Tag Archives: land claims

4.5: Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada – Map Room

Website: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1290453474688/1290453673970#h4

This website section is part of a much larger Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada website. This post is about the “Map Room” section specifically. This site includes a plethora of maps on Canadian First Nation communities and topics. Map topics range from census information, information about K-12 schools on reservations, and the distribution of residential school survivor settlements by province. Two interactive maps that I found particularly interesting were:

First Nation Profiles Interactive Map: Lists First Nations in Canada. By clicking on First Nation icon on the map, you can view demographic information about the First Nation. Furthermore, many also include links to community run websites.

Interactive Map on Specific Claim Settlements: Successful land claims are represented as orange dots on the map. Clicking on the dots reveals the name of the claim, the settlement date, the dollar amount of the settlement, and the province. This is useful for seeing where claims have been made and for what reasons.

These maps are excellent for use in a Canadian History or a Global Issues classroom.

4.2: Agreements, Treaties, and Negotiated Settlements Project

Website: Agreements, Treaties, and Negotiated Settlements Project

http://www.atns.net.au/

This organization began as an Australia Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project, and has to date conducted three major research projects. These projects focus primarily on the relationship between the Australian government and indigenous Australians. The projects are:

2002- Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements with Indigenous Peoples in Settler States; their Role and Relevance.

2006- The Implementation of Agreements and Treaties with Indigenous and Local Peoples in Postcolonial States.

2010 – Poverty in the Midst of Plenty: Economic Empowerment, Wealth Creation and Institutional Reform for Sustainable Indigenous and Local Communities.

In addition to this research, the site includes a plethora of information relating to agreements that have been made between indigenous peoples and governments in Australia and globally. One particularly useful feature is a Latest News feed, which provides “land-claim” related stories from around the world. This feature is useful because in addition to the link, it provides background context and a short summation. ATNS also hosted a major symposium in June of 2013 focusing on indigenous and land claims issues in Australia. Many of the conference sessions are available for online streaming. Topics include “Co-management: agreement making for Cultural and Economic Sustainability” and “Getting the Benefit from Delivering Benefits: Relationship Building in Native Title Negotiations”.

Union of BC Indian Chiefs

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs states their mandate as being “to support projects that promote and provide practical education, conduct community-grounded research, disseminate knowledge and support grassroots project of BC First Nations communities.” A lot of the links at this site are broken (it appears as though they are transitioning to the new site) but the online resources links still work, and there are a number of interesting resources available here. Also, the UBCIC Research site contains useful information relating to specific land claims research (note that the research is directed by the First Nation, with all the information gathered remaining the property of the First Nation). They have also produced a comprehensive research manual.

3.5: Indigenous Maps, Films, and Land Claims Certificate

Indigenous Maps, Films, and Land Claims Certificate

In my research on indigenous film, I stumbled upon this intriguing certificate offered by the University of Fraser Valley. The three-course certificate aims to provide learners with a deeper understanding of the land claims process. In the first course, students study the practical challenges of creating maps to support land claims. In the second course, students study how film, other forms of representational media, and direct action can bring attention to land claims issues. In the third course, students embed themselves in Stó:lõ culture to study the Stó:lõ Nation’s legal, political, and economic land struggles.