Towards a Treaty-Based Practice of Relationality by Gina Starblanket
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Beyond Rights and Wrongs: Towards a Treaty-Based Practice of Relationality by Gina Starblanket M.A., University of Victoria, 2012 B.A. Hons., University of Regina, 2008 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Indigenous Governance Program ã Gina Starblanket, 2017 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Beyond Rights and Wrongs: Towards a Treaty-Based Practice of Relationality by Gina Starblanket M.A., University of Victoria, 2012 B.A. Hons., University of Regina, 2008 Supervisory Committee Dr. Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, Department of Political Science Co-Supervisor Dr. Taiaiake Alfred, Indigenous Governance Program Co-Supervisor Dr. Jeff Corntassel, Indigenous Governance Program Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, Department of Political Science Co-Supervisor Dr. Taiaiake Alfred, Indigenous Governance Program Co-Supervisor Dr. Jeff Corntassel, Indigenous Governance Program Departmental Member This research explores the implications of the distinction between transactional and relational understandings of the Numbered Treaties, negotiated by Indigenous peoples and the Dominion of Canada from 1871-1921. It deconstructs representations of the Numbered Treaties as “land transactions” and challenges the associated forms of oppression that emerge from this interpretation. Drawing on oral histories of the Numbered Treaties, it argues instead that they established a framework for relationship that expressly affirmed the continuity of Indigenous legal and political orders. Further, this dissertation positions treaties as a longstanding Indigenous political institution, arguing for the resurgence of a treaty-based ethic of relationality that has multiple applications in the contemporary context. It demonstrates how a relational understanding of treaties can function as a powerful strategy of refusal to incorporation within the nation state; arguing that if treaties are understood as structures of co-existence rather than land transactions, settler colonial assertions of hegemonic authority over Indigenous peoples and lands remain illegitimate. Furthermore, it examines how a relational orientation to treaties might inspire alternatives to violent, asymmetrical, and hierarchical forms of co- existence between humans and with other living beings. To this end, it takes up the potential for treaties to inform legal and political strategies that are reflective of Indigenous philosophies of relationality, providing applied examples at the individual, intrasocietal, and intersocietal levels. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. vii Dedication ........................................................................................................................ viii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Reviving Treaty Relationality ......................................................................................... 4 Background and Context ................................................................................................. 9 Treaty Mythologies and Colonial Relations ................................................................. 15 Theorizing Treaty Relations ......................................................................................... 20 Research Methodology ................................................................................................. 26 History and Meaning Making ....................................................................................... 37 Chapter Overview ......................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 1 – Negotiating Relationships Through the Creation of the Numbered Treaties 46 Containing Indigenous Law and Governance in the Prairie West ................................ 47 Background: Settling Indigenous ‘Claims’ Through Treaties ...................................... 55 Making Treaty 4 ............................................................................................................ 64 Treaty 4: Aftermath ....................................................................................................... 71 Interpreting Treaty 4 ..................................................................................................... 83 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 95 Chapter 2 - The Resurgence of a Treaty-based Ethic of Relationality ............................. 98 Legislating Indigeneity ............................................................................................... 100 Treaties and Decolonial Thought ................................................................................ 102 Colonial Violence and the Construction of Indigenous Political Identity .................. 112 Conclusion: The Resurgence of Treaty Relationality ................................................. 127 Chapter 3 – Dimensions of Treaty Relationality ............................................................ 131 Treaties as Sacred Covenants ...................................................................................... 133 Nation-to-Nation Agreements ..................................................................................... 144 Nationhood .............................................................................................................. 145 Non-Subordination .................................................................................................. 151 As Long as the Sun Shines, the Grass Grows and the Rivers Flow ............................ 157 Continuity ............................................................................................................... 158 Renewal ................................................................................................................... 162 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 167 Chapter 4 – Treaties and Indigenous Governance .......................................................... 170 Background ................................................................................................................. 172 Making Space for Indigenous Legal and Political Principles ..................................... 176 Institutions .............................................................................................................. 178 Individuals ............................................................................................................... 182 Ideas ........................................................................................................................ 192 Issues ....................................................................................................................... 196 Relations as Constitutive ............................................................................................. 200 v Reflections & Outcomes ............................................................................................. 209 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 211 Chapter 5 – Treaties and Inter-Societal Engagement ..................................................... 215 Treaties and Jurisdictional Questions ......................................................................... 216 Living “a good life” .................................................................................................... 220 To Engage with Open Ears, Mind, and Heart ............................................................. 228 Consultation & Consent .............................................................................................. 232 Third parties ................................................................................................................ 242 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 244 Chapter 6 – Relational Accountability and the Interplay of Individual and Collective Interests ........................................................................................................................... 251 Relationality and the Constitution of Individual Subjectivity .................................... 252 Negotiating the Individual/Collective Dichotomy ...................................................... 254 Accountability to Difference within Collectives .......................................................