Protecting Place Through Community Alliances: Haida Gwaii Responds to the Proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Project
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Protecting Place Through Community Alliances: Haida Gwaii Responds to the Proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Project by Valine Crist BA, University of British Columbia, 2008 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Anthropology Valine Crist, 2012 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 Protecting Place Through Community Alliances: Haida Gwaii Responds to the Proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Project by Valine Crist BA, University of British Columbia, 2008 Supervisory Committee Dr. Brian Thom, Department of Anthropology Supervisor Dr. Ann Stahl, Department of Anthropology Departmental Member Dr. Judith Sayers, Faculty of Business and Law Outside Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Brian Thom, Department of Anthropology Supervisor Dr. Ann Stahl, Department of Anthropology Departmental Member Dr. Judith Sayers, Faculty of Business and Law Outside Member This research contributes to the emerging dialogue concerning power relationships and the alliances that are challenging current frameworks in an attempt to create positive change. Worldwide, local people in rural places are threatened by development paradigms and conflicting social, political, economic, and ecological values. Large-scale development, such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project (NGP), provide a tangible example of our failing systems and make the interplay of these elements palpable. Increasingly, communities are coalescing to challenge the current models and economically motivated agendas threatening Indigenous sovereignty and local lifeways. Central to these coalitions are Indigenous peoples who are aligning with non-Indigenous neighbours to renegotiate power relationships. This research examines these dynamic alliances and uses Haida Gwaii’s resistance to the NGP as an example of the formidable strength of community coalitions mobilized by intersecting values. To contextualize the NGP within the broader discourse, I problematize Canada’s environmental assessment process and consider how media portrays the growing resistance to the proposed project. Drawing on information presented through the environmental assessment, I analyze the main messages and shared values of Haida Gwaii citizens opposed to the NGP. This thesis focuses on this unanimous and galvanizing resistance, which is largely motivated by the reliance on local food sources and an embodied connection to Haida Gwaii shared by Island citizens. The continued denial of Aboriginal title and rights was inherent throughout this consideration and is an underlying theme throughout the analyses. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee.................................................................................................... ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents............................................................................................................. iv List of Figures .................................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgments........................................................................................................... vii Dedication....................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1 – Setting the Stage for the Proposal.............................................................. 1 Indigenous Peoples Pushing Back ............................................................................... 2 The Proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Project ................................................. 4 An Alliance of Opposition............................................................................................ 6 Haida Gwaii: a Snapshot for Context......................................................................... 7 Research Objective, Purpose, and Questions............................................................. 9 Project Layout and Chapters .................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2 – Environmental Assessments: Unapologetically Colonial Processes...... 14 About Federal Environmental Assessments............................................................. 14 Our Colonial State ...................................................................................................... 19 Aboriginal Title and Rights: Consultation and Accommodation........................... 20 Canada’s Flaws and Failings ..................................................................................... 25 Colliding Ontologies ................................................................................................... 28 Power and Knowledge................................................................................................ 31 Closing Comments...................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 3 – Methods ...................................................................................................... 35 Media Analysis............................................................................................................ 35 Discourse Analysis: Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel .................................. 37 Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel Testimonies ................................................ 37 Limitations................................................................................................................ 43 Positionality................................................................................................................. 46 Chapter 4 – The Enbridge Northern Gateway Narrative........................................... 50 Constructing ‘the Indian’ and Considering the ‘Noble Savage’ ............................ 51 The Gitxsan First Nation Unity Movement.............................................................. 52 Framing ....................................................................................................................... 55 Racial Framing.......................................................................................................... 56 Problematizing the Noble Savage and Appropriating the Frame ............................. 57 Categorizing the Categorized: Tree Huggers, Meet the Noble Savages ................ 58 Forging Alliances...................................................................................................... 59 v The Northern Gateway Protagonists and the Frames ............................................... 60 Power, Representation, and Voice ............................................................................ 66 Oliver’s Radical Rhetoric ......................................................................................... 66 Changing the Federal Environmental Assessment ................................................... 67 Freedom Train 2012 ................................................................................................. 69 Closing Comments...................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 5 – Food for Thought: Sustenance, Health and Identity.............................. 73 Considering Food Security: Globally, Nationally, and Indigenously .................... 74 Food for Sustenance and Subsistence....................................................................... 79 Subsistence and a Mixed Economy .......................................................................... 82 Health and Nutrition .................................................................................................. 83 Food, a Cultural Imperative ...................................................................................... 86 Traditional Reliance on Island Foods ....................................................................... 88 Social Cohesion: Informal and Formal Food Sharing .............................................. 89 Food as a Tool for Teaching and Learning............................................................... 92 Food for Individual and Collective Identities........................................................... 94 Closing Comments...................................................................................................... 95 Chapter 6 – Sense of Belonging and Protecting Place................................................. 99 An Introduction to Space, Dwelling, Landscape, and Place................................... 99 Indigenous Belonging ............................................................................................... 105 A Shared Sense of Belonging ................................................................................... 111 Power and Protecting Place ..................................................................................... 117 Closing Comments.................................................................................................... 123 Chapter 7 – Weaving it All Together.......................................................................... 126 Title and Rights, Colliding Ontologies, and Bridging the Gap............................. 127 Different Ways of Knowing