What the Border Divides: Settler Geographies and the Making of the Northwest Territories
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WHAT THE BORDER DIVIDES: SETTLER GEOGRAPHIES AND THE MAKING OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES by MARK STOLLER B.A. Hons., University of Toronto, 2006 M.A., McMaster University, 2011 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Studies) [ Political Science / Geography ] THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2019 © Mark Stoller, 2019 The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: What the Border Divides: Settler Geographies and the Division of the Northwest Territories submitted by Mark Stoller in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies Examining Committee: Michael Byers, Political Science Co-supervisor Matthew Evenden, Geography Co-supervisor Frank Tester, Social Work Supervisory Committee Member Kenneth Coates, History External Examiner Glen Coulthard, Political Science University Examiner Tina Loo, History University Examiner !ii Abstract This dissertation is a critical examination of the historical and political geography of the North- west Territories from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. The study is presented in five body chap- ters, which integrate methods and theories from political geography, settler colonial studies, and northern studies. The study traces the history of Dene political mobilization and resistance to the persistent encroachment upon their lands that resulted from heightened speculation about the mineral and petroleum resources throughout Denendeh, the traditional lands of the Dene. In do- ing so, it links this history to contemporary scholarship that addresses how Indigenous peoples are represented, and how this representation factors into the historical appropriation of Dene lands. The dissertation examines Dene struggle from multiple angles, each of which is used to highlight different aspects of settler colonial relations of power in Canada. These are thematical- ly organized around discussions of time and temporality and their roles in making settler space. Chapters address the politics of postwar Indian Policy as it relates to the Northwest Territories, the expansion of the Mackenzie Highway and the role of Dene labour in it, efforts by Dene to map their historical lands, Dene participation at the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry in the 1970s, and the subsequent period of land claims negotiations of the 1980s. In each of these, longer histories of Dene struggle for treaty rights and land are incorporated with critical discus- sions of economic and political development. The study concludes at the signing of the Nunavut Agreement in 1993, and recounts the various ways that time is a dimension of settler geographies. iii! Lay Summary This dissertation examines the historical evolution of the division of the Northwest Territories between the early postwar period to the early 1990s. The dissertation centres on Denendeh - the traditional and current homelands of Dene in the Western Subarctic - and the Dene struggle to retain authority and control of their lands in light of tremendous economic and political interest and pressure from outside observers. In following the Dene struggle throughout the postwar pe- riod, the dissertation presents broader arguments about the nature of the historical relationship between the Government of Canada and Indigenous peoples. These arguments are thematically organized around discussions of time, and the relationship of time in the context of northern po- litical geography. !iv Preface This dissertation is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Mark Stoller. Fieldwork was covered by UBC BREB certificate #H15-00648, and by a NWT Scientific Re- search Licence (No. 15817) granted by the Aurora Research Institute in the Northwest Territo- ries. Access to the restricted materials of the Dene Nation - including the maps of the Dene/Métis Mapping Project - was granted by the Dene Nation under National Chief Bill Erasmus. v! Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ iii Lay Summary ............................................................................................................................... iv Preface ............................................................................................................................................ v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vii List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ ix Dedication .................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction: How the North Was Known ................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Indians and Eskimos and the Politics of Northern Social Science ............................ 32 Chapter 3: The Mackenzie Highway and the Rhythm of Development ..................................... 66 Chapter 4: The Temporality of the Map: State Claims and the Mapping of Denendeh 105............ Chapter 5: A Choice of Futures: Speaking Around the Pipeline ............................................... 159 Chapter 6: What the Border Divides ......................................................................................... 203 Chapter 7: Conclusion: Beginning Again .................................................................................. 251 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 262 !vi List of Figures 1 Current map of the Northwest Territories.................................................................................... 1 2 Members of the Carrothers Commission present their final report to Arthur Laing................. 46 3 Map of proposed Mackenzie Highway extension .................................................................... 65 3.1 Map of all roads in the northern territories, 1973 .................................................................. 65 3.2 Highway construction north of Fort Providence, 1958 ......................................................... 73 3.3 Map of suggested regions of economic development, 1971 ................................................. 78 3.4 Newspaper clippings from 1922 and 1937 highlighting early treaty conflicts ...................... 85 3.5 Employees of Hire North along the Mackenzie Highway, 1972 ........................................... 93 3.6 Slash roads along the Mackenzie Highway route near Norman Wells, 1974 ........................ 95 4 Map of trails compiled by the Dene/Métis Mapping Project .................................................. 104 4.1 Chief Jimmy Bruneau, 1939 ................................................................................................ 136 4.2 Louis Norwegian and Jimmy Sanguez at the IB-NWT meeting at Rae, 1971..................... 137 4.3 Phoebe Nahanni of the Dene mapping research................................................................... 149 4.4 Trail maps from the Dene mapping research........................................................................ 150 5 Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland, 1977 and 1987 ........................................................ 162 5.1 Presenting the Dene mapping research to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, 1976 ................................................................................................166 6 Map of overlapping land claims in the Northwest Territories, undated .................................. 202 6.1 A map of the overlap corridor between Dene and Inuit claims ............................................ 231 7 A current map of existing and ongoing land, resource and self-government settlements in the Northwest Territories .............................................................................. 250 vii! List of Abbreviations ACND Advisory Committee on Northern Development AFN Assembly of First Nations CARC Canadian Arctic Resources Committee COPE Committee for Original Peoples’ Entitlement DIAND Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development DMMP Dene/Métis Mapping Project DNANR Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources DOJ Department of Justice IB-NWT Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories ILOUP Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project INAC Indian and Northern Affairs Canada ISR Inuvialuit Settlement Region ITC Inuit Tapirisat Canada MANWT Métis Association of the Northwest Territories NCRC Northern Coordination and Research Centre NIB National Indian Brotherhood NSRG Northern Science Research Group NWT Northwest Territories ONC Office of Native Claims TFN Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut NCF Nunavut Constitutional Forum WCF Western Constitutional Forum !viii Acknowledgments I have received support from