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Claiming the City: Co-operation and Making the Deal in Urban Comprehensive Land Claims Negotiations in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2009

Christopher Alcantara  and
Jen Nelles
Christopher Alcantara*
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University
Jen Nelles*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Christopher Alcantara, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, calcantara@wlu.ca.
Jen Nelles, Innovation System Research Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, jen.nelles@utoronto.ca.
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Abstract

Abstract. Since their introduction in 1973, comprehensive land claims (CLC) agreements have become important mechanisms for Aboriginal peoples to achieve their political, social, cultural, and economic goals. Although the literature on CLC negotiations is a rich and varied one, it has tended to ignore the role that municipal governments have on influencing negotiation outcomes. This lacuna is surprising since a number of treaty negotiations in the Yukon Territory and BC involve lands located in major municipalities. This paper develops a theoretical framework for understanding the influence that municipal governments can have on treaty negotiation outcomes. Using a case study of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation treaty negotiations in the Yukon Territory, we find that institutional and milieu factors are important. However, leadership was the most important and decisive factor.

Résumé. Depuis leur apparition en 1973, les ententes portant sur les revendications territoriales globales sont devenues des mécanismes importants pour les peuples autochtones dans l'atteinte de leurs objectifs politiques, sociaux, culturels et économiques. Bien que la documentation sur ces ententes soit volumineuse et variée, elle tend à ignorer le rôle influent que jouent les administrations municipales lors de telles négociations. Cette lacune est surprenante, dans la mesure où plusieurs de ces traitésconcernaient des territoires situés dans des zones urbaines d'importance de la Colombie-Britannique et du Yukon. Cet article vise à développer un cadre théorique pour mieux comprendre l'influence des administrations municipales dans le dénouement de négociations territoriales. En utilisant l'étude de cas des négociations de la Première nation de Kwanlin Dün au Yukon, nous constatons l'importance de la structure institutionnelle et communautaire. Cependant, le leadership demeure le facteur le plus crucial lors d'un tel processus.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 705 - 727
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2009

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