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Emily Graceanna Pearson

Professor David Gaertner

FNIS 100

4 April 2017

The Impact of Indigenous Protests

This project analyzes the impacts of Indigenous protests. This topic fits into the ‘big picture’ conversation on North America’s approach to reconciliation, and the importance of obtaining

Indigenous consent for the approval of projects affecting traditional lands. Many people are aware of the protests made by Indigenous groups against pipelines such as the Northern Gateway pipeline, the Trans Mountain Expansion, the Dakota Access pipeline, Keystone XL, and several others. What many are uncertain about, is if these protests actually make any difference.

From a colonial point of view, land is something that can be owned and exploited. But, as said by the First Nations Studies Program:

For many Aboriginal cultures, land means more than property– it encompasses culture,

relationships, ecosystems, social systems, spirituality, and law. For many, land means the

earth, the water, the air, and all that live within these ecosystems. As scholars Bonita

Lawrence and Enakshi Dua point out using historical examples, “to separate Indigenous

peoples from their land” is to “preempt Indigenous sovereignty.” Land and Aboriginal

rights are inextricably linked. (par. 2)

Canada sits on land that Indigenous peoples have been living on since time immemorial. Much of this land was signed over to the British Crown through treaties, while much of it also remains unceded, meaning that the land wasn’t ever surrendered to or acquired by the Crown. Indigenous land rights are increasingly being addressed, as natural resource projects are being pushed 2 through legal and/or traditional Indigenous lands and more Indigenous groups are resisting these projects.

In order to answer the proposed question, both past and present Indigenous protests need to be examined. First, the resistance of Kanehsatake will be analyzed in order to judge the long- lasting impacts of Indigenous protests. The Indigenous resistance against the Enbridge Northern

Gateway pipeline will then be discussed, as well as the possible effects of this resistance.

Together, these two major events will be considered in order to determine the possible impacts of

Indigenous protests. By bringing attention to environmental concerns and Indigenous rights,

Indigenous protests obstruct the approval of projects affecting traditional lands and have potentially lasting impacts on the progression of Canada’s approach to reconciliation

THE OKA CRISIS

The resistance of Kanehsatake in 1990, often referred to as “The Oka Crisis”, raised awareness about Indigenous rights and serves as an inspiration to many of today’s Indigenous protests against pipelines. The resistance was directly caused by the proposed expansion of a golf course onto a Mohawk burial ground and disputed land, but was also about a much deeper conflict between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian government. As said in the film Kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance, “[the Oka Crisis] really had nothing to do with Oka, a bridge, or a golf course. This was about 400 years of resistance”. The people of Kanehsatake were not just fighting against a golf course expansion, they were fighting against colonialism and the violation of their land rights.

While the resistance of Kanehsatake did not resolve the underlying dispute between

Mohawks and the Canadian government, it did succeed in pressing the government to address 3

Indigenous issues. “It was the Oka Crisis that spurred Brian Mulroney and his government to establish the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples with a mandate to conduct a comprehensive study of the conditions of Aboriginal Peoples and their relationship with Canada”

(Simpson & Ladner 39). The report of RCAP suggests that “a renewed relationship must be built on a foundation of sound principles – mutual recognition, mutual respect, sharing and mutual responsibility – that will return us to a path of justice, co-existence, and equality” (660). As the summary of the RCAP final report explains,

The fourth principle of mutual responsibility has a strong environmental ethic to it, an

ethic of stewardship that has “… often been eclipsed by a careless and uninformed

attitude to nature, an attitude that tacitly assumes that the earth is a virtually limitless

resource at the disposal of the human species.” (Vol. 1, P. 690). (Institute on Governance

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This fourth principle acknowledges that Indigenous peoples should also be given responsibility when it comes to their traditional land, and indicates a future where the government and

Indigenous groups should collaborate in regards to environmentalism, natural resource projects, and other land projects. Although there certainly hasn’t been much progress towards implementing RCAP’s recommendations, Coulthard states that “the RCAP report provides a potentially productive point of entry into the much more challenging conversation that we need to collectively have about what it will take to truly decolonize the relationship between

Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada” (2587). The Report of the Royal

Commission on Aboriginal Peoples provides an excellent example of how Indigenous protests encourage the government to take steps towards reconciliation. 4

The events of 1990 also invoked Indigenous activists from across the continent to stand up for Indigenous rights, and still inspire Indigenous activism today. As shown in Kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance, more than 2500 people came to the peace camp to support the Mohawk nation during July of 1990. “Indigenous peoples from across the continent followed suit, engaging in a diverse array of solidarity actions that ranged from information leafleting to the establishment of peace encampments to the erection of blockades on several major Canadian transport corridors” (Coulthard 2509). The resistance at Kanehsatake caused a ripple across

Canada, which eventually turned into a wave of resistance from Indigenous peoples across the country, that still hasn’t dissipated. According to the Report of the Ipperwash Inquiry, there were

24 major Aboriginal occupations and protests in Canada between 1974 and 2007, with 17 of them occurring after the Kanehsatake resistance in 1990 (21). The resistance of Kanehsatake has inspired many Indigenous protests, including today’s protests against projects affecting traditional lands.

ENBRIDGE NORTHERN GATEWAY

Resistance from B.C. First Nations raised awareness about environmental concerns, Indigenous land rights, and obstructed the approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. The pipeline, which would have crossed 50 Indigenous traditional territories, faced opposition from

Indigenous groups such as Idle No More (Chia et al), the Yinka Dene Alliance, and local communities. In 2010 a coalition of First Nations across British Columbia came together in opposition to the pipeline, creating the Save the Fraser Declaration (Christie 190). Signed by representatives of over 130 First Nations, the declaration states: 5

We are united to exercise our inherent Title, Rights, and responsibility to ourselves, our

ancestors, our descendants and the people of the world, to defend these lands and waters .

. . we declare: We will not allow the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, or

similar Tar Sands projects, to cross our lands, territories, and watersheds, or the ocean

migration routes of Fraser River Salmon. (Gathering of Nations)

Enbridge met substantial resistance from these First Nations communities, and continuously faced protests from Indigenous groups and their Canadian supporters. As said by Bowles and

Veltmeyer, “The economic, social, environmental and legal case for the pipeline is so weak and the strength and passion of the opposition so strong that the vested interests of “big oil” and their political backers will have met their match should they try to push the project through” (7). On

October 22, 2012, a rally which was “overwhelmingly Indigenous in appearance, participation and message” occurred in Victoria, B.C. (Bowles & Veltmeyer 12-13). “4,000 to 5,000 people rallied in front of the British Columbia legislature to send a forceful message to the tar sands industry and its political representatives” and “Two days later, thousands of activists staged rallies at the offices across the province of more than 60 elected members of the Legislature”

(Bowles & Veltmeyer 12). These protests brought attention to the potential environmental risks of the pipeline and Indigenous land rights, and created a barrier which would hold back the project from receiving approval of the government.

Without such persistent Indigenous protests, the pipeline would have likely been approved. The Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, which was originally approved by Harper’s government, was put on hold in the summer of 2016 because “what consultation was done with

First Nations [was] ‘brief, hurried and inadequate’” (Slayers). This would have likely been looked over by the government if Indigenous groups such as the Yinka Dene Alliance hadn’t 6 been so outspoken about their stance on the project and about their land rights. During his campaign, Justin Trudeau promised to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and it is presumed that he did this with the consistent uproar from

Canada’s Indigenous groups in mind. UNDRIP contains many recommendations that are essential to Canada’s approach to reconciliation, but Article 32 is particularly noteworthy in regards to the focus of this paper:

States shall cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their

own representative institution in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to

the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources,

particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral,

water or other resources. (UN General Assembly 12)

Trudeau’s government ultimately decided to decline the Enbridge Northern Gateway project in

November 2016 (Cheadle). Although, this does not mean that substantial changes have been made yet considering that Trudeau also announced the approval of the extremely controversial

Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion project (Cheadle).

CONCLUSION

Considering these two influential resistances, it can be determined that Indigenous protests have an impact on decisions made regarding projects affecting traditional lands, and they also have the potential to create lasting impacts that will progress the country’s approach to reconciliation. As

Coulthard suggests in Red Skins, White Faces, “all negotiations over the scope and content of

Aboriginal peoples’ rights in the last forty years have piggybacked off the assertive direct actions

– including the escalated use of blockades – [of Indigenous peoples]” (3527). Without large 7 protests and resistances led by Indigenous groups, many projects, such as the golf course expansion in Kanehsatake or the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, would have been passed through without gaining much attention from the nation. Had it not been for Indigenous groups speaking up about their rights, important documents such as the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples would have never been created. “These acts of Aboriginal resistance serve as wake-up calls to governments” and “practices of resistance and cultural resurgence, . . . are required to build a more just relationship with non-Indigenous peoples on and in relationship to the lands that we now share” (Simpon & Ladner 45; Coulthard 2599). Therefore, even protests that do not achieve their direct goal (i.e. stopping a pipeline) can have a very large impact on future relations between the government and Indigenous peoples.

Canada has increasingly described a desire to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Having conversations, such as the one addressed in this paper, are a necessary part of the path towards this goal. This country has a long history of colonialism and mistreatment of

Indigenous peoples, which was ignored for a very long time. Indigenous protests are doing an excellent job in raising awareness about and encouraging the government to address this issue. In order to make progress towards reconciliation, Canadians need to do their part in educating themselves about Indigenous issues and making an effort to understand the deep-seated conflict between Indigenous peoples and the government. Also, the recommendations of documents such as RCAP, UNDRIP, and the TRC need to be well-known by and implemented by all Canadians.

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Works Cited

Bowles, Paul, and Henry Veltmeyer. The Answer is Still No: Voices of Pipeline Resistance.

Fernwood Publishing, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2014

Chia et al, “Case Study: Northern Gateway Pipeline”. Student Research on Environmental and

Sustainability Issues, the University of British Columbia, 2015. Available from

http://environment.geog.ubc.ca/case-study-northern-gateway-pipeline/ Accessed 5 April

2017

Cheadle, B. “Justin Trudeau halts Northern Gateway, approves Kinder Morgan expansion, Line

3”. The Canadian Press, Global News, 2016. Available from

http://globalnews.ca/news/3094856/northern-gateway-pipeline-line-3-approval-

announcement/ Accessed 4 April 2017

Christie, G. Indigenous Authority, Canadian Law, and Pipeline Proposals, Journal of

Environmental Law and Practice, vol. 25, pp. 189-215, 2013. Available from

http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1668005740

?accountid=14656 Accessed 25 February 2017

Coulthard, Glen Sean. Red Skin, White Masks. University of Minnesota Press, 2014

Gathering of Nations. Save the Fraser Declaration. Available from

http://savethefraser.ca/fraser_declaration.pdf Accessed 5 April 2017

Kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance. Directed by Alanis Obomsawin, National Film Board of

Canada, 1993.

“Land & Rights”. First Nations & Indigenous Studies, University of British Columbia, 2009.

Available from indigenousfoundations.adm.arts.ubc.ca/land__rights/ Accessed 28

February 2017 9

Slayers, J. Northern Gateway Decision a Huge Victory for First Nations’ Rights. The Tyee,

2016. Available from https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2016/07/01/Northern-Gateway-

Decision/ Accessed 5 April 2017

Report of the Ipperwash Inquiry. Vol. 2, p. 21, 2007,

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pdf Accessed 5 April 2017

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal

Peoples, vol. 1, Canada Communication Group – Publishing, 1996. Available from

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ Accessed 4 April 2017

Simpson, Leanne, and Kiera L. Ladner. This is an Honour Song: Twenty Years since the

Blockades. Arbeiter Ring Publishing, Winnipeg, 2010.

The Institute on Governance. Summary of the Final Report of the Royal Commission on

Aboriginal Peoples. 1997. Available from http://iog.ca/wp-

content/uploads/2012/12/1997_April_rcapsum.pdf Accessed 5 April 2017

UN General Assembly, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, United

Nations, 2007. Available from

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf Accessed 25 February

2017