PhD Dissertation, Anthropology, McGill U., 2005

This study addresses the question of the nature of indigenous people's connection to the land, and the implications of this for articulating these connections in legal arenas where questions of Aboriginal title and land claims are at issue.  The idea of 'place' is developed, based in a phenomenology of dwelling which takes profound attachments to home places as shaping and being shaped by ontological orientation and social organization.  In this theory of the 'senses of place', the author emphasizes the relationships between meaning and power experienced and embodied in place, and the social systems of property and territory that forms indigenous land tenure systems.  To explore this theoretical notion of senses of place, the study develops a detailed ethnography of a Coast Salish Aboriginal community on southeast Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.  Through this ethnography of dwelling, the ways in which places become richly imbued with meanings and how they shape social organization and generate social action are examined.  Narratives with Coast Salish community members, set in a broad context of discussing land claims, provide context for understanding senses of place imbued with ancestors, myth, spirit, power, language, history, property, territory and boundaries.  The author concludes in arguing that by attending to a theorized understanding of highly local senses of place, nuanced conceptions of indigenous relationships to land which appreciate indigenous relations to land in their own terms can be articulated.

Download the pdf here: http://pages.ca.inter.net/~bthom/

TRIBAL BOUNDARIES IN THE NASS WATERSHED
by Neil J. Sterritt et al.

This book serves as a contribution to understanding how First nations traditionally establish their rights to territory and how these rights are played out in the context of treaty negotiations. The book was written as part of negotiations between the Gitksan and the Nisga'a who have competing territorial claims of ownership in the upper Nass River watershed.

You can preview this book here: http://books.google.ca/books?id=1-CWBVHIhh8C

UBC Press, Vancouver, BC, Canada:
http://www.ubcpress.ca/search/title_book.asp?BookID=1630

This toolkit was developed by the First Nations Environmental Assessment Technical Working Group (FNEATWG).

The purpose of this toolkit is to assist First Nations in British Columbia (BC) whose Aboriginal rights and title and treaty rights may be affected by a project undergoing an EA. This toolkit is designed primarily for First Nations leadership, employees and communities. It is meant to provide information and practical advice that will help First Nations participate effectively in EA processes. It is hoped that this toolkit will help your First Nation develop strategies and decision-making processes that benefit your community and result in favourable outcomes from EAs.

The document is written primarily from a First Nation perspective. However, it also provides information on the perspectives of other participants in the EA process including project proponents, government regulators and decision-makers.

The underlying theme of this toolkit is full engagement in any EA process relevant to your community. It is only through effective participation that your First Nation can influence the EA process and outcome. By understanding the EA process, legislation, participating actively and having effective strategies, you are more likely to accurately represent your First Nation‘s interests.

Please visit the FNEATWG website to download an order form for the toolkit: http://www.fneatwg.org/toolkit.html