">The Urgenda Foundation</a> has partnered with Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai on their case, and the circumstances are similar. Both communities live on land perilously exposed to rising sea levels and face severe harm from climate change.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-governments-fail-to-act-can-the-courts-save-our-planet-170713">If governments fail to act, can the courts save our planet?</a>
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</em>
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<h2>A legacy of nation shaping</h2>
<p>First Nations communities have a history of bringing legal cases vital to the development of Australian law. Often against the odds.</p>
<p>Mabo’s legal victory placed the Torres Strait at the centre of a transformation in the way the Australian nation places itself in a long history of Indigenous ownership and connection. Mr. Kabai and Mr. Pabai are inspired by that legacy.</p>
<p>As world leaders meet in Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit, billed as a “last chance” for real climate action, Mr. Pabai and Mr. Kabai are asking the Australian government to step up and stop causing harm.</p>
<p>Their class action could prevent extreme climate harm for all Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and all Australians. </p>
<p>It is a vitally important case. It is also an action taken by traditional owners that highlights our continued commitment to country over countless generations, a commitment that is a proven practice of providing for all of existence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eddie Synot does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
First Nations leaders Pabai Pabai and Paul Kabai filed a landmark class action against the Australian government to protect communities in the Torres Strait from climate change.
Eddie Synot, Lecturer, Griffith Law School, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/170697
2021-11-03T13:28:21Z
2021-11-03T13:28:21Z
Why pollution is as much about colonialism as chemicals — Don’t Call Me Resilient transcript EP 11
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429636/original/file-20211101-19-13mwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=246%2C32%2C5125%2C3532&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In this episode, two Indigenous scientists offer a different theory of pollution — one that includes colonialism at its root. This understanding may help us make a better future. Here, logging activities in Australia. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Palmer/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/66dc0014-35a5-41ed-b787-822c8d92ff3b?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-pollution-is-as-much-about-colonialism-as-chemicals-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-11-170696"><strong>Why pollution is as much about colonialism as chemicals</strong></a>.</p>
<p><em>NOTE: Transcripts may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.</em></p>
<p><strong>Vinita Srivastava (VS):</strong> From <em>The Conversation</em>, this is “Don’t Call Me Resilient”, I’m Vinita Srivastava.</p>
<p><strong>Michelle Murphy:</strong> The question is like, how are you working towards building something else? So when it comes to pollution, it’s not just documenting that pollution is colonialism, but thinking what could be a different theory of pollution. That’s about making the world I’d rather be in.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> We’ve all seen the images and the streams of plastic washing up on shorelines. Those are the plastics that end up in the guts of birds and fish in our food systems and eventually settle into our bodies. Our guests today are both Indigenous scientists who say we will never get rid of industrial plastics and chemicals. Yet they are surprisingly optimistic. They both run labs to address our climate crisis and say bringing an Indigenous understanding to environmental justice is necessary to moving forward. Learning to accept, live with and even love the parts of us infused with industrial toxins is part of it. The real key, though, comes in the redefinition of pollution and chemicals to include colonialism at its root. To understand that our rain is laced with both toxic chemicals as well as racism. Max Liboiron joins us from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. They are Associate Professor in Geography at Memorial University and the author of <em>Pollution is Colonialism</em>. Their work focuses on plastic pollution and marine food webs. </p>
<p>Also here is Michelle Murphy, who is part of an Indigenous-led environmental justice lab at the University of Toronto. They are a professor of history and women and gender studies and a Canada Research Chair in science and technology studies and environmental data justice. Welcome to both of you. </p>
<p>This episode already feels special because we generally don’t have guests that know each other as well as you two do. You two are more than just academics. I know there’s a deeper relationship here. Murphy, you said that you felt lonely before you met Max.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, yeah, that’s very true. Max was the first person in academia that I met that had a similar biography to me that kind of came from a similar place that had to overcome obstacles in a similar way. And then working in a field science and technology studies and environmental justice. We both do that. But that field can be super white, and there were very few Indigenous people, even people of colour when I was younger in these fields. And so, you know, when I met Max, it was kind of life-changing. We also kind of look alike. We’re like the same height when we get like, we are collaborators, we have similar interests in like walking our talk. So like our work is not just words, but must be actions. And so I really learn so much from Max in terms of like the practise and method side of trying to do anti-colonial feminist work. And yeah, well, you know, you see kind of pictures of us. We almost look like twins or siblings are, you know, we’re definitely relatives of some kind. We just don’t know how.</p>
<p><strong>Max Liboiron:</strong> The best compliment is at conferences when people mistake us for each other. And I’m like, “Yes, that is methodologically appropriate.” Although if you actually want to talk to Murphy, they’re like over there.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> It’s very true. Yeah, so we are we have been on a journey together about how to run labs, how to do a kind of anti-colonial environmental justice work and how to be a person in universities which are very, you know, racist and how to live as human beings in a good way. And so as a connected and deep project.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I love the story of the two of you because at first when you hear that you guys are connected in this way, it sounds like, Oh, is there a mentorship or? But the mentorship clearly goes both ways.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Definitely.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yeah, I feel like we’re more twins, right? Even to the point where I had health issues the other day and I was like, I should call Murphy to see if they had the exact same symptoms for this.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> So talking about your work a little bit, I think everyone listening has an idea what pollution is, but both of you see it slightly differently than most. And so I’m wondering, Murphy, can you tell us what pollution is?</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, Max has really helped me understand how pollution is an expression of colonialism. How it’s a disruption to land-body relations. It is premised on property and, the kind of we could say, white supremacists, claim that the state or companies can put violence into the world without responsibility for that violence. When that violence hits particular kinds of people’s communities’ bodies, that it’s kind of OK to kill up to a certain level that may be the other way is, you know, we’re tempted to think about pollution in terms of measuring carbon dioxide in the air or a particular kind of, you know, nasty chemical. And we are kind of taught by the sciences, by the predilections of a government that pretends to regulate pollution, but doesn’t. That pollution is, you know, small chemicals and hard to see and difficult to get a handle on. But pollution is really something that’s infrastructural. It’s extensive. You can see plumes in the air. People feel it inter-generationally. It is something that’s in our roads, our pipelines. It’s connected to our consumption. It’s in the factory, it’s in the refinery, it’s in the laws. So pollution is also something that’s very extensive. It’s not just a particle in the air, it’s a whole way of arranging a condition of living. And so that is also what pollution is.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> And over time, I’ve come to understand through Murphy’s work that pollution isn’t just, you know, the substance that is causing harm and those harms, but also the finances that enable that and the corporations and the regulations that let certain things be seen. And other things just can’t be seen because, you know, certain types of knowing can’t ever see those things and the people in the events and the spirits all tied together, not as a sort of network that has like different balls and nodes. But as the same thing, right, as the thing. Not these things aren’t in relationship. They are the thing. And so when we say chemical, you mean all of that, that big ball of wax. And so that’s why I like these little tweaks like, let’s decolonize data collection, or like, let’s change how much pollution is allowable. Like that does not impact that giant nugget at all. Right. And so you actually need a very different approach if you’re going to address those things.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Well, let’s talk a little bit about that approach. Like that voice might have been the well-meaning environmentalist. What do you think that well-meaning environmentalist misses when they don’t understand pollution in this way?</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> So I have a big section in my book, and I know Murphy has a lot of experience in this too, which is that if you skip over colonialism, then you think things that are good and well-intentioned are automatically not colonial. But if you say do a beach clean up and you go on to Indigenous land and you clean that beach without permission, that’s not Indigenous access to Indigenous land for non-Indigenous schools, even though it’s benevolent, and that is colonialism. So there are the things that count as good and well-intentioned and benevolent and environmentalism are frequently, almost ubiquitously also colonial. Like hydroelectric power. Well, that’s actually putting methylmercury into Inuit fish around here or right? There’s all of these sort of environmental goods that are also colonial bads.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> You were asking about what does the kind of good environmentalists do where they and that they don’t kind of realize they’re kind of implicated in colonialism? Well, that simple environmental position might be: let’s go to the state. Let’s go to Canada, the Canadian state or the U.S. state, and try to get them to regulate companies and prevent their pollution. But what that’s not thinking about is that state is a settler-colonial state, that what that action is doing is affirming settler-colonial jurisdiction over land and life and including Indigenous land and life. And so, pollution becomes colonialism too by the habit of trying to fix pollution is always affirming the settler state and that settler state along with the company. And you know, here in Canada, the settler state began as a company. It began as the Hudson’s Bay Company. In the United States, it began as the Massachusetts Company. Here in North America, the settler state is built out of colonial charter companies. And so the relation between the state and companies is very, very tight. The state is made to enhance and support the company. And so when these two things are kind of working together, you know, they are part of a legacy of saying they have an entitlement to disrupt land and life. The company and the state work together in there, affirming their entitlement to have no accountability and their right to just disrupt land and life with their actions. And that can be genocide, that can be taking kids away. That can be all sorts of things, and it includes putting pollution into the world.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> But that disruption can also be helping. Like beach cleanups and carbon credits. Those are still disruptive interventions on the part of the state that reaffirms the settler state and what counts as good and right and true.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I guess even just who you’re negotiating with, I mean, which nation that you’re negotiating with?</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yeah, if your invaders bring in recycling, that’s not a net good. You’re still invaded. That’s still not great.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> And there’s a question of who has jurisdiction. Like, I live on the Great Lakes. This is Anishinaabe Haudenosaunee territory. What are the laws? Who has jurisdiction? Laws aren’t just rules. They’re ethical systems, they’re systems of responsibility. So the way the science is in the settler-state gets us to think about pollution is their physical objects. We kind of regulate them with law. But thinking in our territories and out of our own traditions of thinking, any relation, any physical relations, is also an ethical relation. It’s a responsibility. It’s not just an attachment, it’s not just an ecological connection. It is responsibilities between fish and water, between people and fish, between air and people, between peoples and peoples are both human and non-human. And so that comes out of a whole different jurisdiction, a whole different epistemology. It’s a whole different way of being. And so if we’re not affirming that, then I think we’re not doing anti-colonial work.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Murphy, listening to you talk reminds me of reading some of your work and …</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Like the run-on sentences? </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Well, just how poetic it is. Sometimes you have this concept: alter life, which is, I mean, there’s just so many beautiful lines in the work that I’ve read of yours. Can you explain alter life? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> So alter life is the condition of having already been altered, but still being open to alteration. So in our particular condition right now, all of us on this conversation have been profoundly altered by colonialism. We’ve all been profoundly altered by heteronormativity. We all have particular persistent pollutants in our bodies that have been there since we were developing fetuses that have participated in our development as beings. So we live in a condition of being altered, and some of those alterations are incredibly injurious. Some of them kill us, but that alteration isn’t only negative. So we live in community. We might persist, despite colonialism. We take hormones on purpose in order to alter ourselves. So alterations both already happened, but it’s ongoing. And sometimes it’s consensual. Sometimes it’s non-consensual. Lots of times it’s happening to us and we’re navigating it. So alter life is about thinking about that, but trying to think about that in a way that doesn’t stigmatize for being altered. You know, in Canada, in the conditions we live of capitalism and colonialism and white supremacy, we tend to stigmatize and render disposable or as a site of further injury, any being or land that’s already been harmed. If you’ve been hurt, then we’ll pay you cheaper. If this land has garbage on it, let’s put more, then let’s concentrate the garbage there. We live in a world where certain people are rendered disposable and they have to have the burden of intensive violence is coming at them from many angles, the world hostile to their existence. So alter life also has an ethical commitment, which is to value altered life, to have a loving relation to think as sacred wasted lands, injured life, life that has been had to come into existence in relationship to colonialism or white supremacy. So, of course, that’s another twisting, long answer. Max is really good at, you know, one of the complementary things about thinking with Max is I give like really long sentences, and Max is really, really much better at putting it in a nutshell.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yeah, I make the bumper stickers and Michelle drives the truck. This concept of alter life has been really instrumental to my theory of change, my idea of how change happens and letting go of these purity politics that are very, very prevalent in mainstream activism, including environmental activism, which is like, well, if you work for the man, then you can’t possibly be doing activism. Or if an area has been so far altered, then it becomes the best place to have a sacrifice zone or something like that. And so I use the term compromise, which is heavily based on Murphy’s concept of alter life, which is that, yeah, sometimes you reproduce the crappy system you’re trying to change because there’s no outside of that system, and you can just release that to Jesus or whoever looks after that thing for you, that guilt. Because if there’s not, I mean, that’s just what’s going to be. So let’s go and let’s flourish in that compromise as opposed to feeling guilty about it. So I do some of my best activism as a university administrator for a colonial university on a place that has had one of the only successful genocides in Canada. Right? And that is where I’ve done my best Indigenous activism and I do anti-colonial science in a western scientific laboratory, and none of those are oxymorons. If you think about alter life in the way that Murphy talks about it, they just are. And you just got to get on with things.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> This idea that we are part of chemicals or chemicals are part of us or, you know, that it’s irreversibly changed us or changed our world. I mean, all of this could sound very, all of this could sound very negative, but neither of you focus on the negative. Can you talk a little bit about that, just continuously resisting and how you do that?</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> I don’t think it’s about not attending to the negative. I mean, I study plastic pollution. It’s super crappy. But at the same time, I don’t understand plastic as this evil, wayward pollutant that has run amok and we’re destroying the planet, which really misunderstands a lot of those relations. I understand it is really old relatives that were plants and animals that were minding their own business thinking about, “do I want to be crude oil or do I want to be a diamond? Don’t worry, I have another 10,000 years to make up my mind,” when suddenly they’re rudely ripped out of the ground, go into a cracking tower and are put into this service that is against their nature and against the sort of relations and the natural law, and now they’re bad relatives and we all have bad relatives. You can’t tell me your entire extended family is warm and fuzzy and doesn’t give you horrific, toxic problems, right? But they’re still your family. And so even if you’ve ostracized parts of your family, you still have obligations in relation to them and that really changes the playing field of relations as opposed to like annihilation as a relation which a lot of plastic pollution activism is based around. So it’s not about not dealing with the bad stuff, it’s about eating the bad stuff and being like, yep, that’s what it tastes like.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I think too we are both influenced by some of the work of Eve Tuck. She talks about damage- versus desire-based research, and in environmental justice, it makes sense. You know, the state doesn’t care. The science is not lining up, right? The studies aren’t serving you. So what do you do? The habit is you then try to use your body and your suffering and represent that in order to prove environmental violence is happening, or colonial violence is happening and that mostly doesn’t work either. So then what we have is community after community documenting their pain, trying to represent it in report after report. And the university coming in and sucking those stories out of people, getting publications, getting grants, getting tenure out of the suffering of people. So desire-base work is a different theory of change. You know, first of all, it starts with nothing about us without us. And then the question is, how are you working towards building something else? So when it comes to pollution, it’s not just documenting that pollution is colonialism, but thinking what could be a different theory of pollution that’s about making the world I’d rather be in. So that can start with how you run your lab, how you collaborate, what your research is like, how you interact, how you treat each other, all the way up to how you represent the work, how you build community, how you build actions, how you support things beyond the university, like, for example, toxic tours or legal challenges or alternative systems of notification. Whatever it is, you’re trying to build something else that’s better, whether it’s something small or something technical as opposed to just sticking with we’re going to just show this violence in particular bodies. We know pollution is happening.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> You said the university uses these stories or this data or this info, and their kind of way to better their stature or their positions. But Murphy, you’ve also written about leveraging data for anti-colonial purposes. So can you explain what do you mean by that?</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> So the environmental data justice lab is Indigenous-led, Indigenous majority of the lab, and our work focuses on an area in Ontario called Chemical Valley, which is on Anishinaabe territory, and it kind of surrounds and is on the land of Aamjiwnaang First Nation, and the lab includes community members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation. So there is a lot of data that’s produced by the company in the state that is not adequate to the needs of addressing environmental violence in Chemical Valley. So one approach would be let’s make more data, let’s extract more numbers from bodies in order to show this violence is happening. Well, you don’t need to do that. You can just stand anywhere in Aamjiwnaang and the smoke is thick and you feel it in your skin and it’s every day and there’s an accident, a release of flare. So then what our lab tries to do is take this existing data that’s produced by companies, the state mostly, that is produced in a bad relation, and try to use it to show that pollution is colonialism, show the bad relations that are attached to data. And then can we attach data, like about air pollution levels or health information, that’s almost always treated in isolation of one another and reattach it to one another? Can we put it under the jurisdiction of Indigenous law and make that data work for people in a different way?</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> You’re both working within mainstream academic institutions and you’re both anti-colonial scientists. So I’m wondering how you navigate the colonial academic scientific institutions that you’re dealing with or living with.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> I think it’s similar to all BIPOC, queer, trans people manoeuvred spaces that are not built for them and are dominated by the, you know, an aggressive norm of a different kind. You code switch, you grift, you pass, you make a mess, you break things down, you leave out the back, you come back later with a different name. All of those things. You steal the stuff, you give it out. I mean, and all these things so much that you do what they ask and exactly what they ask, even though you think it’s dirty, you do all of those things, right? So I think the difference for folks like Murphy and I is that the more we progress in our career and the more autonomy and stability and the better we are at recognizing the unwritten rules, the bigger our jurisdiction gets in how we can do research in a very different way. So, yeah, so one of the most anti-colonial things I do in my lab, I think, is … so a lot of Indigenous nations in Canada cannot hold grant funds on their own because they’re not recognized to have “proper accounting.” So I hold the money and I do all the reporting and I do all the administration and all that sort of stuff. And that puts money and resources back into Indigenous life and land on their terms. I don’t even use the partnership model, which is one of the most exalted models for Indigenous-settler and academic things where, like you partnered together and your equals. I am not equals. I am their financial grunt.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> It’s a sovereignty model. You’re giving them or you’re allowing them to hold the power.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yeah, with the exception of extractive models, I don’t think there’s an inherently best way to do anti-colonial work. Yeah. And then I also, yeah, like I do research as a plastic pollution scientist with, you know, mostly Inuit plastic pollution researchers who may not have degrees and it doesn’t matter. And we make data together that answers their nations questions and needs, so that they can govern their lands in ways that matter to them.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> For maybe 30 seconds, we could just step back because I think that many people still believe that science is neutral.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> There’s this great article by Mary O'Brien from like 1999 that’s called <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/skalski/classes/QERM597/papers_xtra/OBrien.pdf">Being a Scientist Means Taking Sides</a>, and she’s writing this as a scientist. And she says, as soon as I ask one question … there’s infinite numbers of scientific questions you ask. As soon as you ask this question, not that question, you’re aligned with some things and not others, some powers and not others, some interest and not others. Then you choose who you work with. Are you working with industry? Are you working with community groups? Are you working with nobody? All of those are political decisions. Then you choose your metrics. Are you using, in the case of pollution, assessments that allow certain amounts of pollution to occur through a threshold model? Or are you using alternative methods that measure harm in different ways? Those are political decisions. Who do you publish with? Where do you publish? Do you publish in that horrible MDPI or whatever it’s called … horrible conglomerate of journals? Or do you do open access? These are all about reproducing some goods and not reproducing other goods. There isn’t a single decision you can make as a scientist that isn’t political. How you deal with bias, whether you deal with bias, right? All of these things.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> So can we talk about your labs? You know, what does an anti-colonial lab … you mentioned a little bit about what it looks like. I’d love to hear a little bit about your labs.</p>
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<p><strong>MM:</strong> Great. Well, the lab that we run at the University of Toronto, which I co-run with Kristen Bos, who is another Métis Indigenous feminist scholar. It was inspired by Max’s lab in part, and we had Max come and help us set it up, and we spent like the first six months just figuring out how are we going to come together, be in good relation. What are our values? So the lab is not just like a lab where data is collected or like there’s some microscopes or something. It’s about kind of claiming a space inside the university and then asking how could we make that space operate differently? Can it have different ethics? Can it refuse extractive research? Who is going to be there? Is it limited to just students and professors? Who needs to be part of research? And so I think both of our labs start with these kind of really big questions about how to do research or do study in a good way or take action in a good way.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Yeah. Who needs to be there is a good one. You know, the question about who needs to be there is really opening up space in a very different way.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yeah, I just had a tussle with HR about hiring a 16 year old who lives in the Arctic, but because he doesn’t have a degree, they’re like, “Oh, we can’t pay him what he’s worth.” I’m like, “Oh, let’s have a fight.” And luckily, the guy is now getting paid what he’s worth, but same deal. He’s an expert. There’s no one else who knows some of the things he knows, which is more valuable than degrees. So let’s pay him like an expert.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> And what’s his expertise?</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> His expertise is to where to get the gull eggs. We need gull eggs, where are they? I don’t know. Nobody knows. He knows.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> It’s invaluable for your work.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> My lab does three things at the same time. One is we study plastic pollution. The other is that we’re a collective, which means we’re bound by ethics and each other’s wellness, even when we don’t get along. And that takes a lot of work, and this is what Murphy also does in their lab. And then third, we’re a methodology lab. So like, OK, we have to take out the garbage. How do we do that in a way that is humble and in good relations? OK, it’s time to do my budgeting. How do I do it in a way that is accountable and in good relations? OK, it’s time to hire someone. How do I? … We only have one research question, which is how to be in good relations when we do this thing and we do it for everything,</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> We don’t imagine that we are going to fix the relationship between colonialism and fossil fuel violence in like a week or a year or a lifetime. So it’s also super important that besides the research itself, the other project is how to be together in a good way.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Well, how can we on the outside support? And also, how do you think you can help spread this idea of anti-colonial science?</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Often when people ask me, like, where do I start? You know, my kind of answer is, you start where you are. And that means figuring out where are you? Whose territory? What’s the histories, what’s the presences? What’s the jurisdiction? What’s the law? Who are you responsible to? And what are you responsible to that you haven’t been taught? And that work of figuring out where you are is the first step. You know, and you have to do that in order to begin the process of being in good relation and understanding your responsibilities to colonialism, which is really different across different people, different sites, different lives.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yeah. So I’ve been working in this province of Newfoundland and Labrador for seven years, and it took me four years to get invited to Labrador, which is a mainly an Inuit and Innu and part of the province. And that was because I had to do my homework and I had to show up in a good way until they invited me without me bugging them or asking them. And that also involved a lot of problems where I brought Métis and First Nation ideas of Indigenousness. And yeah, those are not the same as Inuit. Holy crap, are they not the same, right? So. Yeah, and that took five years, but our work is so good and so tight now because I took the time and I did that, what Murphy was talking about, I would call homework, right? Doing your homework.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> So it’s partly about doing homework and understand, you know, educating oneself. But it’s also about starting a relationship with, you know, the nations or the nation or the communities of where you are living.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yes and no. I mean, in many ways, those are the same things, but it’s, it’s … I would not say that it is necessary or even desirable to reach out to Indigenous communities as an academic. In fact, I would say just don’t. Just work on your own discipline in your own area and how it benefits from colonialism and how it’s related to local things and is already, you know, totally enwrapped in those things. That’ll take you at least five to seven years. And when you’re done that, you will probably realize that maybe you are not the best person to go bother Innu Nation or something like this, right? And or they will kick your butt if you try that. Or not answer your calls or, you know. So, I mean, and sort of in line with the like, actually, it’s not inherently good to go to Indigenous partnership. I also don’t think it’s inherently good and I don’t feel the drive to share what an anti-colonial science should look like. I model it. If people want it, they knock on my door. I provide a lot of videos and blog entries and protocols and open source things, so that people actually don’t need to talk to me directly because I’m busy like doing the work.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Because there’s no universal recipe. That’s why you have to start where you are and figure out where are you and what are your responsibilities? And so, you know, when you say Vinita about building relations, like the relations … it’s not about building relationships, it’s about figuring out what your responsibilities are and then beginning to act on them in a good way and then relationships emerge out of that.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> Yeah, I think what a lot of academics don’t understand when they talk about building relations is that they already have them and they are 99 percent not good. And they were there before you showed up and you’re still participating in them. So actually, you don’t have to build them. They are super strong and solid. And maybe actually you want to change them.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Yeah, maybe you got to stop some of them and take them apart and do some dismantling. That might be some first actions.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Thank you very much for taking the time today to be here.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Thank you. Our pleasure. It’s good to see you, Max, as always.</p>
<p><strong>Max:</strong> You, too.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> My mind is blown after speaking with Murphy and Max, not only are they brilliant, they’re poetic, too. I’d love to hear what you’re thinking after that conversation. I’m on Twitter at WriteVinita. That’s @WriteVinita. And don’t forget to tag our producers @ConversationCA. Use the hashtag #DontCallMeResilient. And if you’d like to read more about Indigenous environmental justice, go to <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca">TheConversation.com</a>. We have all kinds of information in our show notes with links to stories and research. Finally, if you like what you heard today, please help spread the love. Tell a friend about us, or leave a review on whatever podcast app you’re using. <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> is a production of <em>The Conversation Canada</em>. It was made possible by a grant for journalism innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The series is produced and hosted by me, Vinita Srivastava. Our producer is Susana Ferreira. Our associate producer is Ibrahim Daair. Reza Dahya is our incredibly patient sound producer and our fabulous consulting producer is Jennifer Moroz. Lisa Varano leads audience development for <em>The Conversation Canada</em> and Scott White is our CEO. And if you’re wondering who wrote and performed the music we use on the pod, that’s the amazing Zaki Ibrahim. The track is called “Something in the Water.” Thanks for listening, everyone, and hope you join us again. Until then, I’m Vinita. And please, don’t call me resilient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Colonialism is manifested by the way pollution impacts the lives of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Two Indigenous environmental scientists discuss how they’ve overcome obstacles in their research.
Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me Resilient
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/169311
2021-11-01T16:27:06Z
2021-11-01T16:27:06Z
Will debt, liability and Indigenous action see the sun set on the Ring of Fire?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428892/original/file-20211027-14984-1tw01tm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2274%2C1613&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Canoes are stacked for the winter on the Fort Hope First Nation in Northern Ontario, located in the Ring of Fire.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Noront Resources Ltd. — the company at the heart of Ontario’s embattled Ring of Fire mining development — is once again making headlines as the subject of <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/08/30/2288390/0/en/Wyloo-Proposes-Offer-to-Participate-in-Noront-s-Future-Under-New-Leadership-While-Offering-Attractive-Cash-Alternative.html">competing corporate takeover bids</a> by mining giant <a href="https://investingnews.com/news/nickel-investing/noront-has-received-no-response-from-wyloo-and-advises-shareholders-to-promptly-tender-to-bhp-offer-for-c0.75-per-share/">BHP Billiton</a> and Australian private investment firm <a href="https://www.saultstar.com/news/wyloo-metals-offers-top-bid-for-noront-resources">Wyloo Metals</a>. </p>
<p>The bidding war has caused Noront’s share price to <a href="https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/quote/NOT.V?p=NOT.V&.tsrc=fin-srch">jump 235 per cent to its highest level since 2011</a>.</p>
<p>Alongside share prices, Indigenous opposition has also ratcheted up, raising significant questions about the viability of the proposed mining operations and the value of Noront’s assets. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map shows Northern Ontario's Ring of Fire region." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429104/original/file-20211028-19-v2mk66.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of the Ring of Fire region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Noront Resources Ltd.)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/neskantaga-first-nation-demands-a-halt-to-assessment-of-ring-of-fire-road-3766040">The Neskantaga First Nation</a> and the <a href="https://www.timminspress.com/news/local-news/mushkegowuk-chiefs-call-for-moratorium-on-development-within-ring-of-fire">Mushkegowuk council</a>, representing seven affected First Nations, are openly contesting the scale and pace of mine development in their territories. They are in the company of <a href="https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/matawa-brochure-explains-ring-of-fire-opposition-389358">other First Nations throughout the region</a> that have for years asserted their political and territorial authority in the face of Noront’s proposed plans.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-push-continues-despite-water-crisis-in-neskantaga-first-nation-and-ontarios-ring-of-fire-150522">Mining push continues despite water crisis in Neskantaga First Nation and Ontario’s Ring of Fire</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Asserting jurisdiction</h2>
<p>Indigenous jurisdiction and its denial by authorities have had a huge impact on Noront’s fortunes. <a href="https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/local-news/column-stalled-ring-of-fire-worth-more-than-117-billion">Development of the company’s flagship mine has been stalled since 2011</a>, as has the 300-kilometre all-season industrial road — dubbed the “road to nowhere” due to its <a href="https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/electric-vehicles/even-amid-bidding-war-for-noront-many-challenges-encircle-ring-of-fire-mining-project">dubious economic prospects</a> — that’s needed to access the remote mining region.</p>
<p>This is because the region’s First Nations have consistently demanded Ontario recognize their jurisdiction over their lands and territories. The Matawa Nations, including Neskantaga, initially forced the province to negotiate a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ontario-first-nations-ink-framework-deal-on-ring-of-fire-region-1.2588317">shared regional approach to decision-making</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman carries empty water jugs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428896/original/file-20211027-23-tzrj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428896/original/file-20211027-23-tzrj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428896/original/file-20211027-23-tzrj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428896/original/file-20211027-23-tzrj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428896/original/file-20211027-23-tzrj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428896/original/file-20211027-23-tzrj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428896/original/file-20211027-23-tzrj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman carries water jugs on the Neskantaga First Nation in Northern Ontario in September 2021. Residents haven’t had clean drinking water for more than 25 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That so-called <a href="https://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/sites/default/files/rof_regional_framework_agreement_2014.pdf">Regional Framework Agreement</a> stopped the province from unilaterally sanctioning development on Indigenous land, but was ultimately dissolved by the province in 2019. </p>
<p>Indigenous authorities have since continued to assert their jurisdiction in the region. Most recently, a coalition of three First Nations (Attawapiskat, Fort Albany and Neskantaga) are insisting that a newly established <a href="https://theconversation.com/ottawa-steps-into-ring-of-fire-debate-with-doug-ford-131818">regional assessment of the cumulative impacts</a> of proposed mine and road developments is Indigenous-led.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ottawa-steps-into-ring-of-fire-debate-with-doug-ford-131818">Ottawa steps into 'Ring of Fire' debate with Doug Ford</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Throughout this period, Noront shares have plummeted from nearly $2 at the start of 2010 to less than 20 cents since 2019. The company’s debt has increased by at least $100 million since 2013 to <a href="https://norontresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-Annual-Report-FINAL.pdf">$299 million as of Dec. 31, 2020</a> and its outstanding loans stand at $51.4 million.</p>
<p>Despite mounting evidence that the value of the company and its assets require Indigenous consent, federal and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/auditor-general-ring-of-fire-1.6226094">provincial governments have continued to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into mining developments in the Ring of Fire</a> in the form of exploration financing and infrastructure support.</p>
<h2>Millions for exploration</h2>
<p>As approval processes have dragged on and then stalled, Noront — backed by federal and provincial treasuries — has attempted to create value by increasing its assets and expanding its exploration program.</p>
<p>Since December 2008, the company’s <a href="https://www.sedar.com/DisplayCompanyDocuments.do?lang=EN&issuerNo=00003339">regulatory filings</a> show the federal and Ontario governments have subsidized Noront’s Ring of Fire exploration programs to the tune of nearly $45 million through a tax-based mechanism known as <a href="https://www.miningtaxcanada.com/flow-through-shares/">flow-through financing</a>. </p>
<p>That <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X16660352">mechanism allows firms to raise exploration funds from investors and return tax credits to them</a>. </p>
<p>Additional federal and provincial refundable tax credits are also available to flow-through investors, resulting in the transfer of millions of dollars — money that would have otherwise been tax revenue — to Noront’s exploration of the Ring of Fire. According to the company’s aforementioned regulatory filings, Noront has raised more than $75 million of flow-through financing since 2008 for Ring of Fire properties. </p>
<p>This flow of government money reveals a system of economic relationships <a href="https://cashback.yellowheadinstitute.org/">described by the Yellowhead Institute, a First Nations-led research centre, as colonial and predatory</a>. </p>
<p>Amid Indigenous demands to determine and control the pace of development in their territories and to create the institutions required to do so, this flow of money also raises serious concerns about the financial realities of the Ring of Fire project. </p>
<h2>Circumventing Indigenous jurisdiction</h2>
<p>While the province once estimated the cost of implementing the doomed framework agreement to be slightly over <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/the-tories-are-dissolving-the-ring-of-fire-agreement-so-what-comes-next">$20 million</a>, the cost of circumventing Indigenous jurisdiction is much higher.</p>
<p>Since <a href="https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/regional-news/far-north-ring-of-fire/province-starts-over-on-ring-of-fire-consultation-process-1660987">tearing up the agreement</a> in 2019 in an attempt to speed up development, Ontario <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/56039/moving-forward-with-road-access-to-the-ring-of-fire">has entered into bilateral funding agreements worth $20 million</a> with two First Nations currently serving <a href="https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/two-first-nations-ask-neighbours-trust-us-with-assessment-for-a-ring-of-fire-road-3745846">as proponents of the all-season road</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Doug Ford shakes hands with two First Nations chiefs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428903/original/file-20211027-19-34ziba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428903/original/file-20211027-19-34ziba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428903/original/file-20211027-19-34ziba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428903/original/file-20211027-19-34ziba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428903/original/file-20211027-19-34ziba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428903/original/file-20211027-19-34ziba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428903/original/file-20211027-19-34ziba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ontario Premier Doug Ford shakes hands with Chief Cornelius, Wabasse Webequie First Nation, left, and Chief Bruce Achneepineskum, Marten Falls First Nation, centre, in March 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to documents obtained though an <a href="https://open.canada.ca/en/search/ati/reference/3c337d46d50a225cb58c0dc8755fd393">Access to Information request</a>, it’s also currently negotiating a planning agreement worth $38 million with another First Nation. </p>
<p>These same documents reveal the federal government spent approximately $11 million annually since 2016 to fund so-called community well-being projects in five Matawa communities. These are programs purportedly aimed at <a href="https://www.stratejuste.ca/uploads/3/1/8/4/31849453/pilot_project_presentation_to_ppf.pdf">improving “community readiness” for mining operations in the Ring of Fire</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Screenshot of internal government documents." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428933/original/file-20211027-23-j237v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A screenshot of internal documents obtained via a Freedom of Information request show the extent of provincial and federal investments in the proposed Ring of Fire development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author provided)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If Ontario has its way, this funding will be renewed at a total of $55 million over five years. Between 2010 and 2015, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada contributed nearly $16 million through the strategic partnership initiative to “<a href="https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/annastanley/internal_documents_indigenous_children">support First Nations mining readiness activities</a>” in the area, an investment topped up by a few million in 2016. </p>
<p>It also contributed $255 million over two years to a <a href="https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/annastanley/internal_documents_indigenous_children">First Nations fund partially earmarked to support regional infrastructure in the Ring of Fire</a> and intended to encourage compliance with mining projects. </p>
<p>A 2019 intergovernmental memo — also obtained via the Freedom of Information request — shows the federal government also offered to “explore options to advance Ring of Fire projects” using money that was designated for well-being projects in Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>There’s also the matter of the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-the-road-to-nowhere-why-everything-youve-heard-about-the-ring-of/">$1.6 billion all-season road</a>. Ontario has promised to fund the road through the homelands of multiple First Nations, most recently through a proposed cost-share arrangement with Ottawa. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A screenshot of Freedom of Information documents" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429172/original/file-20211028-17-176akd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429172/original/file-20211028-17-176akd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429172/original/file-20211028-17-176akd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429172/original/file-20211028-17-176akd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429172/original/file-20211028-17-176akd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429172/original/file-20211028-17-176akd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429172/original/file-20211028-17-176akd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Internal documents obtained via a Freedom of Information request details Ontario’s proposal of a cost-share arrangement with Ottawa on the all-season road in the Ring of Fire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author provided)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Debt, debt and more debt</h2>
<p>Noront has <a href="https://miningwatch.ca/news/2021/8/6/coalition-finds-noront-has-not-disclosed-business-risk-indigenous-opposition-calls-osc">consistently under-represented to investors</a>, and now to corporate suitors, the legal and financial liabilities associated with Indigenous jurisdiction — and there are many. </p>
<p>Regardless of who successfully bids for the company, opposition to the Ring of Fire project is only likely to increase unless First Nations are empowered to exercise real control over the decisions that will impact them. This raises the spectre of litigation, Indigenous land defence actions — and more debt.</p>
<p>According to the internal documents, the federal and provincial government are expecting to earn $4.4 billion in combined tax revenues during the first 10 years of the proposed mine’s operation. But if they add up the amount of money they’ve already paid to defy and circumvent Indigenous jurisdiction, and the financial costs associated with continuing to do so, that $4.4 billion will soon be exhausted.</p>
<p>It is entirely likely that any profits related to this enterprise have already been spent. The question that remains is who will be left holding the debt?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169311/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Stanley receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada</span></em></p>
Noront Resources share prices are climbing, but so too is Indigenous opposition to its proposing mining projects in the Ring of Fire. Now the mine’s viability is being called into question.
Anna Stanley, Adjunct professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/170212
2021-10-21T03:09:14Z
2021-10-21T03:09:14Z
Fixing Australia’s shocking record of Indigenous heritage destruction: Juukan inquiry offers a way forward
<p>On May 24 last year, mining giant Rio Tinto <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/30/juukan-gorge-rio-tinto-blasting-of-aboriginal-site-prompts-calls-to-change-antiquated-laws">legally destroyed</a> ancient and sacred Aboriginal rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia to expand an iron ore mine. </p>
<p>Public backlash prompted a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Northern_Australia/CavesatJuukanGorge">parliamentary inquiry</a>. After almost 18 months of submissions and hearings, the joint standing committee released its final report titled <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024757/toc_pdf/AWayForward.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">A Way Forward</a> this week.</p>
<p>In tabling the report, committee chair and Liberal MP <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=7K6">Warren Entsch</a> said while the destruction was a disaster for traditional owners – the <a href="https://pkkp.org.au/">Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura</a> peoples – it was “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/About_the_House_News/Media_Releases/A_Way_Forward">not unique</a>”.</p>
<p>Rio Tinto’s actions form part of a broader <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-juukan-gorge-the-relentless-threat-mining-poses-to-the-pilbara-cultural-landscape-155941">discriminatory pattern</a> of development in Australia. Traditional owners are denied the right to object and as a result, Aboriginal heritage is routinely destroyed.</p>
<p>The committee’s final report grapples with the complex issues of cultural heritage protection in Australia. It recommends major legislative reforms, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a new national Aboriginal cultural heritage act co-designed with Indigenous peoples</p></li>
<li><p>a new national council on heritage protection</p></li>
<li><p>a review of the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00178">Native Title Act 1993</a> to address power imbalances in negotiations on the basis of free prior and informed consent.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The report is strong on the need for change, although achieving this will be far from straightforward.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1354188485578514436"}"></div></p>
<h2>Hard-to-resolve issues</h2>
<p>The committee’s <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-12/apo-nid310049.pdf">interim report</a>, was released in December last year. From it, we learned how Rio Tinto <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-12/juukan-gorge-blast-inquiry-told-of-rio-tinto-gag-clauses-warning/12754100">silenced</a> traditional owners and <a href="https://theconversation.com/corporate-dysfunction-on-indigenous-affairs-why-heads-rolled-at-rio-tinto-146001">prevented</a> their cultural heritage specialists from raising concerns. Rio Tinto prioritised production over heritage protection.</p>
<p>A Way Forward places the tragedy of Juukan Gorge in a broader context. It shines a light on how the regulatory <a href="https://nit.com.au/time-for-law-reform-in-light-of-rio-tintos-choice-to-destroy-juukan-gorge/">system</a> empowered Rio Tinto to destroy the caves and prevented the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples from doing anything about it. </p>
<p>It also demonstrates how the system has run roughshod over Indigenous interests for decades. Governments have been able to make determinations about cultural heritage without proper consultation and consent. </p>
<p>The report focuses on getting the regulatory framework right. It succeeds in bringing a wide and complex set of controversial issues together in the one place. But many of these issues are highly contested, which has hindered previous attempts to solve them.</p>
<p>Already, two committee members, Senator <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=241710">Dean Smith</a> and MP <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=230485">George Christensen</a>, disagree with the rest of the committee on the need for the Commonwealth to set standards for states’ cultural heritage protection laws. They say this would constrain the mining industry and give anti-mining activists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/19/failures-at-every-level-changes-needed-to-stop-destruction-of-aboriginal-heritage-after-juukan-gorge">too much power</a>.</p>
<p>In contrast, Greens Senator and Gunnai Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman <a href="https://greens.org.au/vic/person/lidia-thorpe/">Lidia Thorpe</a> supports traditional owners having a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/19/failures-at-every-level-changes-needed-to-stop-destruction-of-aboriginal-heritage-after-juukan-gorge">right to veto</a>” the destruction of their cultural heritage.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/juukan-gorge-inquiry-a-critical-turning-point-in-first-nations-authority-over-land-management-167039">Juukan Gorge inquiry: a critical turning point in First Nations authority over land management</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Western Australian Premier <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/government/people/mark-mcgowan">Mark McGowan</a> and some industry organisations have dismissed the inquiry’s calls for a stronger federal government role in protecting cultural heritage across Australia. Western Australia is yet to pass its draft heritage law, which the premier says will address the issues raised in the final report. </p>
<p>Aboriginal groups disagree that ultimate control over the destruction of cultural heritage should rest with the minister. These groups have tabled their issues at the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/aboriginal-elder-takes-fight-against-wa-heritage-laws-to-united-nations-20210719-p58ayg.html">United Nations</a>. </p>
<p>One of the most contentious matters addressed in the final report is the need to obtain <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/publications/2016/10/free-prior-and-informed-consent-an-indigenous-peoples-right-and-a-good-practice-for-local-communities-fao/">free prior and informed consent</a> of traditional owners under Australia’s federal and state laws, affording them the right to manage their own heritage sites.</p>
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<h2>Change is needed despite Australia’s economic recovery pressures</h2>
<p>It is not an ideal time to be driving this type of major change. Australia is heading towards a federal election. The federal government is focused on COVID-19 vaccinations, opening borders and the nation’s economic recovery from the pandemic.</p>
<p>The mining sector sits at the centre of Australia’s economic recovery, with climate change driving demand for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9">energy transition minerals</a>. <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/93220">Australian states</a> and territories are focused on mining these minerals for green and renewable technologies.</p>
<p>Green technologies will require more extraction of copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, and other critical minerals, often located on Indigenous peoples’ lands and territories. This will put added pressure on the consent processes that A Way Forward recommends so strongly.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-rio-tinto-can-ensure-its-aboriginal-heritage-review-is-transparent-and-independent-141192">How Rio Tinto can ensure its Aboriginal heritage review is transparent and independent</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>Will anything actually change?</h2>
<p>So far, none of the big mining companies have come out in support of the committee’s recommendations for regulatory reform. But there are some positive prospects for change.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An Aboriginal flag flown in protest against mining at the Adani Bravus Carmichael mine site in the Galilee Basin, Central Queensland." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1186&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1186&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427654/original/file-20211020-16-qnbqm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1186&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Aboriginal flag flown in protest against mining at the Adani Bravus Carmichael mine site in the Galilee Basin, Central Queensland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/clermont-queensland-australia-11112020-australian-aboriginal-1852379479">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The inquiry has helped generate public awareness and a greater appreciation of Australia’s Indigenous heritage and the need to protect it. Australia’s commitments to the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a> have come under national and international scrutiny. This has added weight to the inquiry’s recommendations to elevate the importance of free prior and informed consent.</p>
<p>Institutional investors such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/the-business/2021-10-18/investor-reaction-to-juukan-gorge-final-report/13591734">HESTA</a> and <a href="https://acsi.org.au/media-releases/acsi-statement-on-parliamentary-inquiry-into-the-destruction-of-46000-year-old-caves-at-the-juukan-gorge/">Australian Council of Superannuation Investors</a> have publicly supported the inquiry’s recommendations. </p>
<p>In the absence of regulatory reform to address systemic issues, Indigenous groups such as the <a href="https://nntc.com.au/our-agenda/cultural-heritage/">National Native Title Council</a> <a href="https://nntc.com.au/media_releases/landmark-first-nations-business-and-investor-initiative-launches-to-improve-cultural-heritage-protection-in-australia/">continue working</a> with investor groups and peak industry bodies for change through developing voluntary guidelines and other formal commitments.</p>
<p>Indigenous Affairs Minister <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=M3A">Ken Wyatt</a>, along with the <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/">National Indigenous Australians Agency</a>, has demonstrated capacity for co-design through their work on the <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/closing-gap">Closing the Gap refresh</a>. </p>
<p>Returning responsibility for cultural heritage to the Indigenous affairs minister’s portfolio, as recommended in the final report, could be a positive step.</p>
<p>Nothing short of the recommended reforms in the report will address the lessons learned from Juukan Gorge. The public must be vigilant in holding business, investors, and politicians to account by insisting on meaningful change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-lithium-for-clean-energy-but-rio-tintos-planned-serbian-mine-reminds-us-it-shouldnt-come-at-any-cost-167902">We need lithium for clean energy, but Rio Tinto's planned Serbian mine reminds us it shouldn't come at any cost</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deanna is chief investigator of an ARC Linkage grant on public-private inquiries in mining; member of the International Council of Mining and Metals independent expert review panel; and trustee and member of the international advisory council for the Institute for Human Rights and Business. She is Director of the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) at UQ. CSRM conducts applied research with communities, governments, and major mining companies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>I was previously the BMA Chair in Indigenous Engagement at the CQUniversity, Australia (2013-2018). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kado Muir is the chairperson of the National Native Title Council, which operates with funding from the federal government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodger is a Research Manager at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) at UQ, which conducts applied research with communities, governments, and mining companies, including Rio Tinto.</span></em></p>
The A Way Forward report addresses the issues of cultural heritage protection in Australia after Rio Tinto destroyed Juukan Gorge. However, achieving change will be far from straightforward.
Deanna Kemp, Professor and Director, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, The University of Queensland
Bronwyn Fredericks, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement), The University of Queensland
Kado Muir, Chair of National Native Title Council and Ngalia Cultural Leader, Indigenous Knowledge
Rodger Barnes, Research Manager, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168749
2021-10-11T02:50:03Z
2021-10-11T02:50:03Z
The NSW government needs to stop prosecuting Aboriginal fishers if it really wants to Close the Gap
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425610/original/file-20211010-19-v415z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/CbeApl8sxxw">Fredrik Öhlander/ Unsplash </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a contradiction between the <a href="https://www.aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au/closingthegap/nsw-implementation-plan/2021-22-implementation-plan/">New South Wales government’s plan for Closing the Gap</a> and its <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/search/a%20load%20of%20abalone">persecution of Aboriginal people</a> on the New South Wales south coast who want to maintain their saltwater culture. </p>
<p>The government needs to rethink what it is doing if it is to achieve the Closing the Gap outcomes it wants to see there. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72891/pdf/article126.pdf">the early years of colonisation</a>, Aboriginal people played crucial roles in the establishment of fishing industries on the NSW south coast, but are now almost entirely excluded from them.</p>
<p>Following colonisation, Aboriginal people continued to fish as a source of food, with some bartering and small-scale trading, called “<a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/livelihood-values-indigenous-customary-fishing.pdf">cultural-commercial fishing</a>”. South coast Aboriginal people are proud of their saltwater culture, but tired of being stigmatised as “poachers” who plunder the ocean.</p>
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<h2>Closing the Gap targets</h2>
<p>The New South Wales government signed the 2020 <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement/national-agreement-closing-the-gap">National Agreement on Closing the Gap</a> which includes targets for “strong, supported and flourishing” cultures and languages, and for Aboriginal adults and young people to no longer be overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Other targets focus on health and increasing employment and economic participation.</p>
<p>However Indigenous people are <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/search/a%20load%20of%20abalone">overrepresented</a> among those jailed or convicted in New South Wales for offences related to abalone fishing. Rather than supporting a flourishing culture, the continued <a href="https://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Pain-Pick.pdf">prosecution</a> of south coast Aboriginal people won’t reduce Aboriginal incarceration, contribute to their employment or improve their health. </p>
<p>Many people have been <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/feature/catch-cultures">charged</a> with abalone diving here, including Aboriginal grandfather, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-12/fishing-rights-abalone-could-have-put-great-grandfather-in-jail/9958280">Kevin Mason</a>. </p>
<p>Once Aboriginal people have a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-0335.00199">criminal conviction</a>, their chances of gaining employment plummet. And while fishing provides people with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4776937/pdf/GJHS-4-72.pdf">healthy food</a> and exercise, prosecuting them for this act instead causes <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022146510383499">stress</a>. This is not conducive to a long healthy life.</p>
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<h2>Exclusion and poverty</h2>
<p>There are high rates of poverty and unemployment among Aboriginal people on the south coast; both <a href="https://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/161916/Aboriginal-Action-Plan-2020-2024-web-version.pdf">Eurobodalla</a> and <a href="https://begavalley.nsw.gov.au/cp_themes/default/page.asp?p=DOC-GBM-41-35-06">Bega</a> shires reflect this. Poorer education outcomes and <a href="https://begavalley.nsw.gov.au/cp_themes/default/page.asp?p=DOC-GBM-41-35-06">longstanding racism</a> have been <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4029845?refreqid=excelsior%3A475d03383a14135c89e0ff18381d4409">factors</a> in this.</p>
<p>Harvested seafood has been part of south coast Indigenous peoples’ diets since before colonisation. The sea has always been their supermarket, as an <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/livelihood-values-indigenous-customary-fishing.pdf">Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) study</a> recognised:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As saltwater people, all of the knowledge and practices related to marine foods are central to their culture, and part of what makes it unique. This means that fishing and gathering other seafood is one of the main ways people practice their culture. It’s also about getting out on country, and feeling connected to country and ancestors by fishing and gathering the way they did.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ability of older people to take young people out fishing and diving is essential to being able to pass on their knowledge of the marine environment.
The AIATSIS study also found:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…]taking children fishing is necessary for their cultural education. Through fishing they learn cultural knowledge of local fauna and flora, different fishing techniques and practices, knowledge of their country and the right places to get different species – as well as the stories of those places. They also learn the cultural laws that govern fishing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Furthermore, no review of Aboriginal cultural fishing or any fishery in NSW has identified this practice as having a negative impact on marine resources. As such, it is not clear why this persecution persists. </p>
<p>It can’t be to protect the fish stocks, as most <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/commercial/total-allowable-fishing">total allowable catch assessments (TACs)</a> for the New South Wales coast, designed to manage stocks at sustainable levels, don’t even collect data on Aboriginal peoples’ catches. </p>
<p>While some illegal fishing of abalone is acknowledged in the <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/1240732/Information-Paper-for-Industry-Abalone-TAC-Determination-2020-21.pdf">Abalone TAC</a>, overall, fishing for abalone in the state remains sustainable. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/research/current-projects/livelihood-values-indigenous-customary-fishing">AIATSIS</a> found:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Many participants felt that cultural fishers were needlessly overregulated. To them it seemed hypocritical for Fisheries [NSW] to focus on the compliance of the small number of cultural fishers, and for them to be characterised as threats to the marine environment, when their total take pales in comparison to that of the commercial fisheries.</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-enable-healing-theres-a-more-effective-way-to-close-the-gap-in-employment-in-remote-australia-165662">To enable healing, there's a more effective way to Close the Gap in employment in remote Australia</a>
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<h2>Caught in a bind</h2>
<p>The NSW government says <a href="https://www.aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au/closingthegap/nsw-implementation-plan/2021-22-implementation-plan/NSW-Implementation-Plan-2021-22.pdf">its vision</a> is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to determine their own futures. A clear message coming from <a href="https://alc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CTG_NSW-Community-Engagement-Report-1.pdf">NSW Aboriginal people</a> is that maintenance of their culture is central to their vision of the future.</p>
<p>Ironically, south coast Aboriginal people are being asked to prove they continue to practise this fishing culture in the assessment of their current <a href="http://www.nntt.gov.au/searchRegApps/NativeTitleClaims/Pages/details.aspx?NTDA_Fileno=NC2017/003">native title claim</a>. </p>
<p>While the Commonwealth government’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00178">Native Title Act</a> requires them to demonstrate continuance of their cultural practices to gain their native title rights, the state government pursues and criminalises them if they do so. It’s a no-win situation.</p>
<p>The NSW government needs to stop the harassment and prosecutions of Indigenous people for maintaining their cultural practices if the state really wants to Close the Gap on incarceration, health and employment for Aboriginal communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Hunt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There is a contradiction between the New South Wales government’s plan for Closing the Gap and its persecution of Aboriginal people who want to maintain their saltwater culture.
Janet Hunt, Honorary Associate Professor, CAEPR, Australian National University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/167039
2021-09-30T02:09:30Z
2021-09-30T02:09:30Z
Juukan Gorge inquiry: a critical turning point in First Nations authority over land management
<p>In May 2020, Rio Tinto blasted two rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara as part of its operations to feed an insatiable global appetite for iron ore.</p>
<p>Some 46,000 years of Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people’s spiritual and cultural connections to Juukan Gorge were shaken with a detonation. The shockwaves also resounded <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/3/rio-tinto-chairman-resigns-over-aboriginal-site-destruction">globally</a>. People took to social media and the streets to voice their anger at the actions of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-11/juukan-gorge-aboriginal-heritage-site-just-one-of-many-destroyed/12337562">Rio Tinto</a>.</p>
<p>While the final report of the Juukan Gorge inquiry is yet to be released, <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Northern_Australia/CavesatJuukanGorge/Interim_Report">interim findings</a> suggest the inquiry has the potential set a new precedent for legal codes to align with ethical standards for Aboriginal land management. </p>
<p>These outcomes are reflective of a shift in the balance of authority in Australia — and this shift is tilting towards Aboriginal people.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/juukan-gorge-inquiry-puts-rio-tinto-on-notice-but-without-drastic-reforms-it-could-happen-again-151377">Juukan Gorge inquiry puts Rio Tinto on notice, but without drastic reforms, it could happen again</a>
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<h2>The Juukan Gorge tragedy: ‘never again’</h2>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-07/rio-tinto-investor-revolt-over-juukan-caves-destruction/100122824">shareholders and stakeholders</a> deeming the blast unconscionable, these destructive actions by Rio Tinto were legal under Section 18 of the Western Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466">Aboriginal Heritage Act</a> of 1972. </p>
<p>While the act was designed to protect sites of cultural significance to Aboriginal people, it hasn’t prevented their destruction. </p>
<p>The Juukan Gorge is “of the highest archaeological significance in <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2020/08/05/rio-tinto-tells-senate-inquiry-it-could-have-avoided-juukan-gorge-destruction">Australia</a>.” Over 7,000 artefacts have been discovered in the rock shelters, including a 4,000-year-old belt made from the human hair of the direct ancestors of the current <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024579/toc_pdf/NeverAgain.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">Traditional Owners</a>. </p>
<p>Rio Tinto was aware of the living cultural value of the rock shelters to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, “<a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024579/toc_pdf/NeverAgain.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">but blew it up anyway</a>”.</p>
<p>Three senior executives responsible for this decision resigned from their jobs in the aftermath of the blast, including the chief executive.</p>
<p>The “Never Again” national inquiry was subsequently <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024579/toc_pdf/NeverAgain.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">held</a> and Rio Tinto was ordered to provide compensation to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people.</p>
<h2>A critical turning point in First Nations authority over land</h2>
<p>We are witnessing a turning point in the control and management of Aboriginal lands and the flow of benefits from these lands. For Indigenous people, land is central to <a href="https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/download/18630/15554/">self-determination</a>.</p>
<p>Indigenous people are part of their traditional lands and draw nourishment from them. Control of their lands is also key to the economic flourishing of Indigenous people.</p>
<p>This turning point is being driven by regulatory changes — such as the recommendations from the Juukan Gorge inquiry — as well as shifts in environmental and social governance, growing economic independence, and increased Indigenous representation in parliaments.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/although-we-didnt-produce-these-problems-we-suffer-them-3-ways-you-can-help-in-naidocs-call-to-heal-country-163362">'Although we didn’t produce these problems, we suffer them': 3 ways you can help in NAIDOC's call to Heal Country</a>
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<h2>Regulatory changes in environmental and social governance</h2>
<p>Australia is moving towards 80–90% of its land mass being under <a href="http://www.nntt.gov.au/Maps/Schedule_and_Determinations_map.jpg">Native Title</a> and <a href="https://www.austrade.gov.au/land-tenure/land-tenure/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-land">Land Rights</a> claims and agreements. </p>
<p>The recommendations of the “Never Again” report for stronger protections and informed consent hold significant implications for the governance of these lands. Shifting custodianship of land and water back into the hands of Indigenous Traditional Owners allows them to receive equal share of the benefits from the resources extracted from their lands.</p>
<p>The rise of environmental and social governance globally is further supporting the shift in authority back to Indigenous custodians of the land.</p>
<p>In addition, the global march towards zero-carbon emissions is creating a flow of capital towards markets that meet carbon emissions <em>and</em> sustainable growth targets. This includes renewable energy and circular food production. This de-carbonisation of economies has been termed “<a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/topics/carbonomics.html">carbonomics</a>”.</p>
<p>These sustainable practices are integral to Aboriginal land management. This is why Indigenous-owned and -managed operations are informing carbonomic solutions and attracting carbonomic capital investment.</p>
<h2>Economic independence providing hope for the future</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/economic-development/indigenous-procurement-policy-ipp">Australian Indigenous procurement policy</a> has begun mandating minimum procurement targets for contracts to be awarded to Indigenous-owned businesses. This has the potential to increase Indigenous participation in local and global economies.</p>
<p>The growth of carbonomics also illustrates the shift towards environmental and sustainable forms of commerce that are bringing Indigenous land and water management to the forefront of business operations and leadership. </p>
<p>The potent combination of investment in Indigenous land management systems, the recommendations in the Indigenous procurement policy, and increasing consumer demand for Indigenous-owned goods and services, is creating the conditions for an Indigenous-business boom. </p>
<p>These conditions provide opportunities for <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/indigenous-consulting/assets/realising-the-potential-ipp-nov19.pdf">economic independence</a> and <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/indigenous-consulting/assets/the-contribution-of-the-indigenous-business-sector-apr18.pdf">self-determination</a> in Indigenous commerce. Indigenous entrepreneurship and businesses are being supported through initiatives such as the <a href="https://www.dilinduwa.com/">Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/juukan-gorge-how-could-they-not-have-known-and-how-can-we-be-sure-they-will-in-future-151580">Juukan Gorge: how could they not have known? (And how can we be sure they will in future?)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, further Indigenous representation at the highest levels of <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-first-nations-people-in-parliament-matters-heres-why-115633">government</a>, as well as corporate, education and community sectors, is needed for Indigenous voices to be heard on a national scale. </p>
<p>As has been seen with the backlash from Rio Tinto shareholders, investors and the media are holding corporations and their executives accountable for their treatment of Indigenous people and their lands.</p>
<p>There is more work to be done to ensure all Indigenous people are central to the land and water decisions of their respective Countries.</p>
<p>Yet, these changes are combining to give power back to Indigenous people. First Nations people need to be rightful authorities in the control, management and beneficiaries of the land. This will pivot the narrative from pain to <a href="https://qalqalah.org/media/pages/activites/workshop-qalqalah-rethinking-history/1621856626-1586352038/refusing.pdf">power</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Affiliated with National Native Title Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michal Carrington is affiliated with the Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, University of Melbourne. </span></em></p>
In the wake of the Juukan Gorge blast, more land authority is shifting back to First Nations people.
Kado Muir, Chair of National Native Title Council and Ngalia Cultural Leader, Indigenous Knowledge
Michal Carrington, Senior Lecturer, Department of Management and Marketing, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/166561
2021-09-02T04:24:23Z
2021-09-02T04:24:23Z
Regressive changes to Northern Territory water laws could undermine Indigenous rights
<p>Water management in the Northern Territory just keeps <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-25/beetaloo-basin-fracking-grants-program-nt-senator-urges-rethink-/100404392">making headlines</a>. The recent decision to grant an unprecedentedly large <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-08/singleton-granted-40-000-megalitre-water-licence/100055212">groundwater licence</a> is a case in point. </p>
<p>The licence, granted to Fortune Agribusiness at Singleton Station, threatens springs and sacred sites near Alice Springs, and Aboriginal people, who are the custodians of these places, say they <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-14/sacred-sites-under-threat-singleton-station-water-licence/100371276">“are not being listened to</a>”.</p>
<p>These media stories point to a <a href="https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/special-features/in-depth/perceived-conflicts-and-secretive-governance-risks-nts-most-precious-resource-environmental-advocates-warn/news-story/815d21af48a03488a6b3752758cbfcdd">wider problem</a> with water law and water management in the Northern Territory. <a href="https://legislation.nt.gov.au/en/LegislationPortal/Bills/%7E/link.aspx?_id=0049A11CD67F4E23A9FFE548CEECE05E&amp;_z=z">New legislation</a> passed just this month is set to make it worse. </p>
<p>Under the cover of responding to a COVID-induced economic slowdown, the Northern Territory government is set to undermine hard-won national standards of water governance. This includes one of the most important advances in Indigenous water rights: the reservation of water for Aboriginal land owners to use or trade. </p>
<p>The Northern Land Council called the water law reforms a “<a href="https://www.nlc.org.au/media-publications/northern-land-council-condemns-water-access-changes-as-a-betrayal-of-the-interests-of-all-territorians">betrayal of the interests of all Territorians</a>”.</p>
<p>With even <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-05/proposed-nt-water-amendments-delayed/100352154">more regressive reforms</a> on the books, the future of the NT’s water is looking more like its frontier past.</p>
<h2>The NT’s history of undermining Aboriginal economic development</h2>
<p>Water is a valuable resource, especially in the drier zones of Australia. The sheer volume of the Alice Springs water licence, in particular, represents a new form of resource extraction that rivals mineral extraction in scale. </p>
<p>Just as in the 19th and 20th centuries, the rampant reach of the Crown to appropriate and control natural resources to the detriment of Aboriginal peoples is evident. Analysis of the actions of the NT government in land rights disputes since the 1970s showed it made “<a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/210430">immense areas of land and resources</a>” available to commercial interests at virtually no cost. </p>
<p>A major participant (and beneficiary) of the government’s efforts to prevent land claims was the Northern Territory Land Corporation. Its role included holding title to certain lands, thereby removing them from the category of land over which claims could be made under the Land Rights Act.</p>
<p>History is being repeated in today’s water reforms. The Northern Territory Land Corporation has now been repurposed to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-06-23/water-allocation-revoked-larrimah-agricultural-precinct/100238158">accelerate the transfer of water rights to commercial interests</a>. This move could make it harder for Aboriginal people to access water. </p>
<h2>Why is Northern Territory water governance so weak?</h2>
<p>In 2004, states and territories across Australia signed the <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/water/Intergovernmental-Agreement-on-a-national-water-initiative.pdf">National Water Initiative</a>, which laid a foundation for good water management. On almost all counts, the Northern Territory is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07900627.2019.1578199">not compliant</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-its-time-to-talk-about-our-water-emergency-139024">Australia, it's time to talk about our water emergency</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Only <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07900627.2021.1882406">5% of the Northern Territory</a> is covered by water allocation plans. Under NT law, environmental water is protected through provisions in water plans – which means it is largely unprotected in the 95% of the territory without a plan. </p>
<p>Major decisions about water use are made by the water controller, who wears multiple hats. They are the water regulator, the chief executive of the Territory’s environment department, and also sometimes a water holder through their role on the board of the Northern Territory Land Corporation. We think that this inevitably creates a perception of a conflict of interest, and objectively leaves the decisions open to criticism, even where the decisions are well based. </p>
<p>One of the only areas in which the NT is arguably ahead of the curve is the <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/consol_act/wa199283/s4.html#aboriginal_water_reserve">Strategic Aboriginal Water Reserve</a>. It was introduced into law in 2019 because Indigenous people have historically been locked out of water allocation processes and denied water rights.</p>
<p>The reserve sets aside <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/399171.2">up to 30% of water rights</a> in a water allocation plan area for Aboriginal economic development. The reserve is only available to Aboriginal people with <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/consol_act/wa199283/s4b.html">recognised rights</a> to land.</p>
<p>Water can only be accessed under the reserve through an allocation plan. Even then, if all the available water is allocated by the time the plan is prepared, the reserve will have <a href="https://www.westlaw.com.au/maf/wlau/ext/app/document?docguid=Ia259ba44228b11eb99dafba9e329f6c2&tocDs=AUNZ_AU_JOURNALS_TOC&isTocNav=true&startChunk=1&endChunk=1">no water</a>.</p>
<h2>New laws make NT water governance worse</h2>
<p>On August 12, the NT parliament passed the first of two key pieces of water legislation. The <a href="https://legislation.nt.gov.au/en/LegislationPortal/Bills/%7E/link.aspx?_id=0049A11CD67F4E23A9FFE548CEECE05E&amp;_z=z">Statute Law Amendment (Territory Economic Reform) Act</a> creates “head licence” arrangements that will formally allow “speculative” water licence applications from land developers, including the NT Land Corporation. </p>
<p>As water licences in the NT cost nothing to acquire, developers can effectively hoard this water for free until they are ready to proceed, locking others out.</p>
<p>The second set of law reforms are in the <a href="https://www.edo.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NT-Water-Law-Amendments.pdf">environment omnibus bills</a>, which have been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-05/proposed-nt-water-amendments-delayed/100352154">recently delayed</a> by the NT environment minister after widespread concern about inadequate consultation. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ecnt/pages/543/attachments/original/1627981078/ECNT_-_Fact_sheet_-_Water_Act_amendments_-_Authorised.pdf?1627981078">currently</a> written, these bills:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>reduce the need to comply with water allocation plans when issuing a water licence </p></li>
<li><p>enable water trade to occur outside water allocation plan areas </p></li>
<li><p>reduce public notification requirements, including for dams, limiting public feedback. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>If passed, these laws would reduce transparency and scientific rigour in water allocation and undermine public confidence in regulation.</p>
<p>Together, these proposed changes mean the Northern Territory government is less likely to invest resources to produce more water allocation plans (essential for Aboriginal Water Reserves). Even where they do, new “head licence” law means more water may be allocated by the time the plans come into effect, leaving less in the Aboriginal Water Reserve.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-beetaloo-drilling-program-brings-potential-health-and-social-issues-for-aboriginal-communities-in-remote-nt-165392">The Beetaloo drilling program brings potential health and social issues for Aboriginal communities in remote NT</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The future of water management in the Northern Territory</h2>
<p>We can’t help but also draw a connection between the new legislation and the <a href="https://supremecourt.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/767076/NTSC-30-Hil1505-Environment-Centre-Northern-Territory-NT-Inc-v-Minister-for-Land-Resource-Management-29-May-2015.pdf">successful challenges</a> to water licence decisions made by the water controller. </p>
<p>These include most recently the decision by the NT minister to cancel the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-06-23/water-allocation-revoked-larrimah-agricultural-precinct/100238158">Larrimah water licence</a> (issued to the Northern Territory Land Corporation) on the grounds it lacked clarity on future water use and was therefore too “speculative”. </p>
<p>A similar <a href="https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/centralian-advocate/central-land-council-demands-review-of-controversial-singleton-station-water-licence/news-story/6e205f3c7b04e96487d4253d112309ef">challenge</a> has been made to the decision to grant the 40,000 megalitre licence at Alice Springs. However, the new “head licence” arrangements could entrench speculative water use in the Northern Territory’s water law.</p>
<p>While the changes appear to be aimed at <a href="https://ntrebound.nt.gov.au/reports/final-report">stimulating economic development</a>, the package of law reforms (those passed in August and those still under consideration) weaken legal controls on the issuing of water licences. Considering the Northern Territory’s colonial history, these new laws seem like a way to make it harder for Aboriginal people to access water for economic gain.</p>
<p>The excessive scope of this package of new water laws is not dissimilar to the long campaign by mining companies and the Northern Territory government itself in opposition to Aboriginal land rights from the 1970s. </p>
<p>The Northern Territory government has a long, tragic history of weakening land and water rights for Aboriginal people, and the proposed laws could further entrench the national problem of <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-an-ugly-legacy-of-denying-water-rights-to-aboriginal-people-not-much-has-changed-141743">water dispossession</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166561/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin O'Donnell has received funding from the Northern Land Council for research on the Strategic Aboriginal Water Reserve in 2021. She is a member of the Birrarung Council, the voice of the Yarra River.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Marcia Langton AO holds the Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies at The University of Melbourne consults to Origin Energy (2021) and other private sector entities cultural awareness, reconciliation and Indigenous engagement. She has received receives funding from the ARC and AIATSIS for research on Indigenous agreements and resource management, including water resources. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Jackson has received funding from the Northern Land Council for research on the Strategic Aboriginal Water Reserve in 2021 and from a number of ARC grant schemes (for research on Indigenous water rights, water cultures, and water and carbon markets). She is a member of the scientific advisory committees of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Lake Eyre Basin Ministerial Council.</span></em></p>
History is being repeated with the Northern Territory government finding ways to stop Aboriginal people from gaining access to water to use or trade.
Erin O'Donnell, Early Career Academic Fellow, Centre for Resources, Energy and Environment Law, The University of Melbourne
Professor Marcia Langton, Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies, The University of Melbourne
Sue Jackson, Professor, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/165392
2021-08-09T06:45:02Z
2021-08-09T06:45:02Z
The Beetaloo drilling program brings potential health and social issues for Aboriginal communities in remote NT
<p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been repeatedly harmed by policies and decisions that drive <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Damien-Short/publication/249743478_Reconciliation_Assimilation_and_the_Indigenous_Peoples_of_Australia/links/0c960528344eeb8739000000/Reconciliation-Assimilation-and-the-Indigenous-Peoples-of-Australia.pdf">systematic dispossession, disempowerment</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chris-Cunneen/publication/228215721_Indigenous_Incarceration_The_Violence_of_Colonial_Law_and_Justice/links/00b4952650fca18235000000/Indigenous-Incarceration-The-Violence-of-Colonial-Law-and-Justice.pdf">overincarceration and poverty</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-the-new-closing-the-gap-dashboard-highlight-what-indicators-and-targets-are-on-track-163809">Janine Mohamad</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-enable-healing-theres-a-more-effective-way-to-close-the-gap-in-employment-in-remote-australia-165662">Zoe Staines and colleagues</a> highlighted the breadth of <a href="https://www.lowitja.org.au/content/Image/Defining_Indefinable_report_FINAL_WEB.pdf">cultural determinants of health</a> that were unaddressed in the government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/morrison-government-sets-up-redress-scheme-for-survivors-of-stolen-generation-in-territories-165617">Closing the Gap package</a>. They provided examples of “how government policies continue to create damage that must later be healed”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1423455281208561665"}"></div></p>
<p>Many Traditional Owners of Northern Territory’s Beetaloo region view the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/unlocking-the-beetaloo-the-beetaloo-strategic-basin-plan">Beetaloo cooperative drilling program</a> this way — as <a href="https://nit.com.au/fracking-inquiry-for-beetaloo-basin/">more harm coming to their Country, water and people</a>. </p>
<p>The Beetaloo is first of five major gas basin developments advanced in the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-15/morrison-unveils-plan-for-gas-led-recovery/12665020">prime minister’s A$6 billion plan for a “gas-led recovery”</a> from the economic hit of COVID. The plan, currently under examination by a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/BeetalooBasin">Senate inquiry</a>, would vastly expand unconventional oil and gas production using hydraulic fracturing (fracking), <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Weapons-of-Gas-Destruction-WEB.pdf">adding enormously</a> to Australia’s greenhouse emissions. </p>
<p>As climate change is already causing harm globally, this has been intensely criticised by <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-reasons-why-a-gas-led-economic-recovery-is-a-terrible-na-ve-idea-145009">Australian energy experts</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmdceYeO50g&t=125s">doctors</a> and <a href="https://productiongap.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/PGR2020_FullRprt_web.pdf">international bodies</a>.</p>
<p>The outcome of the Senate inquiry will significantly influence progression of gas mining in basins across Aboriginal Lands, impacting communities and Homelands.</p>
<p>The Commonwealth government can’t seem to wait to “unlock” the Beetaloo – <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/pitt/media-releases/grants-help-speed-beetaloo-drilling-program">pledging A$50 million in fracking grants in the NT</a>, including <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/pitt-slammed-for-21m-handout-to-liberal-party-linked-beetaloo-gas-projects/">A$21 million in taxpayers’ money</a> to Empire Energy, to expedite exploration. </p>
<p>There are many serious health concerns associated with opening up remote parts of Northern Territory to the oil and gas industry, including the largely ignored <a href="http://westerncriminology.org/documents/WCR/v15n1/Ruddell.pdf">links</a> with sexual and physical violence experienced by Indigenous women and children in North America.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-indigenous-australias-ecological-economies-give-us-something-to-build-on-123917">Remote Indigenous Australia's ecological economies give us something to build on</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>The health harms of unconventional gas mining</h2>
<p>For over ten years, the authors here (along with our colleague <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-shearman-1924">David Shearman</a>) have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/chief-scientist-csg-report-leaves-health-concerns-unanswered-32422">translating</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/expanding-gas-mining-threatens-our-climate-water-and-health-113047">research</a> to government decision-makers and community groups.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/208281;">research</a> has been communicated extensively to the NT government in [<a href="https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/?a=424231">multiple written submissions</a>], <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd6kvLLuoSg;%20https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/?a=445251">oral presentations</a>, <a href="https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/?a=452121%20;%20https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/?a=484976;%20https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/?a=457141">letters</a>, and to the <a href="https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2018/40/health-and-environment-impacts-of-fracking-not-adequately-considered/">NT chapter of the Royal Australian College of Physicians</a>. </p>
<p>This painstaking documentation details rapidly growing evidence of many environmental, climate, health and wellbeing losses associated with gas mining.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/313370">most recent submission</a> to the Beetaloo Senate inquiry described international evidence of serious health harms including: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735109720375392?via%3Dihub">heart failure</a></li>
<li><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33581094/">heart attacks</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32879945/">asthma</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935120314080">severe birth defects</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7486049/">psycho-social and mental health loss</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>These unwelcome messages were ignored in the <a href="https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/inquiry-reports/final-report">NT fracking inquiry report</a> and the subsequent <a href="https://hydraulicfracturing.nt.gov.au/sreba">Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA) framework</a>. </p>
<p>As remote Aboriginal Territorians already experience <a href="https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/?a=452121">much higher burdens</a> from these conditions, it follows the Beetaloo region would experience even more health loss if exposed to the hazards of gas mining. </p>
<p>These hazards include <a href="https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article/doi/10.1525/elementa.398/112753/Air-quality-impacts-from-oil-and-natural-gas">ozone and tiny particles in inhaled air</a> and many chemicals capable of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896972035765X?via%3Dihub">disrupting people’s endocrine systems</a> in both the air and water.</p>
<p>Besides direct physical health impacts, the industry has an enormous environmental and <a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S2214629618306698?token=55B4BADC0A7C6667F376AF9601D916791CE9D344EE25DADA8C74DA2283863EFC56864C2C3F4FC3927BCA9822F4E21535&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20210802112618">social injustice</a> footprint. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/shale-gas-and-other-sources-natural-gas">expanse and intensity</a> of mature shale gas mining operations, once allowed to proceed, are rarely foreseen. Remote areas are <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/208281">rapidly industrialised</a> with airstrips, roads, wellpads, pipelines, gas processing and water treatment plants and pumping stations. </p>
<p>Many experts question the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629616301037">capacity, cost</a> and commitment to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19460171.2021.1895855;%20https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214790X18300947">procedural justice</a> required to effectively monitor regulatory compliance through decades of mine expansion, production and well decommissioning. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fracking-can-cause-social-stress-in-nearby-areas-new-research-95216">Fracking can cause social stress in nearby areas: new research</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Risks to vulnerable communities</h2>
<p>There is little research on the impacts of shale gas mining on Indigenous people specifically. As a result, affected Indigenous communities have had to raise their own voices about their experiences and concerns.</p>
<p>In 2015, a coalition of Native American and women’s organisations requested intervention by the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for protection against “<a href="https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive/native-american-and-women-s-organizations-request-un-help-on-sexual-violence-_srxHIWjqEmyrmz9OPMmZw">the epidemic of sexual violence brought on by extreme fossil fuel extraction in the Great Lakes and Great Plains region</a>” in North America. </p>
<p>They described vast “man camps” of temporary labour becoming “lawless hubs of violence and human trafficking”.</p>
<p>In 2019, the Canadian <a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2019/06/Final_%20Report_Vol%201a-1.pdf">National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls</a> quoted Melina Laboucan Massimo of the Lubicon Cree First Nation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The industrial system of resource extraction in Canada is predicated on systems of power and domination. This system is based on the raping and pillaging of Mother Earth as well as violence against women. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A recurrent theme in the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/commsen/f65607f3-7c1c-4e72-838b-0392c620d71d/toc_pdf/Environment%20and%20Communications%20References%20Committee_2021_07_28_8971.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/commsen/f65607f3-7c1c-4e72-838b-0392c620d71d/0000%22">current Beetaloo inquiry</a> has been whether potential health risks experienced elsewhere would be likely occur here if the project in the Beetaloo Basin proceeds.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Gamil Means No Melbourne National Day of Action" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414938/original/file-20210806-17-15jgps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414938/original/file-20210806-17-15jgps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414938/original/file-20210806-17-15jgps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414938/original/file-20210806-17-15jgps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414938/original/file-20210806-17-15jgps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414938/original/file-20210806-17-15jgps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414938/original/file-20210806-17-15jgps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People across the country continue to protest against fracking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.commons.wikimedia.org">Matt Hrkac/ Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response, we highlight the combination of circumstances accompanying oil and gas developments that heighten the vulnerability of any community. We also urge recognition of the specific, compounding factors faced by the people who live in the Beetaloo. These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2019/06/Final_%20Report_Vol%201a-1.pdf">historical genocide, violence and transgenerational trauma</a></li>
<li>the <a href="https://resourcingtheterritory.nt.gov.au/oil-and-gas">geographical vastness of gas mining potential</a> across <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-17/remote-aboriginal-residents-police-governments-tussle-funding/9334278">remote and under-serviced areas</a></li>
<li>the <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-resource-boom's-underbelly%3A-Criminological-of-Carrington-Hogg/29d0c6c687c4eb3ddaa169b5716a5d7407ae03b4">characteristics of this work and enormous influx of workers</a></li>
<li>the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3651545/pdf/RIOG006001_0e22.pdf">socioeconomic disparities and lack of voice</a> among First Nations peoples</li>
<li>police protection and duty of care to Aboriginal people as victims of crime</li>
<li>and the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-14/police-officer-threats-aboriginal-boys-alice-springs-watch-house/12969644;%20https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/systemic-abuse-don-dale-youth-detention/13475214">criminal justice system itself</a> </li>
</ul>
<p>Construction and drilling workers — most being male fly-in, fly-out contractors — will build and service these facilities. <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Between-a-Rock-and-a-Hard-Place%3A-Exploring-Ways-to-Gilbert/7af33c058f653d7480d2b2f0df5e4b21515ebfd1">Research</a> shows these workers are separated from their families and have well-paid but stressful, sometimes dangerous jobs. </p>
<p>Recent reports of <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/nine-reported-sexual-assaults-in-18-months-on-wa-mine-sites-20210702-p586h2.html">alleged sexual violence</a> against female mine workers in Western Australia causes concern for the well being of women and children in remote areas. </p>
<p>We see no assurance to date that concerns raised here are being taken seriously, and hope this Senate committee is listening to all the incredible Aboriginal people from remote Beetaloo communities that are standing up and speaking out.</p>
<p>We need to respect their calls to protect their communities and Country, and address the potential damage that awaits unless we take action. As we know from history, as important as they are, reparations do not heal deep wounds, especially those easily foreseen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Haswell is affiliated with Doctors for the Environment Australia, Climate and Health Alliance and the Public Health Association Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Williams receives funding from the Medical Research Futures Fund, National Health and Medical Research Council, National Indigenous Australians Agency, Australian Government Department of Health and NSW Aboriginal Land Council. She is affiliated with Croakey Health Media and Deadly Connections.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francis Nona does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Fracking the Beetaloo Basin has potential environmental and social harms that affect the Traditional owners in the Northern Territory.
Melissa Haswell, Professor of Practice in Environmental Wellbeing, Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services), University of Sydney
Francis Nona, Lecturer, The University of Queensland
Megan Williams, Associate Professor, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/165308
2021-08-05T20:10:29Z
2021-08-05T20:10:29Z
Friday essay: Tongerlongeter — the Tasmanian resistance fighter we should remember as a war hero
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414068/original/file-20210802-19-1ydv5k9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C46%2C3271%2C2302&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lieutenant John Bowen and party arriving at Risdon, by Thomas Gregson (c.1860). </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of the WL Crowther Library</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images and names of deceased people.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Australians love their war heroes. Our founding myth centres on the heroism of the ANZACs. Our Victoria Cross recipients are considered emblematic of our highest virtues. We also revere our dissident heroes, such as Ned Kelly and the Eureka rebels. But where in this pantheon are our Black war heroes?</p>
<p>If it’s underdog heroism we’re after, we need look no further than the warriors who resisted the invasion of their homelands between 1788 and 1928. And none distinguished himself more than Tongerlongeter — the subject of a <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/forgotten-warriors/">new book</a> I have written with historian <a href="https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/R/Reynolds.htm">Henry Reynolds</a>.</p>
<h2>Tongerlongeter’s story</h2>
<p>In Tasmania’s “<a href="https://theconversation.com/tasmanias-black-war-a-tragic-case-of-lest-we-remember-25663">Black War</a>” of 1823–31, Tongerlongeter led a stunning resistance campaign against invading British soldiers and colonists. Leader of the Oyster Bay nation, he inspired dread throughout the island’s southeast. Convicts refused to work alone or unarmed, terrified settlers abandoned their farms, the economy faltered and the government seemed powerless to suppress the violence. </p>
<p>It was a legacy Tongerlongeter could never have imagined in 1802, when his people encountered the French explorers under <a href="https://www.ourtasmania.com.au/exploration-baudin.html">Nicolas Baudin</a> on Maria Island. Having never heard of foreign lands or peoples, they concluded the pale-faced visitors were ancestral spirits returned from the dead. If zombies are an apt comparison, they were soon to experience a zombie invasion.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="book cover man" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414067/original/file-20210802-54447-x2bub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/forgotten-warriors/">New South Books</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The British established their first settlement at <a href="https://www.utas.edu.au/tasmanian-companion/biogs/E000393b.htm">Risdon Cove</a>, opposite today’s Hobart, in 1803. Only from the 1820s did settlement accelerate up the fertile valleys of the southeast. Tongerlongeter initially restricted his warriors to targeted retribution, but as the violence intensified, all stops were pulled.</p>
<p>By night, Tongerlongeter and his people were vulnerable to ambushes. Gangs of frontiersmen and sealers killed hundreds of men and abducted countless women and girls. Tongerlongeter’s first wife was taken in just such an ambush.</p>
<p>Being wary of evil spirits, Tongerlongeter’s people never attacked by night. But from sun-up to sun-down, exposed colonists lived in constant fear of attack. Using sophisticated tactics such as reconnaissance, decoys, flanking and pincer manoeuvres, sabotage, and arson, Tongerlongeter’s war parties attacked hut after hut, and often several at a time.</p>
<p>Trained from infancy in the arts of war, Aboriginal warriors carried out guerrilla operations with extraordinary discipline and strategy. Apart from soldiers, most colonists were woefully unprepared to face such assailants. Typically, warriors would surround a hut, then kill its occupants, plunder whatever they wanted, and set it alight. Then they “simply vanished”, outwitting even mounted pursuit parties.</p>
<p>In 1828, as the body count rose, <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/arthur-sir-george-1721">Lieutenant Governor George Arthur</a> declared martial law. Vigilantes had long “hunted the blacks” with impunity; now they did so legally. </p>
<p>While such measures took a devastating toll, Tongerlongeter and his allies, the neighbouring Big River nation, only intensified their resistance, making <a href="https://rdp.utas.edu.au/metadata/484c2b53-776b-41da-8bb7-49ded4e96ea2">137 documented attacks in 1828, 152 in 1829, and 204 in 1830</a>. Each year they refined their tactics. Some settlers insisted the colony should be abandoned.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-truganini-and-the-bloody-backstory-to-victorias-first-public-execution-129548">Friday essay: Truganini and the bloody backstory to Victoria's first public execution</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Drawing a line</h2>
<p>In September 1830, under mounting pressure, Arthur initiated a massive military operation designed to crush the resistance of Tongerlongeter and his allies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/the-black-line">The Black Line</a>, as it came to be known, was Australia’s largest ever domestic military offensive. It involved 2,200 soldiers, settlers and convicts — 10% of the white population — in a seven-week campaign designed to “capture the hostile tribes”. Outnumbered by about 200 to one, and using only traditional weapons, Aboriginal resistance had driven the colony to take the most desperate of measures.</p>
<p>Commanded by Arthur himself, the Black Line was a human cordon, sweeping down eastern Tasmania. It was also a stunning failure, resulting in just two Aboriginal people captured and two killed. During the same period, Oyster Bay-Big River warriors killed five colonists and wounded six. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414052/original/file-20210802-57037-1epins6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Field plan of military operations against the Aboriginal inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land, by George Frankland (1830). This retrospective map illustrates the general pattern of divisional movements during the ‘Black Line’ campaign in October and November 1830.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of the WL Crowther Library</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Still, the white men had made an impressive show of force, so Tongerlongeter’s people headed for the relative safety of the Central Plateau.</p>
<p>They didn’t make it unscathed. According to Tongerlongeter, who recounted his wartime experiences years later in exile, he</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] was with his tribe in the neighbourhood of the Den Hill and that there was men cutting wood. The men were frightened and run away. At night they came back with plenty of white men (it was moonlight), and they looked and saw our fires. Then they shot at us, shot my arm, killed two men and three women. The women they beat on the head and killed them; they then burnt them in the fire.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A musket ball almost severed Tongerlongeter’s arm just below the elbow. As his comrades sliced off what remained of his limb, the chief’s pain would have been stupefying. But worse was to come. We know from post-mortem records that someone, presumably using abrasive rock, ground smooth his splintered forearm bone. To stem the bleeding, Tongerlongeter simply said his kinfolk “burnt the end”, belying the true horror of cauterisation without anaesthetic.</p>
<h2>The desperate final year</h2>
<p>Miraculously, Tongerlongeter survived and made it to the plateau, but the momentum of the resistance waned. Oyster Bay and Big River bands made only 57 attacks in 1831. Desperate to avoid the white man’s guns, they wintered in the frigid high country. </p>
<p>Then, in the spring of 1831, Tongerlongeter’s people made one last foray to the east coast where they found themselves trapped on the Freycinet Peninsula by more than 100 armed white men. They were again forced to slip past the muskets at night. </p>
<p>Tongerlongeter made a beeline back west where his wife, Droomteemetyer, gave birth to a son. Parperermanener was the last Oyster Bay-Big River child — a delicate flame kindled from the dying embers of his people.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414055/original/file-20210802-40887-thszvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An engraving of Oyster Bay on Tasmania’s east coast (1873). Published in The Illustrated Australian by Ebenezer and David Syme.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/241673">State Library of Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The armistice</h2>
<p>On New Year’s Eve 1831, Tongerlongeter’s war-weary remnant, now just 26 in number, were holed up in the remote lake country when they were approached by a small Aboriginal party. They were envoys of <a href="https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/R/Robinson%20GA.htm">George Augustus Robinson</a>’s “friendly mission”, whom Arthur had tasked with “conciliating the hostile tribes”.</p>
<p>Robinson’s terms were: if Tongerlongeter’s people laid down their arms they could, once order was restored, remain on their Country with a government emissary for protection. The chief was undoubtedly suspicious, but the alternative was the wholesale erasure of his people and culture.</p>
<p>When Tongerlongeter’s small band of survivors entered Hobart a week later, the whole town came to witness the spectacle. Spears in hand, they approached Government House, where the governor invited them in. His administration kept meticulous records — but as important as this meeting was, Arthur knew better than to document the promises he made.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/henry-reynolds-australia-was-founded-on-a-hypocrisy-that-haunts-us-to-this-day-101679">Henry Reynolds: Australia was founded on a hypocrisy that haunts us to this day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Exiled</h2>
<p>Ten days later the whole party set sail for Flinders Island. They became dreadfully seasick. Severely dehydrated, Droomteemetyer would have struggled to breastfeed Parperermanener, and soon after disembarking, his tiny body went limp. For the Oyster Bay-Big River remnant, this was no ordinary tragedy. It wasn’t just that a child had died, or even that it was the child of a chief. There were no more children.</p>
<p>Despite the loss of his son, his arm, his country, his way of life and almost everyone he had ever known, Tongerlongeter did not give up hope. As a leader, he couldn’t, and from the outset he was proactive. By popular vote, he represented the exiles in negotiations, settled disputes, provided counsel, distributed justice, and was instrumental in a range of improvements.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414051/original/file-20210802-56168-nhkaat.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watercolour of Flinders Island by J. S. Prout (1840s).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1834, a visiting missionary identified Tongerlongeter as “the principal chief at Flinders”, where 244 Aboriginal Tasmanians were <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/45398/1004353.pdf?sequence=1">eventually exiled</a>. When Robinson took command of the settlement in 1835, he immediately recognised the chief’s seniority, renaming him <a href="https://www.examiner.com.au/story/6753377/an-evil-spirit-that-haunted-flinders-island/">King William</a> after Britain’s reigning monarch.</p>
<p>But good leadership could only do so much. During the five years Tongerlongeter was at the settlement, there were four births but well over 100 deaths, mostly from influenza. On March 21 1837, Tongerlongeter demanded they be allowed “to leave this place of sickness”; and when Robinson hesitated, he <a href="https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:10983/SOURCE01?view=true">asked</a>: “What, do you mean to stay till all the black men are dead?”</p>
<p>It wasn’t just that an “evil spirit” was sickening his people — Tongerlongeter never stopped advocating for their promised return to Country. When that failed, he supported Robinson’s plan for their removal to Victoria, even if the fledgling settlement’s only appeal was that it was not Flinders Island. Some eventually made that journey, but Tongerlongeter was not among them.</p>
<h2>Two kings</h2>
<p>King William died from illness on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-IV-king-of-Great-Britain">the same day as his namesake</a> in Windsor Castle — June 20 1837. </p>
<p>The two men could scarcely have been more different. One led the largest empire on Earth; the other led a small nation of hunter-gatherers. One dispossessed millions of indigenous peoples; the other determinedly resisted dispossession. One died in the comfort of a lavish castle, the other in a draughty hut on an accursed island far from home.</p>
<p>King William was just a character Tongerlongeter played so his people might have a voice. </p>
<p>If he had anything in common with the British monarch, it was that his death produced a comparable tide of shock and sorrow, albeit confined to a shrinking settlement on a tiny island at the edge of the known world.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-wauba-debar-an-indigenous-swimmer-from-tasmania-who-saved-her-captors-126487">Hidden women of history: Wauba Debar, an Indigenous swimmer from Tasmania who saved her captors</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Remembrance and The Black War</h2>
<p>The Black War, as everyone at the time understood, was just that — a war. Yes, it was a small guerrilla war, but so were most wars throughout history. It’s impossible to overstate its significance for Tasmania and its peoples. The impacts of subsequent wars pale by comparison, and yet these overseas conflicts and their heroes monopolise our commemorative spaces.</p>
<p>How can this be? Almost all those who fought alongside Tongerlongeter were killed in action — not as helpless victims, but as warriors. Theirs was the most effective frontier resistance campaign in Australian history, killing at least 182 invaders and wounding another 176. No less intimidating were their efforts to sabotage the invasion by spearing thousands of sheep and cattle, and burning dozens of homes and crops.</p>
<p>And the impact of their resistance was felt beyond Tasmania. Governor Arthur <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/history-of-tasmania/an-indelible-stain/D29587BB12A066B49641352BE7F73589">later wrote</a> it had been “a great oversight that a treaty was not […] made with the natives”, and a chastened Colonial Office took steps not to repeat that mistake. New Zealand’s <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/treaty-faqs#:%7E:text=The%20Treaty%20of%20Waitangi%20is,signed%2C%20on%206%20February%201840.">Treaty of Waitangi</a>, for instance, was due in no small part to Tongerlongeter and his warriors, who taught the British Empire a lesson in the true cost of “free land”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414059/original/file-20210802-19-goqjby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tasmania’s Flinders Island was Tongerlongeter last residence, but not his Country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dock-lookout-on-flinders-island-tasmania-1029752707">Shutterstock/Alex Cimbal</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tongerlongeter should be recognised as one of our nation’s greatest war heroes. He should be celebrated by politicians and school children alike, and yet almost no one has ever heard of him.</p>
<p>Tongerlongeter showed the “extreme devotion to duty” and “self-sacrifice” that would later make a soldier eligible for the <a href="https://pmc.gov.au/government/its-honour/victoria-cross#:%7E:text=The%20Victoria%20Cross%20is%20the,or%20extreme%20devotion%20to%20duty.">Victoria Cross</a>. He and his warriors fought year after year in the face of staggering odds.</p>
<p>It’s not that these heroes should receive posthumous medals, but they should receive the respect accorded to those who do. Their skin was black, and they wore no uniform, but if the men and women who sacrificed everything in defence of their country do not exemplify our highest virtues, then who does?</p>
<p>It is an Australian quirk that we don’t officially commemorate or memorialise our frontier wars or those who fought in them. When contrasted against memorials to overseas campaigns, this sends a stark message: our country values these foreign conflicts more than those fought on this country, for this country. And it implies our war heroes are all white.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-its-time-for-a-new-museum-dedicated-to-the-fighters-of-the-frontier-wars-155299">Friday essay: it's time for a new museum dedicated to the fighters of the frontier wars</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Time has come</h2>
<p>Other countries are far ahead of us in this regard. </p>
<p>A statue of the Chilean Mapuche leader <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nicanor_Plaza_-_Estatua_Caupolic%C3%A1n_Cerro_Santa_Lucia_3.jpg">Caupolicán</a> has commanded an imposing position in the centre of Santiago since 1910. <a href="https://pripsjamaica.com/places/4917/go/heritage/national-heroes-park-monument-rt-excellent-samuel-sharpe">Samuel Sharpe</a>, the leader of the Jamaican slave rebellion, was declared a national hero in 1975. And outside the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s government recently erected a 15-metre bronze statue of indigenous guerrilla fighter <a href="https://www.encirclephotos.com/image/juana-azurduy-monument-in-san-nicolas-buenos-aires-argentina/">Juana Azurduy</a>.</p>
<p>Momentum for commemoration in Australia is building. Aboriginal community groups and elders, with the support of RSL Tasmania, Reconciliation Tasmania and the Hobart City Council, are planning to install a <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/memorial-to-commemorate-tasmanias-black-wars/news-story/6d6184f9ed73861493c390d68c64bb10">Black War memorial in Hobart’s Cenotaph precinct</a>. When erected, it will be the first of its kind in Australia.</p>
<p>Tongerlongeter and many other heroes of The Black War are buried at the Wybalenna Cemetery on Flinders Island. But rather than being overlooked by an impressive memorial, only thistles adorn their unmarked graves. How Aboriginal people are commemorated or memorialised is the prerogative of their descendants, but admiration for warriors like Tongerlongeter has the potential to transcend race, culture and creed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Hobart monument" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414061/original/file-20210802-57446-1oyle2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A memorial is planned to Tongerlongeter and his fellow fighters near Hobart’s Cenotaph.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hobart-australia-29-december-2020-cenotaph-1886502553">Shutterstock/D. Cunningham</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Clements does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Outnumbered 200 to one and using traditional weapons, Tongerlongeter and his warriors drove the colony to desperate measures. In other wars his self-sacrifice would have earned him a medal.
Nicholas Clements, Adjunct Researcher, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/165238
2021-07-29T02:30:51Z
2021-07-29T02:30:51Z
Fiji’s other crisis: away from the COVID emergency, political dissent can still get you arrested
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413657/original/file-20210729-27-16irvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C1075%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The arrest of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/26/nine-fiji-opposition-mps-arrested-criticism-land-bill">nine Fijian opposition politicians</a>, including party leaders and two former prime ministers, once again exposes Fijian democracy’s fragility. The intimidation doesn’t bode well for the parliamentary elections due next year (or early 2023).</p>
<p>The political crisis has been overshadowed by Fiji’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/fiji-covid-numbers/13473382">COVID-19 crisis</a>, which has seen more than 25,000 infections and over 100 deaths since April. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama even used a COVID analogy when he called those arrested “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/26/nine-fiji-opposition-mps-arrested-criticism-land-bill">super-spreaders of lies</a>”.</p>
<p>While no charges have been laid, the nine are accused of inciting unrest by opposing a <a href="https://www.frcs.org.fj/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Bill-No.-17-iTaukei-Land-Trust-Budget-Amendmend-Bill-2021.pdf">government bill</a> to change the management of iTaukei (indigenous) land rights. </p>
<p>The original <a href="https://www.laws.gov.fj/Acts/DisplayAct/390">iTaukei Land Trust Act 1940</a> allows for long-term land leases to private interests. The idea is to maximise the economic return on land, while protecting it against permanent alienation. </p>
<p>The act aims to protect indigenous interests by prohibiting the sub-lease or raising of mortgages on leased land without the consent of the iTaukei Land Trust Board.</p>
<p>The proposed amendment would remove the requirement to obtain the board’s consent, and prevent land owners going to court to dispute land use.</p>
<h2>Arresting the opposition</h2>
<p>Bainimarama, who also chairs the board, says the bill’s purpose is to remove bureaucratic obstacles to minor activities such as arranging electricity or water supply. He says the board takes too long to provide consent and this is a constraint on economic development.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413658/original/file-20210729-19-a9jl8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But critics of the bill, including some of those arrested, argue it will weaken iTaukei land rights. Opposition MP Lynda Tabuya was accused of a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/fiji-opp-questioning/13470002">malicious act</a>” after she posted a “Say no to iTaukei Land Trust Bill” cover picture on Facebook last week. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100030762316452/videos/200381105367378/">separate post</a>, demonstrating the low threshold for “malice” in modern Fiji, she asked: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What protection is left for landowners? This is absolutely illegal and a breach of human rights of landowners. This is not a race issue, this is a human rights issue and breaches Section 29 of the Fijian Constitution. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Tabuya is not alone. The National Federation Party has said the government has <a href="https://www.fijivillage.com/news/NFP-opposes-Bill-No-17-and-calls-to-have-it-withdrawn-immediately--Prasad-r4f85x/">not properly consulted on the bill</a>, and party leader Biman Prasad was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/26/nine-fiji-opposition-mps-arrested-criticism-land-bill">among those arrested</a>, along with former prime ministers Mahendra Chaudhry and Sitivini Rabuka.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/two-past-coup-leaders-face-off-in-fiji-election-as-australia-sharpens-its-focus-on-pacific-106347">Two past coup leaders face off in Fiji election as Australia sharpens its focus on Pacific</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Limited media scrutiny</h2>
<p>Media coverage, too, has felt the effects of the arrests. For example, the Fiji Sun’s <a href="https://fijisun.com.fj/2021/07/27/bulitavu-supports-bill-17-new-budget/">one story</a> on the issue in its July 28 edition cited only supporters of the bill and offered no insight into why it was controversial. </p>
<p>This isn’t surprising, given Fijian journalism operates under a <a href="https://www.laws.gov.fj/ResourceFile/Get/?fileName=2013%20Constitution%20of%20Fiji%20(English).pdf">constitutional provision</a> limiting its rights and freedoms “in the interests of national security, public safety, public order, public morality, public health or the orderly conduct of elections”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nz-journalists-arrested-in-fiji-have-been-released-but-a-new-era-of-press-freedom-is-yet-to-arrive-115117">NZ journalists arrested in Fiji have been released but a new era of press freedom is yet to arrive</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Fiji Times took a risk last week by publishing an <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/its-about-respect/">opinion column</a> arguing poor drafting and failure to consult meant the bill goes further than its purported aims of administrative simplicity and efficiency. </p>
<p>Beyond the legal complexities of the land bill, however, the real problem is political. As the article asks, “What’s the issue?”.</p>
<p>As I discuss in my book <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/indigeneity-a-politics-of-potential">Indigeneity: a politics of potential — Australia, Fiji and New Zealand</a>, the issue is that Fiji is a fragile, reluctant and conditional democracy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Frank Bainimarama" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413659/original/file-20210729-15-1nlz775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413659/original/file-20210729-15-1nlz775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413659/original/file-20210729-15-1nlz775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413659/original/file-20210729-15-1nlz775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413659/original/file-20210729-15-1nlz775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413659/original/file-20210729-15-1nlz775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413659/original/file-20210729-15-1nlz775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A military grip on power: Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Military interference</h2>
<p>Coups in 1987 and 2006, and a putsch in 2000, happened because democracy failed to provide the perpetrators with the “right” answers to complex political questions at the intersection of class, military power and personal interest. </p>
<p>The rights of indigenous Fijians were always a side issue, as the present conflict shows.</p>
<p>The 2013 constitution <a href="https://www.laws.gov.fj/ResourceFile/Get/?fileName=2013%20Constitution%20of%20Fiji%20(English).pdf">established</a> that “it shall be the overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and well-being of Fiji and all Fijians”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bainimarama-wins-again-in-fiji-helped-by-muzzling-the-media-unions-and-the-church-107192">Bainimarama wins again in Fiji, helped by muzzling the media, unions and the church</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Military oversight of the workings of government is intentional and explicit. When
Bainimarama (then head of the military forces) led the 2006 coup, he was dismissive of accusations of political interference. If the military didn’t act against the government, he said, “this country is going to go to the dogs”. </p>
<p>He <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/howard-wont-say-if-fiji-seeking-military-help/KVL4CCNALJK4NFCNX6L4JE42F4/">also claimed</a> then-prime minister Laisenia Qarase was trying to weaken the army by attempting to remove him: “If he succeeds there will be no one to monitor them, and imagine how corrupt it is going to be.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1419754715449987084"}"></div></p>
<h2>No room to move</h2>
<p>Intimidation is political strategy in Fiji. The proposed amendments to the iTaukei Land Trust Act are not what is at stake — a functioning parliamentary process could identify and resolve any substantive disagreements. </p>
<p>The bigger issue is that autocratic leadership, and the national constitution itself, leave little room for Fijian citizens to work out for themselves the kind of society they want. </p>
<p>This also leaves little room for Fijians to demand more effective policy responses to their country’s COVID-19 crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic O'Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
By arresting opponents of proposed land rights legislation, Frank Bainimarama again squashes democratic debate at a time when Fiji urgently needs it.
Dominic O'Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/156633
2021-03-10T17:52:50Z
2021-03-10T17:52:50Z
Indigenous land defenders: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 6 transcript
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388636/original/file-20210309-23-yyelqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C6%2C4425%2C2997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline set up a support station at kilometre 39, just outside of Gidimt'en checkpoint near Houston B.C., on January 8, 2020. The Wet'suwet'en peoples are occupying their land and trying to prevent a pipeline from going through it. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/65e610f9-842e-4091-b314-c985dc941f17?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-land-defenders-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-6-156632">Episode 6: Indigenous land defenders</a>.</p>
<p><em>NOTE: Transcripts may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.</em></p>
<p><strong>Vinita Srivastava:</strong> From <em>The Conversation</em>, this is “Don’t Call Me Resilient.” I’m Vinita Srivastava. </p>
<p><strong>Anne Spice:</strong> For me, I think the land defender is not a title that you claim for yourself. It’s an action. And it’s about the practice of actually being on the land and reclaiming ancestral territories and territories that are under attack. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> In this episode, we take a look at Indigenous land rights and the people on the front lines of these battles. These are the land defenders fighting to protect land against invasive development. Both my guests today have stood up to armed forces to protect land. Their work to defend land is about protecting the environment, but it is much more than that. It is fundamentally about survival and the right to live openly on what is stolen land. Ellen Gabriel has been resisting land encroachment for 31 years. She was at the centre of the 1990 Kanehsatake resistance. You might know it as the Oka Crisis. It was a 78-day stand-off to protect ancestral Kanien’kéha:ka land or Mohawk land, in Québec. It was a moment in history that many say helped wake them up to Indigenous issues. Anne Spice is also with me today. She is a professor of geography and history at Ryerson University. Anne who is Tlingit from Kwanlin Dun First Nation was recently on the front lines in the defence of Wet'suwet'en Land. After she was arrested on Wet'suwet'en territory last year, a viral video showed the RCMP pointing a gun at the land defenders. In the video Anne can be heard shouting “we are unarmed and we are peaceful.” These are the moments that capture our collective attention. But Ellen and Anne’s work goes well beyond what the cameras show. I’m honoured they could both join me today to explain what it’s like to be on the ground, day in and day out, why they do what they do and how someone might join in the land back fight. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Are you guys ready to jump in? </p>
<p><strong>Ellen Gabriel:</strong> Sure. Just give us direction. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Ellen, during the 1990 Kanehsatake resistance the Canadian government sent 2,000 police and over 4,000 soldiers, along with armoured vehicles and helicopters, to subdue your communities. So, I know it’s complicated, but for those that are unfamiliar with the issues, what were you fighting for? What are you still fighting for? </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> It’s always been about land since Europeans have come here. It’s about land. It’s dispossession and Indigenous people being criminalized for standing up for what is their right, which is to protect the people and the land. So being at the front line, as you call it, it’s not an easy thing. You have to have a will of steel. You know, you have to teach yourself to remain calm and not go for the provocation of whoever is up against you, which is really difficult because, as you know, I’ve been doing this for what’s going on 31 years now. And you get tired, you get frustrated. And the fact that the government who created the problem is just sitting back and not doing anything and just waiting for a violent confrontation to justify the use of force and to devalue and discredit and silence our voices is extremely maddening. You know, where we don’t own the land, the land owns us. We are her people. And I think that’s why we do this, is that people understand their ancestral teachings, is that we need to protect the land for this generation and for future generations. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I watched the Obomsawin documentary again the other day, and I heard you say that, you know, as the trucks rolled in and the SWAT team came out, that you were with three women and you just sort of looked at each other and your instincts kicked in and you said something about being a woman and your role. </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> The women are title holders to the land and the protectors of the land. And the men’s obligation is to protect the women who are protecting the land. Title to the land goes through us and we have not been respected as we see in the Indian Act, attacked the authority in the roles of women. So it’s a huge obligation because we need to fight a government that has infinite amount of resources, both financial and human. And so you need to be strong. And what you know is your obligation and why there is such an importance to it, which is without the land we’re nothing. Without the land we don’t have a language. We don’t have a culture. We cease to be ronkwe people. Ronkwe people is all Indigenous people. That’s our word — Kanien’kéha word - we are People of the Flint — Kanien’kéha:ka, so there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about that and how it’s a very scary thing to be in the front. You get attacked from within and you get attacked on the outside. So you really have to be strong in your beliefs. And if you falter just a little bit, it can be detrimental to your mental health because it is a very stressful thing to carry this this burden. I say it’s a burden because we should have been able to resolve this in 1990. But the government never negotiated in good faith. They had no intention of resolving this peacefully as they do now. It’s a new government. They seem to be really friendly, but they’re actually not. They’re just repackaging colonization to justify land dispossession, saying that we are willingly giving up our land and we never have willingly given up our land. You have to be really stubborn, which I think is in our DNA. So I’m proud to be a stubborn Kanien’kéha:ka woman in all this. </p>
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<span class="caption">Mohawk activist Ellen Gabriel about to speak to the media in the summer of 1990. She was chosen by the People of the Longhouse and her community of Kanehsatà:ke to be their spokesperson during the ‘Oka Crisis,’ a 78-day standoff to protect ancestral Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) land in Québec.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/staff</span></span>
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<p><strong>VS:</strong> And you’ve been stubborn for, as you say, 31 years. I’m wondering, has anything improved? </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> Not for Kanehsata:ke. I think Kanehsata:ke has been punished over the last three decades. We have more land that has been taken from us by settlers and we are being silenced once again as we were in 1990 as traditional people. People who are following the original constitution and teachings of our ancestors that predate European arrival. When I look outside, yeah, I see a lot of improvements and a lot of changes. But even there, there’s still so much work to do on so many levels. And if we look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, there’s solutions in there which have to do with education because it’s a mindset, right? When you talk about peace for us, you have to have a good mind and that takes teachings. It takes education, which I think is absent from the educational system within Canada. And so it’s an uphill battle still for us. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Anne you’re also a lead defender, and also in your work you document land defenders. And I’m just going to take a moment to just to pause for a minute to ask what may be a basic question. But what is a land defender? Who are the land defenders? </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> For me, I think the land defender is not a title that you claim for yourself. It’s an action. And it’s about the practice of actually being on the land and reclaiming ancestral territories and territories that are under attack and insisting on a narrative that recognizes that these territories do not legitimately belong to the state, they don’t belong to Canada. When we talk about defence, it can seem like we’re just creating barriers from outside invasions. And some of the work is doing that because there are these really clear forms of invasion that are attempting to steal the land or steal the land again or repurpose it in ways that will damage it and damage our relations. It’s about protecting our relationships with the land and the water and the animals and upholding our responsibilities, which is part of what it means to be Indigenous Peoples. And it’s part of our teachings as Indigenous Peoples is to be holding those responsibilities and acting on them. And we’re consistently kept from being able to exercise those responsibilities by the state and by industry. And so our relatives are under attack in these spaces. And so part of our work is to protect them. And part of our work is to be able to deepen those responsibilities and those relationships in the face of this really violent industrial push onto Indigenous lands. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> You’re also a scholar and you spend some of your time documenting, not only participating in these movements. Can you describe a little bit of what you have seen? </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> When I’m out on the territories or when I’m in spaces of siege, is just to listen to the people who are trying to defend their own territories and listen to their experiences. There’s a witness saying that’s important there. I don’t think it’s my role to tell other people’s stories for them. I think that part of this is trying to tease apart what it is exactly we’re up against, and that that’s the place where scholarship can really make an impact in trying to tease apart this really violent machine that continues to attack our people and attack our lands and to figure out exactly what it is that they are trying to do. And I think that part of the reason that’s really important is because we’re not on the same page as settler Canadians. And despite the way that the current government talks about reconciliation and their desire for reconciliation, we still have a basic disagreement about the disagreement. There’s a continued attempt to try and redefine the land that we’re standing on. And so where we see a fight for our futures and for future generations and a deep responsibility towards the land, they see a construction site and they see the future of energy futures for the Canadian public. And so as long as we are not on the same page about those definitions — like we’re fighting over that imagination about — we want to imagine future generations living on on the land and being able to feed themselves from the land and being able to drink the water because it’s not contaminated. And so I think part of the work of scholarship is to figure out what the desires are of the settler state and so that we can imagine different things and are imagining different things for ourselves and our people. And land defence is bringing those things into reality. </p>
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<p><strong>VS:</strong> This was a year in some ways of really understanding that, well, for many people, I think just publicly this was a year of anti-racist uprisings. For me, it really drove home the idea of life and death movements. This idea that land defence movements continued even throughout the lockdown. Ellen, you’ve said that you thought the presence of satellite TV in 1990 saved your lives. And Anne at one point in a live stream video that circulated about the Wet'suwet'en protests with the RCMP guns pointed at you, you could be heard in the video shouting that “we are unarmed, we are peaceful.” </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> It’s been a very useful tool because mainstream media does not pick up the stories in our communities. I should mention that the Atikamekw woman, Joyce Echaquan, she recorded her own death, which sparked outrage for Indigenous People, at least here in Québec, and the demonstrating to the public that here’s some evidence for you to show you live some of the realities that we are facing. It’s also a double-edged sword because sometimes those things are used against us. You know, we always have to be the perfect ones. We are the ones that are faced with: we have to behave, we have to have peaceful resistance. So it’s a useful tool in that in having the world witnessed what probably was a worse experience for our ancestors. I think we are very privileged in this day and age, no matter where we are, to be able to have access to these. Because I am tired of people stealing the narrative. I am tired of people thinking that 1990 was about 60 warriors with weapons when there was a lot of people behind the lines who were not armed. I was never armed. And you know, it was difficult to show the facts. The police taking meat out of the donations that were coming from Six Nations and other communities and letting it sit in the sun. Our elders who went for chemotherapy and were forced to stand in the sun for two hours or four hours, people being strip searched, men being tortured by La Sûreté du Québec and the Canadian Army. So now we have the tools to show what is going on. And I think this is waking up people in a different sense. People act as if we have a choice to whether be on the front lines or not. No, we don’t, because if we do nothing it condones acts of aggression against our people. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Anne you’ve talked about technology as well. We’ve got something that’s faster and maybe more in the hands of the protester, of the defender. </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> I agree with Ellen that it is this kind of a double-edged sword. There’s a level of public awareness that would not be possible if we weren’t able to get the message out about what is happening and to get visuals out about what is happening without having to rely on mainstream media. And I think that, well I know that the RCMP and the state and industry view that as a threat to them. There are leaked reports that talk about the use of Twitter in the siege on Elsipogtog and they were very concerned about people’s ability to get that narrative out to the public without it being first filtered through mainstream media or through a state narrative. So I think that this can be really powerful and the ability to get these images out quickly in the siege on Wet'suwet'en really helped to spur the response and the acts of solidarity and action that were happening across the country and actually around the world. And so I think there’s something really powerful about that. Underlying that is that there are relationships, long-standing relationships between Indigenous nations that were the main strength of those solidarity actions came from those already underlying relationships. It wasn’t social media alone. It was social media layered on top of this already existing commitment to fight for each other and to not let other Indigenous nations be under attack without there being a powerful response. And I think this is something that we learned from the siege at Oka as well. That these solidarity responses are relationships that we’re building between each other. Those are really important. At the same time, there’s an element to social media that is is really frustrating to me. And that’s the need to present a spectacle in order to have people pay attention. Upwards of 70 tactical officers descended on a checkpoint with four people in order to get national attention on what was going on on Wet'suwet'en territory. Because, I mean, although that experience itself felt very violent and traumatizing, there is a daily violence that’s happening on that territory and many others where land defenders and supporters are being surveilled. There is constant police presence and police patrols. As Ellen said, you have to be the perfect person. If you slip up, they make you a criminal and that the constant presence of police and of industry and their ability to just continue to do work on territories where they have not received consent is a form of violence that I wish people cared about more because it’s killing people. It’s killing people in the present and in these often kind of imperceptible ways, people are going hungry because they can’t hunt on their territories. The contamination of the territories is causing rates of cancer in Indigenous communities that can only be explained by this colonial pressure to build and to continue to support industry, even when it’s having these effects on on Indigenous lives. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> What does the day to day look like? That’s not visible to everybody? </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> I think a lot of the time, and in ideal circumstances, it just looks like Indigenous people living on the land and all of the things that are involved in attempting to rebuild communities that are centred on the land. And so when we’re not being constantly interrupted by police, which is a sort of a daily thing that’s happening, people are going out hunting and they’re cooking for each other and they’re hiking around the territory and learning about the different plants and animals that are there and passing that knowledge along. The goal is just to be able to live as Indigenous people that is constantly being interrupted and challenged by the settler state and by industry. So it’s really hard to go out hunting when they’re upwards of 100 industry trucks driving by on the roads that you used to be able to just drive along without seeing anyone or when every time you go out to go berry picking, you’re followed by police. It’s not particularly glamorous a lot of the time, I think that there’s this view of Indigenous warriors as being like the sort of glamorous thing happening out in the territory. A lot of the time it’s just daily life and a consistent resistance to attempts to interrupt and disrupt that daily life. </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> I want to honour what Anne has been talking about, because this is what happened to us for at least a decade after the 1990 crisis. The surveillance has never stopped. There are daily helicopters flying over. And we have a select group of people within the community who can do things with impunity. And this is part of the colonial project, the divide and conquer. So I’m just at a loss for words. You always have to have hope. I have hope that the younger generation will be much kinder and gentler to the Earth and that they will wake up because we’re talking about generations, multigenerational trauma. We’re talking about multigenerational trauma, not just from Indian residential school, but from from defending the land and defending who you are. And land defence is not a spectacle. It’s not a fad. It’s something that we do simply because we have to we don’t have a choice. I raise my hands to Anne and Wet'suwet'en people and all the land defenders. From the Mi'kmaw to the north, we’re living in the prophecy time. We’re living in a climate both politically and spiritually, which is changing and not necessarily for the best. So the people who have those teachings, we need to speak to them. We need to encourage them to speak out. We do not have the luxury of time anymore. The changes are coming. And the Earth doesn’t need us to survive as a species. And that’s one thing that I think the egos of humankind need to come down a notch and say we’re not the most important thing here. How many species have become extinct because of the activities of people? Yesterday, I was thinking about this so-called democracy, a democracy that’s based on more power and more rights to corporations for the rich get richer and the people need to stand up to push back. That’s not a democracy. That’s authoritarianism. We need to decolonize our minds and how we look at land defenders. We’re not just defending the communities in which we live in. We are defending the whole thing of what constitutes sovereignty. Our version of sovereignty, our own definition. Not the colonizers’ definition of sovereignty. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I think the thing that always has struck me is that we’re supposedly in this era of reconciliation. And I’ve heard, Ellen, you said that reconciliation has to be alive before we can call it dead. And many of the Wet'suwet'en land defenders have said reconciliation is dead. And are we in an era of reconciliation or are we not? </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> Not. </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> I think there’s a question about whether or not reconciliation is even the goal, you know? I think you’re right, Ellen. The easy answer is that we’re not. The government would love to believe that we’re there. But I think that, I mean, I’ve said this before as well. You could look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We’re still arguing over truth. You kind of have this image of people sitting down at a table and hashing things out, but words aren’t going to solve the issues that we’re dealing with. I think there is like a full reaccounting of what Indigenous people have suffered as a piece of it. And the fact is that we’ve subsidized the existence of Canada, we’ve subsidized the Canadian economy, which continues to pull resources from Indigenous lands without benefit, with actually a lot of detriments to Indigenous Peoples. And so, I don’t think reconciliation quite captures what it is that’s necessary. And so if that’s the ceiling when it comes to what we’re seeking in terms of justice and liberation, I don’t think it does it in and of itself. So, yeah, I definitely hear that, it would need to be alive in order for it to be to be dead. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I hear you say words, words aren’t going to solve this. What do you think will help? </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> I think that there’s always been a burden on Indigenous people to tell the government what it is we want, as if we haven’t been clear for generations and generations that what we want is the land. What we want is the ability to live on the land. And as is clearly stated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, the right to continued use and control over access to our lands. And that, that is one of the ways that we’re going to be fighting against this change in climate, all the environmental catastrophes that we’re facing. We’ve had to get pretty creative about how we do that while under colonial occupation. I think there’s a burden on settler Canadians and non-native people to take on some of that creative work and to try to imagine for themselves what it would mean to actually live in accordance with Indigenous law. I think that deepening relationships with Indigenous nations, if you’re living on someone else’s territory, then building a relationship with them is really important and continuing to kind of work into those relations and connections and to take up some of the responsibility that we’ve taken on for protecting the land. </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> One of the things that we’ve asked for is a moratorium on all development. And Minister Miller has said absolutely not. But a moratorium on development for us to at least to have a breather. You can be a short-term moratorium when we sit down and all the people understand what’s at stake. If we don’t do this, then this will happen. If we do do this, this is going to happen. That’s free prior and informed consent. And we’re not able to get even to that table. I think we need to educate people on the buzzwords that are used that repackage colonization so that there’s a better understanding of the games that are being played. They are playing games with our lives. So we are the dispensable people in Canada. Everybody talks about what a small percentage of the population in Canada. Yeah, at one point we were the majority and because of war and disease, a genocidal act happened and you killed off the majority of our people who had the knowledge and the language of understanding how to survive on this beautiful land. We’re not able to do that when there’s persistent land theft and it’s done under Canadian laws. They’re not including our perspective. They’re not respecting our rights. So it’s a very coercive and abrasive relationship, our relationship with Canada and all the buzzwords, the flowery speeches and all that. They don’t mean anything to me because there’s no actions behind those words. And until there is, I will continue to be a pessimist but a hopeful pessimist. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I was going to say, you don’t seem like a pessimist to me. You seem very hopeful in that you continue. So it seems to me like you are an optimist. </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> Yeah, I am. As an artist, you always have to try and find the beauty in life and maybe expressing yourself in a different way. You have to remain hopeful because there are children that depend on it. There’s another generation that depend on you, because it was it was a generation that I depended on to give me what I have today. So it is giving that back. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> You’ve spent some time analyzing resistance techniques, but also you’ve looked at colonial structures so that you might find the path of least resistance or pathways forward. I’m wondering if you can share some of those findings with us. </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> That’s like a nicer way of putting it than I probably would. I would say that I’m looking for vulnerabilities in an enemy, really, and places where the system can be dismantled and there’s a possibility for that. Still, I really understand the play between pessimism and optimism. I think that there is hope in the way that we show up for each other. And as Ellen said, resistance there in 1990 spurred a decades-long attempt to punish people for resistance. And I think that it’s also really important for us to make sure we make it clear that that is not acceptable, that we’re not going to allow other people, especially land defenders, to be made an example of. And so I think part of it is that we can do some narrative work. In this way words do matter to push back against the criminalization of land defence and land defenders, and that’s one place where I see some space for moving forward. I think there’s really technical work to be done when it comes to dismantling particular bureaucratic forms of violence. I think that if you look at environmental assessment regulations, there’s things that are present in this structure that are oppressive by design. Structures and processes and forms of paperwork that are intended and built to fast track industrial projects. They don’t have Indigenous consent built in. So part of what might be necessary if we’re wanting to work with the government when it comes to, say, implementing UNDRIP is to try and figure out how to build Indigenous consent into these processes, because right now it’s not even there. And so it’s irrelevant. It’s irrelevant. If Indigenous people say no to a project, it doesn’t matter in their process at the end of the day. </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> That requires resources. And I agree with everything you’ve said Anne. The frustration is you need people who are policy analysts, human rights lawyers. You need a team almost 24 hours a day just to watch what is going on in order to fight it. We’re fighting a big machine of industries that have the resources. And so little land defenders like myself, we’re just out there trying to get the people to wake up and to get the public to be on our side. And it takes a long time. And sometimes we don’t have the time. Sometimes by the time we’re able to catch our breath, that piece of land is gone. So I’d like to have a satirical court process where we put them on trial and people understand what it is that we’re trying to do. </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> I think that we’re seeing some really hopeful engagement from Indigenous youth and there’s, I think, real power there. But sometimes I also worry that the intergenerational aspect of our organizing is not there or is not as strong as it could be. Or that maybe where we’re not looking to the people we should be looking to, to tell us about how you know, how this fight has has been ongoing and what it was like decades past, those stories aren’t always accessible for us. But I’m wondering what you think about the role of intergenerational work and storytelling in resistance movements, given that you’ve seen this through for the past 31 years? </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> Well, I think it’s really important for people to listen under our great law. Everybody is important. That doesn’t matter what your age or gender is. So I find the colonial view of let’s let the youth lead is kind of wrong. It should be youth who have listened to elders have sat down and learned just like any form of leadership, it has to come with knowledge. And some youth can be elders in their own right, depending on how they were raised. But equality means that all age groups are listened to, all age groups are respected and have an equal voice. It’s just like, well, we’ve seen so much male leadership. Let’s see some of the women’s leadership. So we have to create a balance between how many voices are the kind of voices that are heard. I learnt from so many people over the last 30 years and some were not Indigenous people. But the elders that I listened to were Indigenous elders from all over the Americas. And the similarities that we have in our belief system is sort of reinforcing that motivation to continue to do the work. So it’s really including everybody and teaching the children to listen, teaching the children that they’re important, that they’re loved. We have to look at it holistically in every way, shape or form our mental, physical and spiritual help that we need on a daily basis. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I wanted to ask you about the idea of the need for this ongoing strength. And the name of this podcast is “Don’t Call Me Resilient,” which challenges that idea of the state of asking people to remain or praising them for their resilience in all of these ongoing battles. I’m wondering what you think about that notion of resilience. </p>
<p><strong>AS:</strong> I don’t think that the word itself is the problem. There is no individual resilience. And if we view it in that way, then we’re where we’re going to be weaker. I think that we only exist in connection to others in this network of relations and this web of relations that we find ourselves. And if we are resilient, it’s only because we have those connections to lean on because we’re being held up by others, whether human or otherwise. And I think that sort of widens this idea of resilience. </p>
<p><strong>EG:</strong> Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with Anne. I think it’s about strength. It’s about courage and how strongly you believe in what you’re doing. For me, I think one of the best ways to survive in all this is to feel the sun on my face and the wind, those beautiful summer winds, even the cold winter winds that make you feel alive. It’s all about feeling alive and being alive and what you do with that spirit that you were given when you’re born, that spirit that for now has a body but will be set free one day. And it’s really difficult to say. If you want to put a label on people who defend the land, then it can’t be resilient. It’s got to be something like courageous, compassionate people who whose spirit lives beyond this dimension. Because, like I said, I think we carry the spirit of our ancestors with us and and we’re never alone, no matter where we are. </p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Thank you both so much. That’s it for this episode of “Don’t Call Me Resilient.” Thanks for listening. If you want to continue the conversation on land defenders, find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">@ConversationCA</a> and use the hashtag #DontCallMeResilient. If you’d like to read more about land defenders and land rights, go to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca">TheConversation.com</a>. That’s where you’ll find our <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-land-defenders-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-6-156632">show notes</a> with links to stories and research connected to our conversation with Ellen Gabriel and Anne Spice. This is the end of season one for “Don’t Call Me Resilient.” If you like the podcast, please submit a review and share your experience and insights. </p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient is a production of The Conversation Canada. This podcast was produced with a grant for Journalism Innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The series is produced and hosted by me, Vinita Srivastava. Our producers are Nahid Buie, Latifa Abdin and Nehal El-Hadi with additional editorial help from our intern Ibrahim Daair. Reza Dahya is our technical producer and sound guru. Anowa Quarcoo is in charge of marketing and production design. Lisa Varano is our audience development editor and Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada. Special thanks also to Jennifer Moroz for her indispensable help on this project. And if you’re wondering who wrote and performed the music we use on the pod, that’s the amazing Zaki Ibrahim. The track is called Something in the Water.</em> </p>
<p>Thanks for listening, everyone, and hope you join us again. Until next time. I am Vinita. And please don’t call me resilient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Indigenous land defenders: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 6 transcript.
Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me Resilient
Ibrahim Daair, Culture + Society Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/154921
2021-03-10T17:33:20Z
2021-03-10T17:33:20Z
Logging company clears Cree Nation ancestral trail without recourse
<p>Last summer, a logging company cleared approximately 1,200 metres of an Indigenous ancestral trail in <a href="https://www.bigstone.ca/">Bigstone Cree Nation</a> territory, <a href="http://treaty8.bc.ca/treaty-8-accord/">Treaty No. 8 region</a> (northern Alberta), in spite of government regulations in place to protect land. </p>
<p>As an ancient archeological site, the trail should have been protected by the <a href="https://open.alberta.ca/publications/h09">Alberta Historical Resource Act</a>. A <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/historic-resource-impact-assessment.aspx">Historical Resource Impact Assessment</a> should have been conducted to assess the site’s protected value. </p>
<p>The logging company, Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., conducted a “desktop” assessment. But no one physically visited the area, and the assessment missed identifying the trail. </p>
<p>The trail is a valued cultural place, as the Bigstone Cree Nation Lands Department repeatedly informed Alberta-Pacific. Darren Decoine, the Bigstone Lands Department GIS technician, repeatedly requested detailed maps of the logging plans from Alberta-Pacific, but he says they were never provided. The company is supposed to provide shapefiles (maps in raw data form) that the First Nation can overlay with their own data about traditional land use to see if any sites might be damaged. </p>
<p>The trail, which travels from Chipewyan Lake to the Wabasca River is often called the Hudson’s Bay Trail in English (many trails get called HBC trails). But that name is a misnomer, and the original sakaw nehiyawewin (Northern Bush Cree) name for it is awatasooskenow. Elders say the trail, which became an important transportation route between Bigstone settlements, camps and the river, predates the arrival of HBC fur traders. In the 1900s, there was a trading post on the river and people would haul freight on the trail.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A trail surrounded by green trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385398/original/file-20210221-21-e3wh7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385398/original/file-20210221-21-e3wh7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385398/original/file-20210221-21-e3wh7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385398/original/file-20210221-21-e3wh7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385398/original/file-20210221-21-e3wh7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385398/original/file-20210221-21-e3wh7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385398/original/file-20210221-21-e3wh7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Part of the trail is still intact.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Darren Decoine/Bigstone Cree Nation)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Deforestation</h2>
<p><a href="https://northlandforestproducts.com/">Northland Forest Products Ltd.</a> is actively logging in Bigstone Cree Nation’s traditional territory, as the largest timber company contracted under Alberta-Pacific’s <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/forest-management-agreements.aspx">Forest Management Agreement</a> area. Alberta-Pacific is the point of contact for the community and it assumes a large share of the forest management responsibility with government oversight.</p>
<p>In 1999, Alberta-Pacific funded and published a <a href="http://www.barbau.ca/content/kituskeenow-traditional-land-use-and-occupancy-study-bigstone-cree-first-nation">Bigstone Cree Nation land and occupancy study</a>, and the trail is clearly marked on all base maps and in a specific section on traditional trails. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385399/original/file-20210221-17-hfzhqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map of Bigstone cultural trails, as depicted in a study funded by Alberta-Pacific.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Bigstone Cree Nation, 1999. Kituskeenow: Cultural Land-use and Occupancy Study. Arctic Institute of North America of the University of Calgary.)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in 2007, Bigstone Cree Nation erected large, clear signs that mark the trail at its intersection with the Alberta-Pacific logging road. The portion of the trail that has been recently logged is right behind one of the signs that read: “Husdon’s Bay Trail. Heavy equipment not permitted.” The logging company’s machinery operations would have had to drive off of the Alberta-Pacific logging road and around the sign to be able to log the trail. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign that says Hudson Bay Trail by green trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385393/original/file-20210221-19-1cq86iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385393/original/file-20210221-19-1cq86iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385393/original/file-20210221-19-1cq86iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385393/original/file-20210221-19-1cq86iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385393/original/file-20210221-19-1cq86iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385393/original/file-20210221-19-1cq86iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385393/original/file-20210221-19-1cq86iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sign marking the intersection of the trail and Alberta-Pacific logging road.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Darren Decoine/Bigstone Cree Nation)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ancestral territory</h2>
<p>In 2007, Bigstone Cree Nation environmental monitors, including Elder Helen Noskiye and some of her siblings, directed a traditional land use assessment for Shell Oil’s proposed oilsands operations in the area. I was part of the team that hiked and monitored the trail at that time. Over a couple of weeks, we recorded at least 20 adjoining cultural places. I am currently part of a team of scientists that continues to collaborate with members of Bigstone Cree Nation on <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/university-calgary-bigstone-cree-nation-hunters-moose-1.5456077">food sovereignty and contamination research</a>.</p>
<p>Noskiye’s stories became central to the research because the trail is on her trapline. She grew up in the area that the trail transects and regularly travelled the trail by horseback. The area is part of her ancestral territory and it is where she and her relatives have always collected food and medicine. Her family camps there every summer in memory of her parents. When Noskiye found a significant portion of the trail logged in September 2020, she described the experience as akin to having her “skin peeled.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385423/original/file-20210221-21764-1l1va52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385423/original/file-20210221-21764-1l1va52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385423/original/file-20210221-21764-1l1va52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385423/original/file-20210221-21764-1l1va52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385423/original/file-20210221-21764-1l1va52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385423/original/file-20210221-21764-1l1va52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385423/original/file-20210221-21764-1l1va52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Area of trail that has been logged.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Darren Decoine/Bigstone Cree Nation)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the reasons that traditional trails are revered in sakâwiyiniwak (Northern Bush Cree) life is that trails link people and places. This means that ancient, ceremonial, camping and harvesting sites are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315648468_Walking_the_Land_Aboriginal_Trails_Cultural_Landscapes_and_Archaeological_Studies_for_Impact_Assessment">all joined by trails.</a>People care for and tend to trails as they do berry and medicine patches, and seasonal fishing and hunting camps. </p>
<p>Now the camp where Noskiye grew up, along with a berry patch that she and a group of women actively tended to, has been destroyed. People from this area have a strong preference for, and their identity linked to, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/berry-patches-bears-oil-sands-in-boreal-forest-janelle/id1453126311?i=1000472785877">consuming traditional foods</a> and speaking their language. </p>
<h2>Need to consult</h2>
<p>Indigenous cultural heritage sites are assigned the same level of protection as all other site types like burials, ceremonial sites and cabins as classified by <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/heritage-conservation-protection.aspx">Alberta Heritage Conservation and Protection</a>. They are categorized as Historical Resource Value 4C. </p>
<p>The need for consultation with First Nations and Métis communities and traditional land-use assessment for any proposed development is backed up by the <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/indigenous-consultations-in-alberta.aspx">Government of Alberta’s consultation policies</a>. </p>
<p>Laura Golebiowski, who works as an Aboriginal consultation adviser for the Alberta Historic Resources Management Branch, has been working with Bigstone Cree Nation to record and protect cultural sites.</p>
<p>She said: “Technically, there are punitive measures in the <a href="https://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/h09.pdf">Historical Resources Act</a> should a person contravene the act and damage, disturb or destroy historical resources. They can include a fine of not more than $50,000 or imprisonment (maximum one year), or both.” </p>
<p>But these measures have yet to be enacted over any First Nations cultural site. If a community wants to pursue charges under the Historical Resources Act, it has to contact the RCMP to begin the process. The <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/culture-multiculturalism-and-status-of-women.aspx">Ministry of Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women</a> does not determine if an offence has occurred and whether or not charges should be laid. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/ca/podcasts">Click here to listen to Don’t Call Me Resilient</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bigstone Cree Nation’s land is on the west side of the Athabasca River and on top of the Athabasca oilsands deposit. The community has repeatedly been left out of Alberta’s decision-making about natural resource extraction. </p>
<p>The lack of recourse for clear violations of the Heritage Act is a deep insult, especially as all leaders have been provided with clear calls to action for participating in the <a href="http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation</a> process. </p>
<p>Bigstone Cree Nation members continue to do the heavy lifting by monitoring company activities, and trying to protect treaty rights. They increasingly design and manage environmental research based on the Indigenous wisdom that they can trust.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janelle Marie Baker receives funding from Athabasca University, the Social Sciences, Humanities and Research Council of Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada.</span></em></p>
Part of an Indigenous ancestral trail was cleared by a logging company last summer, despite it being a protected cultural site under Alberta law.
Janelle Marie Baker, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Athabasca University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/156632
2021-03-10T17:32:48Z
2021-03-10T17:32:48Z
Indigenous land defenders: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 6
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388629/original/file-20210309-15-1qyqt6v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C455%2C4845%2C2870&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs perform a round dance at a blockade at a CN Rail line just west of Edmonton on Feb. 19, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/65e610f9-842e-4091-b314-c985dc941f17?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, we take a look at land rights and some of the people on the front lines of these battles. These are the land defenders fighting to protect land against invasive development. Both our guests have stood up to armed forces to protect land.</p>
<p>Their work is about protecting the environment. But it is much more than that: it is <a href="https://medium.com/asparagus-magazine/wetsuweten-gidimten-unistoten-pipeline-land-defenders-protectors-protest-arrest-4c5613f809c5">fundamentally about survival</a> and about the right to live openly on what is stolen land.</p>
<p>Ellen Gabriel has been resisting land encroachment for 31 years. She was at the centre of the 1990 Kanehsatake resistance, (known as the Oka crisis), a 78-day standoff <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/secretlifeofcanada">to protect ancestral Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) land</a> in Québec.</p>
<p>It was a moment in history that many say helped wake them up to Indigenous issues. </p>
<p>Anne Spice is a professor of geography and history at Ryerson University. Anne, who is Tlingit from Kwanlin Dun First Nation, was recently on the front lines in the defence of Wet'suwet'en land. After she was arrested on Wet'suwet'en territory last year, a viral video showed the RCMP pointing a gun at the land defenders. </p>
<p>Anne can be heard shouting, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/wet-suwet-en-video-rcmp-rifle-1.5463547">we are unarmed and we are peaceful</a>. </p>
<p>These are the moments that capture our collective attention. But Ellen and Anne’s work goes well beyond what the cameras show. </p>
<p>For a full transcript of this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-land-defenders-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-6-transcript-156633">go here</a>.</p>
<p>Every week, we highlight articles that drill down into the topics we discuss in the episode. </p>
<h2>This week:</h2>
<ul>
<li><p>Janelle Baker tells us how <a href="https://theconversation.com/logging-company-clears-cree-nations-ancestral-trail-without-recourse-154921">the Bigstone Cree First Nation in northern Alberta is resisting logging companies operating on traditional lands</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/blockadia-helped-cancel-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-and-could-change-mainstream-environmentalism-155276">‘Blockadia’ helped cancel the Keystone XL pipeline — and could change mainstream environmentalism</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>In case you missed it:</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/wetsuweten-why-are-indigenous-rights-being-defined-by-an-energy-corporation-130833">Wet'suwet'en: Why are Indigenous rights being defined by an energy corporation?</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-the-land-how-one-indigenous-community-is-beating-the-odds-81540">Back to the land: How one Indigenous community is beating the odds</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/clearing-the-plains-continues-with-the-acquittal-of-gerald-stanley-91628">‘Clearing the plains’ continues with the acquittal of Gerald Stanley</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/journalists-covering-indigenous-peoples-in-renewable-energy-should-focus-on-context-and-truth-not-click-bait-122760">Journalists covering Indigenous Peoples in renewable energy should focus on context and truth, not click-bait</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-from-history-indigenous-womens-activism-in-saskatchewan-103279">Hidden from history: Indigenous women’s activism in Saskatchewan</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/law-professor-put-on-trial-for-trespassing-on-familys-ancestral-lands-114065">Law professor put on trial for ‘trespassing’ on family’s ancestral lands</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/historical-lawsuit-affirms-indigenous-laws-on-par-with-canadas-109711">Historical lawsuit affirms Indigenous laws on par with Canada’s</a> </p></li>
</ul>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"390871580672135168"}"></div></p>
<h2>Resources:</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://medium.com/asparagus-magazine/wetsuweten-gidimten-unistoten-pipeline-land-defenders-protectors-protest-arrest-4c5613f809c5">The Wet'suwet'en aren’t just protecting ‘the environment’</a>,
by Anne Spice.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/ellen-gabriel-on-the-30th-anniversary-of-the-1990-oka-crisis">Ellen Gabriel on the 30th anniversary of the 1990 ‘Oka Crisis’</a>, by Ellen Gabriel.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/18/day-after-protestsinnewbrunswickfiresstillburn.html">Fires still burn after shale gas protests in New Brunswick</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/film/kanehsatake_270_years_of_resistance">Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance</a></em>, Alanis Obomsawin, 1993.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>You can listen or subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<p><em>This podcast is produced by The Conversation with a grant for Journalism Innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</em> </p>
<p><em>It is hosted and produced by Vinita Srivastava. The producers are: Nahid Buie, Ibrahim Daair, Anowa Quarcoo, Latifa Abdin, Vicky Mochama, Nehal El-Hadi. Sound engineer: Reza Dahya. Audience development: Lisa Varano.</em></p>
<p><em>Theme music by <a href="https://sixshooterrecords.com/artists/zaki-ibrahim/">Zaki Ibrahim</a>. Logo by Zoe Jazz. Saniya Rashid is our research assistant supported by MITACS. Our CEO is Scott White. Thanks to Jennifer Moroz and Haley Lewis for their advice. Launch team: Imriel Morgan/<a href="https://contentisqueen.org/">Content is Queen</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In this episode of our podcast, we take a look at Indigenous land rights and the people on the frontlines of these battles.
Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me Resilient
Anowa Quarcoo, Assistant Editor, Audience Development
Ibrahim Daair, Culture + Society Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147734
2020-10-12T12:22:46Z
2020-10-12T12:22:46Z
Indigenous Peoples Day comes amid a reckoning over colonialism and calls for return of Native land
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362696/original/file-20201009-15-ydyyb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2015%2C1508&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Native American protesters at the Black Hills, now the site of Mount Rushmore.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/native-american-protesters-and-supporters-gather-at-the-news-photo/1224709994?adppopup=true">Micah Garen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In many parts of what is now the United States, communities have in recent years replaced Columbus Day with <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/10/14/769083847/columbus-day-or-indigenous-peoples-day">Indigenous Peoples Day</a>.</p>
<p>Celebrating Indigenous cultures every October is important. But in this moment when the U.S. is reckoning with <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/program/fault-lines/2020/9/23/moment-of-reckoning-racism-and-police-in-america/">legacies of racism </a>and <a href="https://theconversation.com/statues-topple-and-a-catholic-church-burns-as-california-reckons-with-its-spanish-colonial-past-142809">colonialism</a>, many Indigenous nations call for something more – the <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/509544-after-250-years-native-american-tribe-regains-ancestral">return of ancestral lands</a>.</p>
<p>Having spoken to Native Americans activists, leaders and community members in the course of my research into sacred sites protection movements, I understand that land is often the center of Indigenous life. It is not just where people live, but a site of complex relationships among humans, waters, plants, animals and spiritual beings. This is why the famous Standing Rock Sioux scholar and activist Vine Deloria Jr. <a href="https://fulcrum.bookstore.ipgbook.com/god-is-red-products-9781555914981.php">wrote</a> “American Indians hold their lands – places – as having the highest possible meaning, and all their statements are made with this reference point in mind.” </p>
<h2>Stolen lands</h2>
<p>In my research with California Bay Area <a href="https://kanyonkonsulting.com/contemporary-ohlone-history/">Ohlone tribes</a>, I have learned how land is central to identity and culture. Even in highly urbanized places like San Francisco and Oakland, Ohlone people have talked to me about how the land still holds meaning.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://thecollege.syr.edu/people/graduate-students/abel-gomez/">non-Indigenous Latino scholar</a>, I have also been challenged to continually reimagine those places – and the continent as a whole – as Indigenous land. Like many people in the U.S., my education growing up taught me to think about Indigenous peoples in the past tense – looking at their history and not their contemporary experiences. </p>
<p>This reimagining is necessary given important U.S. policies related to Indigenous lands. Laws such as the <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/indian-removal-act#:%7E:text=The%20Indian%20Removal%20Act%20was,many%20resisted%20the%20relocation%20policy.">Indian Removal Act of 1830</a> worked to displace tribes from their homelands into “Indian Territory” in Oklahoma. This law intended to open lands for non-Native settlers. </p>
<p>Such is the context of the <a href="https://www.cherokeemuseum.org/archives/era/trail-of-tears">Trail of Tears</a>, the forced removal of the Cherokee and other tribal nations from their homelands to reservations in the 1830s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362801/original/file-20201011-13-10lsr9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362801/original/file-20201011-13-10lsr9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362801/original/file-20201011-13-10lsr9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362801/original/file-20201011-13-10lsr9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362801/original/file-20201011-13-10lsr9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362801/original/file-20201011-13-10lsr9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362801/original/file-20201011-13-10lsr9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1911 poster advertising ‘Indian land’ for sale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poster_2013-08-14_08-45.jpg">WikiMedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similar policies are found in the <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=50">Allotment Act of 1887</a>, which sought to dissolve communally held reservation lands into individual allotments. After allotments were granted, the “excess land” was sold to white settlers. Tribes lost <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/1900-allotment-act/#:%7E:text=Congress%20passed%20the%20General%20Allotment,land%20into%20parcels%2C%20in%201887.&text=Before%20the%20General%20Allotment%20Act,two%2Dthirds%20of%20their%20land.">90 million acres as a result</a>. </p>
<p>Some policies sought to take away land through less explicit means. These include the establishment of <a href="https://americanindian.si.edu/education/codetalkers/html/chapter3.html">Indian boarding schools</a> that worked to assimilate tribal youth. Native children were forcibly taken from their homes to assimilate them. Many suffered <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/traumatic-legacy-indian-boarding-schools/584293/">physical, sexual and psychological abuse</a>.</p>
<p>Other policies like the <a href="https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/11/01/uprooted-the-1950s-plan-to-erase-indian-country">Indian Relocation Act of 1956</a> worked to assimilate Native peoples by encouraging them to move to major cities.</p>
<p>This last policy ended up backfiring significantly. Instead of assimilating, Native peoples in urban spaces eventually joined forces to create the <a href="https://libguides.mnhs.org/aim">American Indian Movement</a> in 1968. This intertribal political movement sought to protect tribal lands, stop police brutality and hold the U.S. government accountable to treaty agreements with tribal nations. </p>
<h2>Beyond acknowledgments</h2>
<p>In recent years many institutions in the U.S. have attempted to recognize the wrongs done to Indigenous peoples. For example, some organizations, universities and businesses have issued <a href="https://nativegov.org/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/">land acknowledgments</a> – brief statements that mention the Indigenous peoples of the land where the institution operates.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://thecollege.syr.edu/land-acknowledgement/">land acknowledgment at Syracuse University</a>, where I work, is typical of such statements:</p>
<p>“The Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences would like to acknowledge with respect the Onondaga Nation, firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, the indigenous peoples on whose ancestral lands Syracuse University now stands.”</p>
<p>These statements work to bring awareness to Indigenous lands and peoples. They can also be a first step toward solidarity between Native and non-Native peoples. Leaders like Corrina Gould of the Bay Area’s <a href="https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/lisjan-history-and-territory/">Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone</a> encourage institutions to take this further. “Land acknowledgment must begin with a relationship with the people on whose land you are on,” she said at a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOEfnzq-MXI&feature=youtu.be">workshop</a> in San Francisco. “And I think the next step I’m looking for is, how do we now live in reciprocity with one another on our homelands?” </p>
<p>Indigenous leaders also call for the return of land. The social media hashtag campaign #LandBack addresses this directly. Forbes writer Michela Moscufo <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelamoscufo/2020/09/29/for-these-indigenous-artists-land-back-is-both-a-political-message-and-a-fundraising-opportunity/#531e43a46c9c">traces the origins</a> of the campaign to Indigenous activists’ critique of the ways Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has handled pipelines through First Nations territories. Moscufo also notes that the phase “Land Back” has been used in the U.S. as well.</p>
<p>This has included <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/native-americans-blocked-road-to-mount-rushmore-before-trump-speech-2020-7">protests by Lakota peoples</a> and allies during a July 4, 2020 visit by then-President Trump to Mount Rushmore. The site is part of the Black Hills, a sacred place to the Lakota that was taken by U.S. forces after gold was discovered in 1874, a violation of the 1868 <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=42">Treaty of Fort Laramie</a>. </p>
<h2>Resistance at the U.S./Mexico border</h2>
<p>The phrase “Land Back” has also been invoked in resistance to the construction of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Tribal nations whose territories exist along this border such as the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-12/kumeyaay-band-seeks-federal-injunction-to-halt-construction-of-border-wall">Kumeyaay</a> in California, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/story/tohono-oodham-nation-arizona-tribe/582487001/">Tohono O'odham</a> in Arizona, and others are active in protesting against its construction. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CDA7d3ujPFp","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>In 2020, two Kumeyaay <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2020-09-22/two-arrested-border-patrol-wall-camp-kumeyaay">activists were arrested</a> while protesting the wall construction. The San Diego Tribune reported that activists were part of “Camp Land Back,” which began in August to protest the wall. Kumeyaay leaders have voiced concerns that the construction of the wall will disrupt ancestral lands, especially sacred and burial sites. On the Instagram page @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kumeyaaydefenseagainstthewall/">kumeyaaydefenseagainstthewall</a>, the campaign describes itself as a “Small indigenous initiative that is rooted in prayer to defend Kumeyaay lands and people.”</p>
<h2>Expanding Indigenous Peoples Day</h2>
<p>The Yellowhead Institute, a Canadian First Nations-led research center, <a href="https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org">describes “land back”</a> as being about “reclaiming Indigenous jurisdiction” and “breathing life into rights and responsibilities.” </p>
<p>As Indigenous peoples the world over continue to defend ancestral lands, Indigenous Peoples Day can have important meaning, more than just the renaming of a national holiday. It is an invitation to contend with the impacts of colonialism and the wrongful appropriation of Indigenous lands.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147734/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abel R. Gomez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Renaming a national holiday to celebrate Native culture is one thing, but many Indigenous peoples are looking for greater recognition of the land grab that deprived them of ancestral homes.
Abel R. Gomez, PhD Candidate, Religion Department, Syracuse University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147674
2020-10-08T04:46:43Z
2020-10-08T04:46:43Z
What are message sticks? Senator Lidia Thorpe continues a long and powerful diplomatic tradition
<p>This week, newly appointed <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/lidia-thorpe-sworn-in-as-the-first-aboriginal-victorian-senator">Greens senator Lidia Thorpe</a> entered the chamber with one fist raised. In her other hand, she carried a large message stick with 441 carefully painted marks. </p>
<p>The lines represented each of the First Nations <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/20/national-emergency-urgent-leadership-needed-after-fifth-aboriginal-death-in-custody-since-june">people who have died under police supervision</a> since the 1991 Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody. The first Indigenous senator from Victoria, Thorpe is a Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman with a history of fighting for justice on behalf of Aboriginal people.</p>
<p>Last year, Alwyn Doolan, a Gooreng Gooreng and Wakka Wakka man (and co-author of this article) <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-24/man-walks-8000km-to-deliver-reconciliation-message-to-canberra/11141742">brought three message sticks</a> to deliver to the Prime Minister representing Creation, Colonisation and Healing.</p>
<p>He carried them to Canberra all the way from Cape York, walking the long way round via Tasmania and Melbourne in a journey of over 8,500 kilometres. His intention was to submit a tribal law notice to the Australian government, to declare First Nations sovereignty, and open a new dialogue with the First Nations of this land.</p>
<p>These two events continue a powerful pre-Invasion tradition, when <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1359183519858375">message sticks</a> were sent between distant communities to maintain diplomatic relations. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lidia-thorpe-wants-to-shift-course-on-indigenous-recognition-heres-why-we-must-respect-the-uluru-statement-141609">Lidia Thorpe wants to shift course on Indigenous recognition. Here's why we must respect the Uluru Statement</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Treacherous journeys</h2>
<p>Traditionally, the Nation sending the message would appoint an individual to serve as a messenger to travel vast distances across land or water to meet a recipient. The sticks were small enough to carry a long way. Many of the signs on the stick had fixed meanings while others were intended to be decorative. </p>
<p>Colours such as red ochre or white pipe-clay also added meaning, and even the type of timber had significance. Along with the message, they might also tell a story of where the messenger had come from, depicting the journey as a map. </p>
<p>When the messenger made contact with the intended recipient, they would deliver the message verbally, referring to the signs on the stick to both illustrate and emphasise a memorised oral statement.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A collection of Indigenous message sticks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362314/original/file-20201008-24-oqf7o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Message sticks held at the British Museum, circa 1950.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nla.gov.au:443/tarkine/nla.obj-138157791">NLA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Messengers were often men but in some regions women were known to take on this role. If you were a messenger you had a huge responsibility for your own people, and those from other nations were obliged to recognise you as an ambassador, to look after you and guarantee a safe passage.</p>
<p>Message sticks could be on any topic, but what they always had in common was the fact they demanded acknowledgement and mutual respect. They were often announcements about ceremonies, such as initiations or funerals. They could also be for establishing political partnerships, requesting emergency assistance, declaring war, organising hunting, or trading vital resources.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-lessons-from-stone-indigenous-thinking-and-the-law-122617">Friday essay: lessons from stone – Indigenous thinking and the Law</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Messengers would set out on foot, sometimes journeying for days or weeks on end. The mission was dangerous. There are over 500 First Nations within Australia and crossing into a foreign territory without permission could be punishable by death. But envoys had diplomatic immunity and their message stick was a bit like a passport in the modern sense. </p>
<p>In order to show peaceful intentions, they displayed the message stick clearly from a safe distance. A common technique was to hang it from the tip of a spear or to tuck it into a headband. Body paint could also be used to signal a special status.</p>
<p>Some past anthropologists held that only “civilised” nations could be seen to possess writing, so downplayed the value of message sticks as communication. Others saw them as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2842145">precursors</a> to alphabetic script or letters.</p>
<p>Message sticks have even been sent through the mail service. During the second world war, an Indigenous soldier sent a message stick home to his family through the military post, once it had been approved by a <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/75888536">mystified government censor</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Indigenous message stick shows marks and an image of a tall ship." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=174&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=174&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=174&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362333/original/file-20201008-18-1m3oigw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tall ship can be seen on this message stick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.britishmuseum.org/media/Repository/Documents/2014_11/11_9/adeb6781_9ba8_495a_b4cd_a3e000a0d4cc/mid_01572466_001.jpg">© The Trustees of the British Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Carrying meaning</h2>
<p>Australia’s First Nations have always been connected through shared kinship systems, histories, Dreamings, values and symbols. This is why the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1359183519858375">signs on message sticks</a> frequently depict common points of reference with rich cultural associations — like landscapes, totemic animals, and ceremonial grounds — that wouldn’t require explanation. </p>
<p>As Indigenous people began to encounter new phenomena like ships, livestock and homesteads these were symbolised on message sticks. Individuals had signatures to guarantee the message came from them and would be addressed to the correct person. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/43834536/A_very_short_reading_guide_to_research_on_Australian_message_sticks">Shared understandings</a> helped ensure a message could be correctly interpreted, even when a messenger was not available to explain it. </p>
<p>In some places, white settlers learned from First Nations peoples how to make message sticks and used them to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2842145">facilitate diplomatic communications</a> with communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-coins-celebrate-indigenous-astronomy-the-stars-and-the-dark-spaces-between-them-145923">New coins celebrate Indigenous astronomy, the stars, and the dark spaces between them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Political messages</h2>
<p>During the period of colonial dispossession, First Nations people have introduced adaptations and innovations. They began to make use of non-native timbers and took advantage of iron tools.</p>
<p>Message sticks also began featuring Western symbols. Alphabet letters, playing card suits and police insignias have been used sparingly. And from the middle of the 20th century, Indigenous envoys began to bring message sticks to government leaders. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/356710561" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Alwyn Doolan walked the entire east coast of Australia to deliver three message sticks to Canberra.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1951, Indigenous men <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230765279?searchTerm=menzies%20message%20stick">sent a message stick</a> to Robert Menzies to solidify an alliance between the Tiwi islands and Canberra. Gough Whitlam <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136986866">received one in 1974</a> demanding land rights, and Bob Hawke <a href="https://amsd.clld.org/contributions/amsd_00627">was given one in 1983</a>. </p>
<p>Yolŋu leaders <a href="https://newmatilda.com/2018/04/09/yolnu-leader-gives-prince-charles-treaty-letter-stick-diplomatic-middle-finger/">gave Prince Charles</a> a message stick in 2018 during his visit to Yirrkala, asking him to intervene in Treaty negotiations. </p>
<p>When Alwyn Doolan brought his message sticks to Scott Morrison last year — after a gruelling journey — the Prime Minister defied precedent by <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2019/08/16/prime-minister-declines-meet-message-stick-walker-after-8500km-journey">declining to meet with him</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Piers Kelly receives funding in the form of a research fellowship from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wunyungar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Pre-Invasion, message sticks were sent between distant communities to maintain diplomatic relations. They demanded acknowledgement and mutual respect.
Piers Kelly, Linguistic anthropologist, University of New England
Wunyungar, Indigenous knowledge bearer, Indigenous Knowledge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145158
2020-09-09T20:10:44Z
2020-09-09T20:10:44Z
Six Nations Land Defenders in Caledonia reveal hypocrisy of Canada’s land acknowledgements
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357271/original/file-20200909-20-1xkv9qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=66%2C18%2C1325%2C753&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This dispute over land in Caledonia is complex and builds on 500 years of colonization.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/legal-fund-1492-land-back-lane">(1492 Land Back Lane Legal Fund)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This summer, Land Defenders from Six Nations occupied a disputed tract of land in Caledonia, an hour south of Toronto. <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/08/30/bitter-land-dispute-results-in-blockade-on-six-nations-in-caledonia.html">The dispute</a> about a proposed real estate development escalated to a standoff between the government and the Six Nations Land Defenders. <a href="https://theturtleislandnews.com/index.php/2020/08/06/nine-arrested-rubber-bullets-fired-six-nations-takes-land-back-at-housing-development-site/">The Ontario Provincial Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the Land Defenders</a>. </p>
<p>Six Nations people, however, say they need the land for their own growing population. <a href="https://www.iheartradio.ca/610cktb/audio/one-dish-one-mic-skylar-williams-from-1492-landback-lane-august-23rd-2020-1.13296677?mode=Article">They have renamed the tract “1492 Land Back Lane.”</a> They say the <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/videos/explaining-the-1492-land-back-lane-camp-and-agreements-made/">band council does not represent them</a>. The land is part of an ongoing dispute, which <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/videos/mohawk-lawyer-explains-the-1492-land-back-lane-camp/">is complex</a> and builds on 500 years of colonization. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1301645327984885767"}"></div></p>
<h2>Land rights and land acknowledgements</h2>
<p>Everyone in Canada has heard or said a land acknowledgement at some point. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/canadas-land-acknowledgments-draw-criticism--from-the-indigenous-peoples-theyre-supposed-to-honor/2019/07/25/8479ab14-accd-11e9-9411-a608f9d0c2d3_story.html">Many institutions say a land acknowledgement at the opening of their event: from schools to sports leagues to the office of the prime minister of Canada</a>. And they are becoming increasingly widespread in the United States. </p>
<p>What is the point of Canadians saying land acknowledgements <em>ad infinitum</em> if Indigenous Peoples’ land is still being taken from them? </p>
<p>They are everywhere, but don’t mean anything. </p>
<p>The disputes <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2020/08/26/no-small-task-to-remove-occupiers-from-caledonia-construction-site-police-say.html">between Haldimand County, Ontario and Haudenosaunee Six Nations activists</a> highlight these land acknowledgements. How effective are they to remind citizens of Canada’s colonial history and of the history of Indigenous-settler relations? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-the-land-walking-the-talk-of-indigenous-land-acknowledgements-125369">Learning the Land: Walking the talk of Indigenous Land acknowledgements</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Land rights and history</h2>
<p>My research examines <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2017.1409590">how Canadians learn citizenship</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.25158/L8.2.2">how newcomers are taught citizenship in ways that erase Indigenous rights</a>. </p>
<p>Canada and the United States are both built on a continent taken from its people by <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/chapter-2/they-have-stolen-our-lands">coercive theft</a>, <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/colonial-genocide-in-indigenous-north-america">genocide</a> and <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/colonial-lives-of-property">forcible sale</a>. Indigenous Peoples have been living on this land for thousands of years. They are not part of the past but are living in the present. The Indigenous Peoples living today are survivors of colonization.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An areal view of a highway blockade over Grand River." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357263/original/file-20200909-14-sq3f55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357263/original/file-20200909-14-sq3f55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357263/original/file-20200909-14-sq3f55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357263/original/file-20200909-14-sq3f55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357263/original/file-20200909-14-sq3f55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357263/original/file-20200909-14-sq3f55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357263/original/file-20200909-14-sq3f55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dispute in Grand River is not new. This is a 2006 image from an Indigenous blockade of Highway 6 over Grand River in Caledonia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(GSMacLean)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The main point of land acknowledgements is to teach us that this land is theirs, and <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/gyajj4/who-is-a-settler-according-to-indigenous-and-black-scholars">non-Indigenous</a> people have responsibilities in sharing it. </p>
<h2>Land acknowledgement teachings</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/328403.The_Production_of_Space">Our relationship with Canada as a nation has at least three layers</a>: the stories we associate with Canada, the symbols that represent Canada and the practices we view as normal to a Canadian. Land acknowledgements teach us different lessons about all three. </p>
<p>Land acknowledgements remind Canadians that we have been taught deadly untruths. The long-standing official history and stories of Canada have been told as if the place was an empty land that John Cabot “discovered” and pioneers populated. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bridge with the graffiti, 'This is Indian Land' over a river." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357300/original/file-20200909-16-1h44byw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357300/original/file-20200909-16-1h44byw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357300/original/file-20200909-16-1h44byw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357300/original/file-20200909-16-1h44byw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357300/original/file-20200909-16-1h44byw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357300/original/file-20200909-16-1h44byw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357300/original/file-20200909-16-1h44byw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘This Is Indian land’ is written across a bridge at Garden River First Nation, 2005.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:This_Is_Indian_land_1.JPG">(Fungus Guy/Wikimedia)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many Canadian symbols still revere colonial settler violence that continues to cost lives. John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, intentionally starved Indigenous people and founded Indian residential schools, but was featured on Canada’s $10 bill up until 2018. </p>
<p>Schools named after him and statues of him still abound across Canada. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/defund-police-protest-black-lives-matter-1.5705101">One such statue was recently pulled down</a> at an anti-racist protest. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/european-colonisation-of-the-americas-killed-10-of-world-population-and-caused-global-cooling-110549">European colonisation of the Americas killed 10% of world population and caused global cooling</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Land acknowledgements remind us that our practices on this land cannot continue to be settler business as usual, which has been an incessant taking of land for development through the means of Canadian law. </p>
<p>Instead, we need <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2020/08/24/statement-from-concerned-haudenosaunee-women-regarding-injunctions-at-1492-land-back-lane/">land restitution</a>. We need to draw on <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-things-will-outlast-us-how-the-indigenous-concept-of-deep-time-helps-us-understand-environmental-destruction-132201">Indigenous knowledge to restore the environmental balance</a>. </p>
<p>Land acknowledgements carry teachings of a different story of Canada. With this more accurate story of Canada, Canadian imagination, symbols and practices cannot remain the same. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-SFcgtcUTjs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The case against Sir John A. Macdonald — and the case for him.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Colonialism is in the present</h2>
<p>Many Canadians point to reconciliation and land acknowledgements as ways of assuaging the conflict they feel about Canada’s origins. But reconciliation has become another version of colonial control, saying the words but not doing the actions. </p>
<p>Some Indigenous thinkers characterize the current land acknowledgements as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/redrawing-the-lines-1.4973363/i-regret-it-hayden-king-on-writing-ryerson-university-s-territorial-acknowledgement-1.4973371">patronizing, box-checking exercises</a>.</p>
<p>Land acknowledgements have become useful alibis for some who think the work of reconciliation and rebuilding relationships with Indigenous people is being done. The 1492 Land Defenders in Caledonia are letting everyone know that land dispossession is still happening right now. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1303669429482520576"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/caledonia-injunction-mckenzie-land-back-1.5698689">Land Defenders spokesperson Skylar Williams is being criminalized</a>. The Six Nations Land Defenders are up against “the rule of law,” a structure that has been set up in Canada as “one everyone needs to respect.” </p>
<p>However, it was the same <a href="https://www.osgoodesociety.ca/book/white-mans-law-native-people-in-nineteenth-century-canadian-jurisprudence/">Canadian rule of law that usurped the land</a>. With clockwork regularity, Canadian law still <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trans-mountain-pipeline-challenge-bc-first-nations-supreme-court-of-canada-1.5634232">rules that Indigenous rights to their lands are secondary to oil and gas development</a>. </p>
<p>A Yellowhead Institute paper on land dispossession says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/red-paper-report-final.pdf">“The infrastructure to ‘legally’ steal our lands is important to understand.”</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Canadian legal system has consistently dispossessed, starved and supported violence towards Indigenous people for several hundred years. </p>
<p>We are past the point of uttering a land acknowledgement and thinking that it’s the end of our responsibilities towards the people on whose land we live. It is time for all Canadians to step up and put into action the teachings of land acknowledgements. </p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published on Sept. 9, 2020. The original story made reference to a 42.3-acre parcel of land. That land was acquired by Six Nations in an agreement and not purchased by the developer as the original story indicated. The earlier story also said Caledonia was north of Toronto, but it is south of Toronto.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy El-Sherif has received funding from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. </span></em></p>
Land Defenders from Six Nations occupied a disputed land to highlight the fact that Canadians have a long way to go when it comes to learning what land acknowledgements are supposed to teach us.
Lucy El-Sherif, PhD candidate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/139646
2020-06-30T20:34:15Z
2020-06-30T20:34:15Z
Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian lands are under greater threat in Brazil during COVID-19
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344826/original/file-20200630-103653-1tqjkpc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=253%2C0%2C4218%2C2588&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are more than 3,600 territories in Brazil that are home to Quilombola, descendants of escaped slaves, but few hold titles to the land.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Elielson Pereira da Silva)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The far right-wing government of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has used the COVID-19 pandemic as a smokescreen to undo environmental regulations and undermine the territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples and traditional Afro-Brazilian communities in the Amazon. </p>
<p>The strategy of the Bolsonaro’s government and its allies in congress is very clear: to take 9.8 million hectares from Indigenous and traditional territories in the Amazon to seize more land for agribusiness. </p>
<p>These actions pose an existential threat to Indigenous Peoples and others living in communities in the Amazon, as the new policies would effectively disintegrate their territories and lead to more deforestation in the coming years. </p>
<h2>Turning crime into legal activities</h2>
<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolsonaro’s government has ushered in a rapid process of dismantling of policies that protect Indigenous and traditional communities. There are 305 Indigenous groups in Brazil and <a href="http://www.funai.gov.br/index.php/indios-no-brasil/terras-indigenas">35 per cent of the territories they claim have not been recognized by the government</a>.</p>
<p>On April 22, the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), the Brazilian government agency that oversees policies relating to Indigenous peoples, introduced <a href="http://www.in.gov.br/web/dou/-/instrucao-normativa-n-9-de-16-de-abril-de-2020-253343033">new guidelines</a> that would encourage land-grabbing of undemarcated Indigenous lands.</p>
<p>On May 12, the so-called “ruralist bench,” a group of wealthy landholders with an important presence in congress, failed to approve a measure (<a href="https://www.camara.leg.br/proposicoesWeb/fichadetramitacao?idProposicao=2233488">MP910</a>) that would have legalized the occupation of Indigenous lands by land-grabbers, usually for the purpose of deforestation, agribusiness or mining.</p>
<p>This temporary victory, the <a href="https://www.congressonacional.leg.br/materias/medidas-provisorias/-/mpv/140116">result of public pressure</a>, was overshadowed by the presentation of another proposed bill, with the same intentions, on May 14. </p>
<p>FUNAI and the secretary of land affairs are controlled by two representatives from the ruralist bench. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics-indigenous/brazils-bolsonaro-hands-indigenous-land-decisions-back-to-farm-sector-idUSKCN1TK37O">They have openly opposed</a> agrarian reform and the demarcation of Indigenous lands. They also have acknowledged <a href="https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-49173621">their intentions</a> to undo environmental and Indigenous protections, and are aligned with Bolsonaro who said, “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-election-landrights-deforestat/indigenous-land-culture-at-stake-in-brazil-election-experts-idUSKCN1N0241">I will not demarcate an extra square centimetre of Indigenous land. Period</a>.”</p>
<p>Environment Minister <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfgv7DLdCqA">Ricardo Salles reiterated this position in April</a>, when he advised Bolsonaro and his cabinet to take advantage of the media’s attention on COVID-19. He argued COVID-19 was an opportunity to “run the cattle herd” through the Amazon, and change “all the rules and simplifying standards” in all the ministries to facilitate agribusiness and mining projects.</p>
<h2>Quilombola Afro-Brazilian territories at risk</h2>
<p>These measures will also have devastating impacts on the 3,658 territories that are home to Quilombola, descendants of escaped slaves. <a href="http://cpisp.org.br/direitosquilombolas/observatorio-terras-quilombolas/?terra_nome=&situacao=0&ano_de=1995&ano_ate=2020&orgao_exp=0">Only 180</a> of them have been fully titled. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339920/original/file-20200604-67347-1g8wapp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339920/original/file-20200604-67347-1g8wapp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339920/original/file-20200604-67347-1g8wapp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339920/original/file-20200604-67347-1g8wapp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339920/original/file-20200604-67347-1g8wapp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339920/original/file-20200604-67347-1g8wapp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339920/original/file-20200604-67347-1g8wapp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A welcome sign outside the Quilombola Nova Betel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Elielson Pereira da Silva)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The plight of the Quilombola under Bolsonaro’s government has received little press. Land conflicts that involved some form of violence, caused by alleged landowners and/or land-grabbers, peaked in 2019. According to data from the <a href="https://www.cptnacional.org.br/component/jdownloads/send/41-conflitos-no-campo-brasil-publicacao/14195-conflitos-no-campo-brasil-2019-web?Itemid=0">Pastoral Land Commission</a>, 13,687 Quilombola families were involved in land conflicts and the lives of 15 leaders were threatened in that year alone. This was the highest number of land conflicts recorded by the commission since 1985.</p>
<p><a href="http://novacartografiasocial.com.br/tag/quilombolas/">Our research</a> shows how the Quilombola community of Nova Betel in the municipality of Tomé-Açu, in the Amazonian state of Pará — as well as <a href="http://www.palmares.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/TABELA-DE-CRQ-COMPLETA-ANALISE.pdf">many Quilombola</a> territories that are not yet demarcated and fully recognized by the Brazilian state — could disappear under Bolsonaro’s government. </p>
<p>Nova Betel contains 1,850 hectares of land, certified in 2016 by Fundação Cultural Palmares (FCP) — the first (and easiest) step on the long path to collective land rights. Despite this, deforestation and land-grabbing have accelerated in Nova Betel since 2007. For example, <a href="https://www.biopalma.com.br/quem-somos">Biopalma da Amazônia S.A</a>, owned by Vale, one of the world’s largest mining companies, has planted palm oil trees in <a href="https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/page.php?page=Session&project=LASA20&id=312419c">75 per cent of Nova Betel’s territory</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339919/original/file-20200604-67351-tqjfw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339919/original/file-20200604-67351-tqjfw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339919/original/file-20200604-67351-tqjfw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339919/original/file-20200604-67351-tqjfw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339919/original/file-20200604-67351-tqjfw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339919/original/file-20200604-67351-tqjfw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339919/original/file-20200604-67351-tqjfw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palm oil plantations in the Quilombola Nova Betel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Elielson Pereira da Silva)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other projects also threaten to take land from the Quilombola community. A <a href="http://novacartografiasocial.com.br/download/mineracao-e-garimpo-em-terras-tradicionalmente-ocupadas-conflitos-sociais-e-mobilizacoes-etnicas/">pipeline</a>, power <a href="http://www2.aneel.gov.br/aplicacoes/siget/arq.cfm?arquivo=35490">transmission line</a> and even a <a href="https://agenciapara.com.br/noticia/16323/">government-proposed railway</a> cut through their territory. Each of these initiatives pushes the Quilombola members towards selling their lands. </p>
<p>Our interviews in May with Quilombola leaders in Nova Betel revealed how employees of the <a href="http://www.tbe.com.br/conteudo_pti.asp?idioma=0&conta=45&tipo=66233">Transmission Company of Energy of Pará S.A (ETEP)</a> pressured eight families to allow a power line to cross through their territory. ETEP offered each family about US$580 as financial compensation, but they refused.</p>
<p>Not only did ETEP violate the Quilombola right to self-determination and prior consultation as enshrined in the International Labour Organization’s <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C169">Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention</a>, but it also breached the health protocols introduced by the community during the pandemic, putting at risk the health of isolated and vulnerable Quilombola families. </p>
<h2>Quilombola lives matter</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://grist.org/article/4-indigenous-leaders-on-what-bolsonaro-means-for-brazil/">racist discourse of the Bolsonaro government</a> together with the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on Quilombola communities in the Amazon. According to the COVID-19 <a href="https://quilombosemcovid19.org">Observatory in Quilombos</a>, a joint initiative of the National Organization for the Coordination of Black Rural Quilombola Communities (CONAQ) and the Socio-Environmental Institute, an independent non-profit civil society organization, the mortality rate among Quilombola is 25.1 per cent, the highest among all social groups within Brazil. </p>
<p>In the states of Pará and Amapá, Quilombola account for 54.9 per cent of COVID-19-verified deaths. The inequality in the fight against COVID-19 caused by historic dynamics of institutional racism will have a devastating impact on Quilombola people if the disease maintains this rate of spread and lethality. </p>
<p>Taking inspiration from the Black Lives Matter movement, CONAQ launched on May 12 the campaign <a href="http://conaq.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CONAQ-24_ANOS-MANIFESTO-VIDAS_QUILOMBOLAS_IMPORTAM.pdf">#Vidas Quilombolas Importam</a> (Quilombola Lives Matter) to condemn the racism against Afro-Brazilians. </p>
<p>Bolsonaro’s government, however, has refused to take urgent measures to safeguard the lives of Quilombola during COVID-19 and to provide protection to their land rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diana Cordoba receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elielson Pereira da Silva does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Jair Bolsonaro’s government has put forward laws that could put Indigenous land into the hands of mining, agricultural and timber businesses.
Elielson Pereira da Silva, Doutorando, Desenvolvimento Socioambiental, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA)
Diana Cordoba, Assistant Professor, Global Development Studies, Queen's University, Ontario
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/132396
2020-03-10T21:44:43Z
2020-03-10T21:44:43Z
Coastal GasLink and Canada’s pension fund colonialism
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318749/original/file-20200304-66060-bk9t4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4500%2C2977&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline set up a support station near Gidimt'en checkpoint near Houston B.C., in January 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the RCMP continue to enforce an injunction in favour of the proposed Coastal GasLink Pipeline, it’s important to ask questions about whose capital is being secured by the ongoing police presence in Wet'suwet'en territories.</p>
<p>The purpose of the pipeline is to produce and accelerate value for investors as it moves gas to export markets. </p>
<p>The Coastal GasLink pipeline and the related exploitation of the <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-gas-oil/petroleum-geoscience/oil-gas-reports/hydrocarbon_western_canadian_sedimentary_basin.pdf">Western Sedimentary Basin</a> that will feed it exist to generate interest income on investments, dividends for shareholders and to otherwise grow the value of the capital invested. The basin encompasses southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories.</p>
<p>The past 20 years of pension securitization in Canada have meant that the retirement savings of Canadian workers have become increasingly dependent on the market value of oil and gas infrastructure, publicly traded oil and gas equities and securities, and the success of the resource economies that sustain them.</p>
<p>It also means income security for working Canadians is increasingly dependent on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/wetsuweten-blockades-no-more-business-as-usual-in-canada-131961">underlying conditions that make these assets valuable</a> — including the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/wet-suwet-en-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-1.5448363">militarized police repression</a> of Indigenous jurisdiction.</p>
<h2>AIMCo bought large interest in pipeline</h2>
<p>On the eve of the British Columbia Superior Court injunction against the Wet’suwet’en First Nation Hereditary Chiefs in favour of Coastal GasLink in late 2019, AIMCo (the Alberta Investment Management Corporation), one of Canada’s largest institutional investment fund managers, <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/aimco-announces-investment-in-tc-energy-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-project-848394253.html">purchased a 65 per cent equity interest, alongside global equity investor KKR, in the pipeline from TC Energy, previously Trans Canada.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.aimco.alberta.ca/">AIMCo</a> manages funds on behalf of several of Alberta’s large public sector pension plans, including the Special Forces, Public Service and Local Authorities pension plans. It will soon manage the nearly $60 billion Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund. </p>
<p>It also manages the investment of government funds, including general revenues, used for education, health care, infrastructure and social programs for Albertans.</p>
<p>British Columbia Investment (BCI) manages B.C.’s large public sector pension funds, including the B.C. Teachers and Public Service pensions. </p>
<p>It has considerable exposure to LNG, including to all five members (Royal Dutch Shell, Petronas, Petro China, Mitsubishi and Korea Gas) of the $40 billion dollar consortium LNG Canada, which owns the terminal intended to liquefy, store and export gas transported by the Coastal GasLink pipeline.</p>
<h2>Billions invested</h2>
<p>The consortium is also backing the pipeline’s construction with up-front cash from recently signed, 25-year transportation service agreements. <a href="https://uberflip.bci.ca/i/1173270-investment-inventory-2019">According to its December 2019 inventory of public equity holdings</a>, BCI has well over a billion dollars of equity invested in Canada’s top Western Sedimentary gas producers, including Canadian Natural Resources, Tourmaline, Encana, Cenovus, Seven Generations Energy, Prairie Sky, Arc and Fortis.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cdpq.com/en">The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)</a> has billions of dollars of exposure to gas companies with interests in the Western Sedimentary Basin and supporting LNG infrastructure. According to its <a href="https://www.cdpq.com/sites/default/files/medias/pdf/en/ra/ra2018_renseignements_add_en.pdf">most recent statement of holdings, these include</a>: Alta Gas ($291 million), Canadian Natural Resources ($479 million), Cenovus ($217 million), Seven Generations, Storm, Tourmaline and Chevron, and more than $600 million invested in TC Energy, which retains a 35 per cent controlling interest in Coastal GasLink. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318752/original/file-20200304-66112-1lq45kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling addresses the company’s annual meeting after shareholders approved a name change to TC Energy in Calgary in May 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These records indicate that as of December 2018, the CDPQ had considerable exposure to LNG Canada Consortium members Korea Gas, Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell.</p>
<p>In Ontario, the Teachers Pension <a href="https://www.otpp.com/news/article/-/article/739022">owns outright HRG Royalty, a $3.3 billion dollar subsidiary of Chevron</a> that holds <a href="https://homeguides.sfgate.com/fee-simple-ownership-mean-57263.html">fee simple</a> oil and gas titles and royalty interests in the basin. A fee simple represents absolute ownership of land, and therefore owners can do whatever they like with it.</p>
<p>According to its <a href="https://cdn3.cppinvestments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Canadian-Public-Equity-Holdings-Mar2019-EN.htm">most recent disclosure of publicly traded equities</a> and of <a href="https://www.cppinvestments.com/the-fund/our-investments/investment-real-assets">real asset investments</a>, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which manages the retirement savings of millions of Canadians, has billions invested in natural gas companies operating in the basin. </p>
<p>More than $1.5 billion is invested in Canadian Natural Resources, Seven Generations Energy and Black Swan alone. CPPIB also has more than $200 million invested in TC Energy.</p>
<h2>Investing in colonialism</h2>
<p>What does this mean? To grow retirement savings in pipelines and LNG terminals is to literally invest in colonialism. </p>
<p>The social reality of this moment of <a href="https://theconversation.com/unistoten-and-the-limits-of-reconciliation-in-canada-109704">so-called reconciliation</a> is therefore one in which we are actually deepening, at the dizzying speed of capital markets, workers’ personal and economic stakes in the extension and expansion of Indigenous dispossession.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318750/original/file-20200304-66060-1e2g2bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318750/original/file-20200304-66060-1e2g2bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318750/original/file-20200304-66060-1e2g2bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318750/original/file-20200304-66060-1e2g2bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318750/original/file-20200304-66060-1e2g2bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318750/original/file-20200304-66060-1e2g2bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318750/original/file-20200304-66060-1e2g2bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman wears a bandana over her face reading ‘Land Back’ as protesters march to block a road used to access the Port of Vancouver during a demonstration in support of Wet'suwet'en Nation hereditary chiefs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This means that the interests of settler workers and corporate capital are increasingly aligned against Indigenous rights and jurisdiction.</p>
<p>This is a deeply structural form of racialized oppression; one that accounts for how value accrues through financial transactions that are based on Indigenous dispossession and the systemic denial of Indigenous rights.</p>
<p>The flip side of this, of course, is that the income security of working Canadians is deeply exposed to the financial liabilities of settler colonialism, since the value of income invested in LNG far exceeds what it’s actually worth when Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous title-holders successfully defend their rights.</p>
<p>That means that as Indigenous peoples become increasingly successful at defending their lands, pension funds will be left sitting on a huge pile of stranded assets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132396/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Stanley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The fact that so many Canadian pension funds are tied to oil and gas companies is a deeply structural form of racialized oppression and a denial of Indigenous rights.
Anna Stanley, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130870
2020-02-06T19:59:27Z
2020-02-06T19:59:27Z
Coastal GasLink pipeline dispute is a nation-to-nation matter
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313767/original/file-20200205-149762-fu7o8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4500%2C3119&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs from left, Rob Alfred, John Ridsdale and Antoinette Austin, take part in a rally in Smithers, B.C., in January 2020 against the Coastal GasLink project.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There have been two encouraging recent developments in the longstanding conflict over the proposed Coastal GasLink pipeline on the territory of the Wet’suwet’en nation in northern British Columbia, though matters are on very shaky ground. </p>
<p>The $6.2 billion pipeline would transport natural gas from northeastern B.C. to an export terminal at Kitimat. Its route crosses the unceded territory of the Wet'suwet'en nation. </p>
<p>The pipeline was approved by the provincial government and the elected band councils of 20 First Nations along its route, including five in Wet'suwet'en territory. But the project has been opposed steadfastly by Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs. There have been protests, blockades, court injunctions, police roadblocks and arrests.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313770/original/file-20200205-149789-1defz30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313770/original/file-20200205-149789-1defz30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313770/original/file-20200205-149789-1defz30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313770/original/file-20200205-149789-1defz30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313770/original/file-20200205-149789-1defz30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313770/original/file-20200205-149789-1defz30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313770/original/file-20200205-149789-1defz30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cullen is seen in the House of Commons in this 2017 photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recently, the province <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/former-mp-nathan-cullen-appointed-b-c-liaison-in-pipeline-dispute">appointed former NDP MP Nathan Cullen as liaison to the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs</a>. Most recently, the hereditary chiefs <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6486571/coastal-gaslink-chiefs-meeting-province/">agreed to sit down with the province for talks</a>, though those talks are currently in limbo.</p>
<h2>Conflict heated up</h2>
<p>The conflict escalated after a court <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-injunction-coastal-gaslink-1.5411965">issued an injunction</a> in late December 2019 prohibiting opponents from obstructing the project. </p>
<p>The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs then issued an <a href="https://unistoten.camp/wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs-evict-coastal-gaslink-from-territory/">eviction notice</a> to Coastal GasLink. The RCMP established an <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6406665/rcmp-access-control-checkpoint-northern-gas-pipeline/">access control checkpoint</a> and initiated <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/bvgmjw/rcmp-admits-its-monitoring-wetsuweten-camps-by-air-now">aerial surveillance</a>. Protests and arrests spread to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/12-arrested-in-victoria-during-occupation-against-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-1.5436286">provincial capital</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313772/original/file-20200205-149752-mmp8za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313772/original/file-20200205-149752-mmp8za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313772/original/file-20200205-149752-mmp8za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313772/original/file-20200205-149752-mmp8za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313772/original/file-20200205-149752-mmp8za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313772/original/file-20200205-149752-mmp8za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313772/original/file-20200205-149752-mmp8za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous young people occupy the B.C. Energy and Mines Ministry office in Victoria on Jan. 21, 2020, in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ta'Kaiya Blaney</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous and human rights groups have expressed concern that Indigenous rights, including the right to <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/principles-principes.html">free, prior and informed consent</a> to resource development, are being infringed in Wet’suwet’en territory. </p>
<h2>‘Rule of law’ argument</h2>
<p>In the midst of these developments, B.C. Premier John Horgan announced that <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/horgan-says-rule-of-law-applies-lng-pipeline-will-proceed-despite-protests">the “rule of law” must prevail</a>. <a href="https://www.princegeorgematters.com/local-news/british-columbia-is-moving-on-premier-john-horgan-on-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-dispute-2034159">He argued</a> that the project “has every right to proceed,” it will be built and “British Columbia is moving on.”</p>
<p>The appointment of the provincial liaison and the hereditary chiefs’ agreement to sit down for talks are welcome steps. But they will have lasting value only if they pave the way for direct leader-to-leader meetings between the hereditary chiefs, Horgan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.</p>
<p>The Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6486571/coastal-gaslink-chiefs-meeting-province/">repeatedly requested</a> such meetings. As one of them <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/former-mp-nathan-cullen-appointed-b-c-liaison-in-pipeline-dispute">reiterated recently</a>, they want “face-to-face meetings with fellow decision-makers.” </p>
<p>Horgan has declined these requests, even <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/01/19/news/bc-premier-disrespectful-not-meeting-wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs">during a recent tour of northern B.C.</a> For his part, Trudeau considers the dispute a <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/politics/it-will-be-proceeding-horgan-and-trudeau-talk-pipeline-child-care-and-transit">provincial matter</a>. </p>
<h2>Leader-to-leader talks urgently needed</h2>
<p>Fundamentally, this is not a dispute between Coastal GasLink and the Wet’suwet’en, nor between hereditary chiefs and Indian Act band councils. It goes to the core of the relationship between the Crown and Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313776/original/file-20200205-149747-lgsaj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313776/original/file-20200205-149747-lgsaj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313776/original/file-20200205-149747-lgsaj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313776/original/file-20200205-149747-lgsaj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313776/original/file-20200205-149747-lgsaj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313776/original/file-20200205-149747-lgsaj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313776/original/file-20200205-149747-lgsaj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous youth show support for the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs at the B.C. legislature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dirk Meissner</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is a tendency to dismiss the hereditary chiefs as just a group of opponents, in contrast to the 20 First Nations that have approved the pipeline. This is deeply misleading. </p>
<p>The plaintiffs in the landmark <a href="http://canlii.ca/t/1fqz8">Delgamuukw case</a> before the Supreme Court were the hereditary chiefs, not the band councils. The court accepted detailed evidence of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary governance system and confirmed that the Wet’suwet’en never surrendered title to their ancestral lands. </p>
<p>The hereditary chiefs are not merely a group of disgruntled opponents; they represent the Wet’suwet’en system of law and governance. </p>
<p>The fact that band councils created under the Indian Act endorsed the project and signed agreements with Coastal GasLink cannot justify ignoring Indigenous law or the Crown’s obligation to meet with the hereditary chiefs. Nor can the dispute be resolved by <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs-reject-coastal-gaslinks-meeting/">meetings between Coastal GasLink and the hereditary chiefs</a>. </p>
<h2>The law is clear</h2>
<p>The Supreme Court has been clear: The Crown must engage directly with the Indigenous group whose rights are at stake. This obligation cannot be fulfilled by third parties with vested interests in the project’s success.</p>
<p>Horgan’s insistence on the “rule of law” fails to acknowledge that the relevant law includes not just the injunction order and regulatory approvals but the Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, and — crucially — Wet’suwet’en laws and institutions. </p>
<p>The hereditary chiefs embody those laws and institutions and <a href="https://theconversation.com/corporations-dont-seem-to-understand-indigenous-jurisdiction-109608">enjoy an authority</a> that predates the arrival of the British and the creation of the Canadian state. This authority is entitled to respect. </p>
<p>In an age of truth and reconciliation, respect for the rule of law must include respect for the authority of Indigenous law and a commitment to work out a just and sustainable relationship between Indigenous and settler Canadian legal systems.</p>
<h2>Undermining reconciliation</h2>
<p>The failure of Horgan and Trudeau to meet with the hereditary chiefs risks undermining Canada’s collective effort to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313775/original/file-20200205-149802-1wnqxw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trudeau meets with Horgan after a First Ministers conference in December 2018 in Montreal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canadians are just beginning to confront our colonial past and present and to address the longstanding wrongs inflicted on Indigenous Peoples. Initial positive steps in this direction, including Canada’s promises to implement the <a href="http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action</a> and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ring hollow if provincial and federal leaders refuse to honour the hereditary chiefs’ request for a meeting, let alone recognize and respect Wet’suwet’en law. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tsilhqotin-blockade-points-to-failures-of-justice-impeding-reconciliation-in-canada-120488">Tsilhqot’in blockade points to failures of justice impeding reconciliation in Canada</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Reconciliation and justice cannot be achieved by the brute force of the RCMP or the self-interests of energy companies. </p>
<p>This is why, on Jan. 22, 2020, we <a href="https://www.firstpeopleslaw.com/index/articles/432.php">signed a letter</a>, along with more than three dozen legal academics and professionals from across the country, urging Horgan and Trudeau to immediately sit down with the hereditary chiefs. </p>
<p>We’ve demanded they commit to resolving this issue by recognizing the authority of Indigenous laws and governance institutions, implementing Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent, fulfilling the Crown’s constitutional obligations and upholding the honour of the Crown. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313773/original/file-20200205-149778-1pxr8zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phillip addresses a news conference in Vancouver in January 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs recently <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/coalition-including-wet-suwet-en-hereditary-chiefs-files-complaint-about-rcmp-1.5445950">called on Horgan</a> to “get off his high colonial horse and honour the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs with his personal presence.” </p>
<p>The serious work of reconciliation demands nothing less.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jocelyn Stacey receives funding from the Law Foundation of British Columbia and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She is the President of the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon Christie and Stepan Wood do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Reconciliation cannot be achieved by the brute force of the RCMP or the self-interests of energy companies.
Stepan Wood, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Law, Society & Sustainability, University of British Columbia
Gordon Christie, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia
Jocelyn Stacey, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/125123
2019-10-18T11:25:27Z
2019-10-18T11:25:27Z
Pope affirms Catholic Church’s duty to indigenous Amazonians hurt by climate change
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297533/original/file-20191017-98657-15dqz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C0%2C5161%2C3466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis at the start of the Amazon synod, at the Vatican, Oct. 7, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Vatican-Amazon/d61fa641686a4b5692f0d8ac6d23fe22/20/0">AP Photo/Andrew Medichini</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Catholic Church “hears the cry” of the Amazon and its peoples. That’s the message Pope Francis hopes to send at the <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/controversy-mixes-consensus-bishops-gather-amazon-synod">Synod of the Amazon</a>, a three-week meeting at the Vatican that ends Oct. 27. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-10/amazon-synod-briefing-synthesis.html">Images from Rome</a> show tribal leaders in traditional feather headdresses alongside Vatican officials in their regalia. They are gathered with hundreds of bishops, priests, religious sisters and missionaries to discuss the pastoral, cultural and ecological struggles of the Amazon. </p>
<p>The densely forested region spans nine South American countries, including Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Its more than <a href="http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/basins/amazon/index.stm">23 million</a> inhabitants include <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/amazonsynod2019">3 million indigenous people</a>.</p>
<p>The Amazon meeting is part of Pope Francis’s efforts to build a “<a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papa-francesco_20151017_50-anniversario-sinodo.html">Church which listens</a>.” Since <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-succession-bergoglio/argentinas-pope-a-modest-man-focused-on-the-poor-idUSBRE92C15X20130313r">taking office in 2013</a>, Francis has revitalized the Catholic Church’s practice of “synods” – a Greek word meaning “council” – expanding <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0040563917698561">decision-making in the church</a> beyond <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/environment/expect-north-american-church-learn-pan-amazonian-synod">the Vatican bureaucracy</a> to gather input from the entire church, including <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/vatican-asks-wide-input-2015-synod-not-based-doctrine">from laypeople</a>. </p>
<p>Voting on synod decisions, however, remains restricted to bishops and some male clergy. </p>
<p>The Amazon synod is the first such meeting to be organized for a specific <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/amazonsynod2019">ecological region</a>. Media coverage of this event has emphasized its more controversial debates – such as the possibility of <a href="https://www.axios.com/pope-francis-catholic-church-debates-celibacy-priests-8fb503a2-4d3b-4e00-aa12-f293f2e49d67.html">easing celibacy requirements in the rural Amazon</a>, where priests are in extremely short supply. </p>
<p>But its focus is much broader: listening to the suffering of the Amazon – particularly the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-amazon-is-burning-4-essential-reads-on-brazils-vanishing-rainforest-122288">environmental challenges facing the region</a> – and discerning how to respond as a global church.</p>
<h2>Amazon in crisis</h2>
<p>After more than a decade of environmental policies that successfully slowed deforestation in the Amazon, logging and agricultural clearing have begun to increase rapidly again. The fires in the Brazilian rainforest that captured headlines in early September are <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-brazils-rainforests-the-worst-fires-are-likely-still-to-come-122840">symptoms of much broader destruction</a>.</p>
<p>Up to 17% of the Amazon rainforest has already been eliminated – dangerously close to the 20% to 40% <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/will-deforestation-and-warming-push-the-amazon-to-a-tipping-point?">tipping point that experts say</a> would lead the entire ecosystem to collapse.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297420/original/file-20191016-98657-1m0nmkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C17%2C3982%2C2640&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297420/original/file-20191016-98657-1m0nmkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297420/original/file-20191016-98657-1m0nmkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297420/original/file-20191016-98657-1m0nmkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297420/original/file-20191016-98657-1m0nmkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297420/original/file-20191016-98657-1m0nmkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297420/original/file-20191016-98657-1m0nmkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deforestation of the Amazon is rapidly approaching the tipping point that, experts say, could lead to total collapse of the rainforest ecosystem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/The-Week-That-Was-in-Latin-America-Photo-Gallery/fab4592faf364ff088bd97701d8d4c99/25/0">AP Photo/Leo Correa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Stories of deforestation can seem insignificant against the vastness of the Amazon, a region two-thirds the size of the lower 48 United States. </p>
<p>But for the <a href="http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/synod-for-the-amazon/synod-for-the-amazon.html">390 indigenous ethnic groups</a> who inhabit the region, each burned forest grove, polluted stream or flooded dam site may mark the end of a way of life that’s survived for thousands of years.</p>
<p>Deprived of their land, many indigenous Amazonians are forced into an exposed life on the edge of frontier towns, where they are prey to <a href="http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/pan-amazon-synod--the-working-document-for-the-synod-of-bishops.html">sex trafficking, slave labor and violence</a>. In Brazil alone, at least <a href="http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/pan-amazon-synod--the-working-document-for-the-synod-of-bishops.html">1,119 indigenous people have been killed</a> defending their land since 2003. </p>
<p>The Catholic Church recognizes that it still has to address the “<a href="http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/pan-amazon-synod--the-working-document-for-the-synod-of-bishops.html">open wound</a>” of its own <a href="https://religionnews.com/2019/09/17/synod-for-the-amazon-about-more-than-married-priests/">role in the colonial-era violence that first terrorized the indigenous peoples</a> of the Americas, according to the synod’s working document. The church legitimated the colonial confiscation of lands occupied by indigenous peoples and its missionaries often <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-pope-has-yet-to-overturn-the-churchs-colonial-legacy-39622">suppressed indigenous cultures and religions</a>.</p>
<p>For this reason, according to the Vatican, organizers of the synod have sought input through <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/the-amazon-synod-by-the-numbers-11205">260 listening events</a> held in the region that reached nearly 87,000 people over the past two years. Indigenous leaders have been invited as observer participants in the meeting itself.</p>
<h2>Learning from indigenous peoples</h2>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-theological-and-ecological-vision-of-laudato-si-9780567673176/">theologian</a> who studies religious responses to the environmental crisis, I find the pope’s effort to learn from the indigenous people of the Amazon noteworthy.</p>
<p>The Vatican sees that the Amazon’s traditional residents know something much of humanity has long forgotten: how to live in ecological harmony with the environment.</p>
<p>“To the aboriginal communities we owe their thousands of years of care and cultivation of the Amazon,” the 58-page <a href="http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/pan-amazon-synod--the-working-document-for-the-synod-of-bishops.html">synod working document</a> reads. “In their ancestral wisdom they have nurtured the conviction that all of creation is connected, and this deserves our respect and responsibility.” </p>
<p>Pope Francis has expressed his respect for indigenous peoples before. </p>
<p>At a meeting of indigenous leaders in <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2018/january/documents/papa-francesco_20180119_peru-puertomaldonado-popoliamazzonia.html">Peru in January 2018</a> he said, “Your lives cry out against a style of life that is oblivious to its own real cost. You are a living memory of the mission that God has entrusted to us all: the protection of our common home.”</p>
<h2>Global problems, local solutions</h2>
<p>Environmental destruction isn’t the synod’s only concern.</p>
<p>Catholicism – long the dominant religion in Latin America – is rapidly losing members to evangelical Protestantism. Evangelicals are projected to eclipse Catholics in Brazil by <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2019/09/03/evangelical-missions-a-major-threat-to-amazon-culture-catholic-leaders-say/">2032</a>.</p>
<p>One advantage evangelical churches have in Amazonian countries is that they can appoint local indigenous pastors to minister to their communities. Meanwhile, with <a href="https://www.axios.com/pope-francis-catholic-church-debates-celibacy-priests-8fb503a2-4d3b-4e00-aa12-f293f2e49d67.html">less than one priest per 8,000 Catholics</a> in the Amazon, some isolated communities might see a priest only once a year. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297421/original/file-20191016-98661-zhf4r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catholic churches are in short supply in rural Brazil, where many people will go a year without seeing a priest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Amazon-Priest-Shortages/0ce25eeb08724004a564058db280c247/5/0">AP Photo/Fernando Vergara</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The scarcity of priests in rural Latin America is behind a proposal to the synod to <a href="https://www.axios.com/pope-francis-catholic-church-debates-celibacy-priests-8fb503a2-4d3b-4e00-aa12-f293f2e49d67.html">ordain older married men as priests in isolated Amazonian communities</a>. </p>
<p>In the the U.S., the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-views-on-priestly-celibacy-changed-in-christian-history-102158">celibacy question</a> is easily mapped onto a <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/environment/editorial-status-quo-wont-save-planet-or-catholic-church">familiar divide</a>. Progressive Catholics argue that clerical celibacy should be optional, while conservative Catholics insist this discipline is fundamental to the faith. </p>
<p>The issue is far less politicized in the Amazon, where, in the words of one bishop, the Catholic Church remains a “<a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2019/09/03/evangelical-missions-a-major-threat-to-amazon-culture-catholic-leaders-say/">visiting church</a>” with limited day-to-day presence in indigenous communities. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.economist.com/erasmus/2019/10/04/a-high-noon-moment-for-pope-francis-over-the-amazon">Some</a> might dismiss this synod as just a meeting. But, in my judgment, it is an attempt to apply Francis’ vision of a “listening Church” to the environmental crisis. The Synod of the Amazon marks a significant shift from high-minded papal exhortations about taking climate action to a global religious community that gives voice to those living on the front lines of ecological destruction. </p>
<p>[ <em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>. ]
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincent J. Miller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Hundreds of bishops, priests, missionaries and tribal leaders are at the Vatican for the Synod of the Amazon, a three-week meeting focused on the environmental crisis threatening Amazonian peoples.
Vincent J. Miller, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/120488
2019-08-06T16:08:47Z
2019-08-06T16:08:47Z
Tsilhqot’in blockade points to failures of justice impeding reconciliation in Canada
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285908/original/file-20190726-43118-1jwhnis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">B.C. green-lighted an exploration permit to a mining company, despite the fact that plans for a mine were rejected both federally and by the Tsilhqot’in National Government. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Garth Lenz/ Tsilhqot’in National Government)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Tsilhqot’in National Government submitted an urgent request to the United Nations <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/ipeoples/srindigenouspeoples/pages/sripeoplesindex.aspx">Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples</a> early in July. Officials asked the UN to visit Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake, B.C., in Tsilhqot’in territory. </p>
<p>The Tsilhqot’in told the UN they were alarmed about the <a href="https://bit.ly/2ShDUtt">imminent violation of Tsilhqot’in human rights</a> at Teztan Biny because Taseko Mines Ltd. advised the Tsilhqot’in on June 14 <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/tsilhqotin-nation-blockade-taseko-mines-retreat/">the company planned to begin exploratory drilling</a> in the area. </p>
<p>Teztan Biny is <a href="https://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/p63928/92695E.pdf">rich with rainbow trout, supports a sockeye salmon run and is connected to a watershed that’s home to a threatened grizzly bear population</a>. It’s also a site of major cultural, livelihood and spiritual significance to the Tsilhqot’in.</p>
<p>How did it come to this, years after key decisions that would have seemed to end mining activity in the area? </p>
<p>Five years ago, the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tsilhqot-in-first-nation-granted-b-c-title-claim-in-supreme-court-ruling-1.2688332">Supreme Court of Canada recognized Tsilhqot’in title over 1,700 square kilometres of their traditional territory</a> — only a portion of their traditional territory — directly adjacent to the proposed mining area. The Tsilhqot’in Nation does not concede that their territory is limited to that which is recognized by Canadian law.</p>
<p>In 2012 the B.C. Court of Appeal confirmed Tsilhqot'in’s Aboriginal hunting and trapping rights beyond the recognized title area <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/court-affirms-tsilhqot-in-nation-hunting-rights-not-title-1.1219588">in 4,380 square kilometres of their traditional territory</a>, including the Teztan Biny area. </p>
<p>The federal government <a href="https://www.mining.com/web/canadian-federal-government-rejects-tasekos-proposed-1-5bln-copper-gold-mine-project/">twice refused to grant permission to Taskeo Mines Ltd. for a mine</a> near Teztan Biny <a href="https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/46180?culture=en-CA">in 2010</a> and <a href="https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/98458?culture=en-CA">again in 2014</a>. In 2013, a federal review panel declared that the mine, even with a revised design after its earlier rejected iteration, would have adverse impacts on water quality, fish and fish habitat and wetland ecosystems. The panel also determined the project <a href="https://ceaa.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/98460?culture=en-CA">would adversely impact Indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage, their ability to use their lands for traditional purposes and archaeological and historical resources</a>.</p>
<h2>Adverse environmental and cultural impacts</h2>
<p>Despite objections from both the Tsilhqot’in National Government and the federal government to building the mine, B.C. approved a permit for Taskeo Mines Ltd. for exploration in 2017.</p>
<p>The Tsilhqot’in National Government sought to halt Taseko Mines Ltd. activity by appealing to Canada’s Supreme Court, but on <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-l-csc-a/en/item/17820/index.do">June 13</a> the court <a href="http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/news/gold-copper-supreme-court-okays-work-at-tasekos-new-prosperity/">refused to hear the appeal</a>. </p>
<p>The mining company’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/supreme-court-rejects-tsilhqot-in-appeal-taseko-mine-case-1.5176402">provincial permit allows for</a> high-impact and extensive activities including road building and expansion plus drilling and excavation near <a href="http://www.tsilhqotin.ca/Portals/0/PDFs/Press%20Releases/2017_01_30_TN_Backgrounder_TeztanBinyFishLake.pdf">Teztan Biny</a> and Nabas, an area that Chief Joe Alphonse refers to as “<a href="http://www.tsilhqotin.ca/">sacred to us as a church</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285909/original/file-20190726-43126-bc99oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tsilhqot’in community members at Teztan Biny (Fish Lake).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Tsilhqot’in National Government)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Free, prior and informed consent</h2>
<p>Just before the Tsilhqot’in National Government requested the UN presence, a private member’s bill sponsored by Cree MP Romeo Saganash to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) <a href="https://aptnnews.ca/2019/06/24/let-us-rise-with-more-energy-saganash-responds-to-senate-death-of-c-262-as-liberals-promise-again-to-legislate-undrip/">was defeated in the Senate by Conservative members</a>. </p>
<p>Bill C-262 would have obligated Canada to bring federal law in line with UNDRIP. While Canada <a href="https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1309374407406/1309374458958#a2">endorsed UNDRIP in 2016</a>, it has yet to reform its laws to be consistent with the declaration — including a cornerstone premise of UNDRIP that “<a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/principles-principes.html">free, prior and informed consent</a>” is required from Indigenous peoples before developments impacting them can proceed on their lands and waters.</p>
<p>The defeat of Bill C-262 and ongoing resource development <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0308518X16640530">without Indigenous consent</a> — particularly what UNDRIP enshrines as free, prior and informed consent — is a bad omen for reconciliation. As Saganash told Parliament, Canada’s reconciliation agenda <a href="https://openparliament.ca/debates/2018/5/29/romeo-saganash-2/only/">can never succeed without justice</a>. </p>
<p>The notion of free, prior and informed consent acknowledges that resource extraction and other development can severely impact Indigenous livelihoods and territories, and thus shouldn’t proceed without the consent of affected communities. </p>
<h2>‘It is there for us’</h2>
<p>Teztan Biny in Tsilhqot’in territory is now part of <a href="https://dasiqox.org/">Dasiqox Tribal Park</a>. </p>
<p>The Xeni Gwet’in First Nations Government and Yunesit’in Government, both part of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, declared the tribal park in 2014. The <a href="https://media.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/1006/files/2019/01/DTP_VisionSummary-April-2018-web.pdf">declaration was an urgent assertion of the Tsilhqot’in vision of protecting the land and relationships vital to Tsilhqot'in culture</a>.</p>
<p>Dasiqox Tribal Park encompasses 300,000 hectares of important wildlife habitat, and includes pristine ecosystems and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xTTARq0HaY">sites of immense cultural significance to the Tsilhqot’in people</a>. Parts of Dasiqox Tribal Park have also been impacted by decades of forestry, road building and other developments. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DoIyIj0UYIs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dasiqox Tribal Park video.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Tsilhqot'in language, Dasiqox Tribal Park is Nexwagwezʔan, meaning, “it is there for us.” The vision for Nexwagwezʔan is based on three pillars: environmental protection, cultural revitalization and sustainable livelihoods.</p>
<p>The Dasiqox Tribal Park is an example of an Indigenous protected and conserved area (IPCA). This new form of conservation governance has gained broader and <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/protected-areas/201802/indigenous-protected-and-conserved-areas-ipcas-pathway-achieving-target-11-canada-through-reconciliation">global attention and momentum</a> through the work of an Indigenous-led advisory group <a href="http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2018/pc/R62-548-2018-eng.pdf">working with the federal government to adopt biodiversity goals and targets</a>. Such protected areas are a <a href="https://davidsuzuki.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/tribal-parks-indigenous-protected-conserved-areas-lessons-b-c-examples.pdf">means for Indigenous peoples to protect the ecological and cultural integrity of their lands and waters while supporting certain economic activities</a>.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41474668">some tribal parks and IPCAs are not yet legally recognized in Canada</a>. They therefore lack the type of protection ensured by conventional protected areas, such as national parks. <a href="https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/native-enclosures-tribal-national-parks-and-the-progressive-polit">Unlike conventional parks</a>, they are Indigenous-led, managed according to Indigenous law and knowledge systems and allow for certain types of occupation, harvesting and economic activity within their borders. </p>
<h2>Court challenges, blockades</h2>
<p>Taseko Mines Ltd. has been <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/taseko-mines-seeks-injunction-against-tsilhqotin-over-blockade-of-project">attempting to develop their proposed gold and copper mine for more than 20 years</a> without Tsilhqot’in consent.</p>
<p>The Tsilhqot’in Nation has resorted to multiple court challenges, and most recently to a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2019/07/15/bc-mining-company-seeks-injunction-that-could-set-stage-for-showdown-with-first-nation.html">blockade</a>, to prevent the mine’s development. In the ongoing conflict, the Tsilhqot'in Nation and Taseko Mines Ltd. are currently pursuing injunctions against one another. </p>
<p>On July 31, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said a <a href="https://www.coastmountainnews.com/news/judge-hearing-injunctions-from-taseko-and-tsilhqotin-nation-reserves-judgment-for-september/">decision about both injunctions won’t come until the first week of September</a>.</p>
<p>The fact that Indigenous peoples are continually pushed to blockades and are tied up in court cases and injunctions to protect their rights and territories speaks volumes about <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/palgrave.cpt.9300307">the underwhelming state of reconciliation in Canada today</a>. </p>
<p>If Canada continues to ignore its obligations to Indigenous peoples under <a href="https://www.amnesty.ca/blog/time-fulfill-250-year-old-promise">long-standing agreements</a>, UNDRIP and other international agreements, <a href="http://www.lorimer.ca/adults/Book/3010/The-Reconciliation-Manifesto.html">reconciliation will remain but a superficial buzzword</a>. </p>
<p>Conversely, the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s vision for Dasiqox Tribal Park offers a powerful example of what true reconciliation could look like in Canada if Tsilhqot'in rights and interests were respected and upheld.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Townsend receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faisal Moola receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, the Metcalf Foundation and the Grizzly Bear Foundation. He is affiliated with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and is a board member of COMPASS, a non-profit science communications organization. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Youdelis receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>
Dasiqox Tribal Park offers a powerful example of what true reconciliation can mean for Canada when Indigenous peoples and their rights are respected and upheld.
Justine Townsend, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph
Faisal Moola, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph
Megan Youdelis, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, Environment and Geoinformatics, University of Guelph
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.