First Nations Development Must Be Based on Land

The subjugation of the First Nations peoples by the Anglo-Canadian state is based on the destruction of their economic base. Therefore, the issue of First Nations development must begin with the re-establishment of an economic base. Since a return to a hunter-gatherer economy is not a viable option, a solution which meets the needs of the First Nations peoples of today must be worked out.

The creation of an economy based on gaming does nothing to solve the fundamental economic and social problems facing First Nations peoples. It merely replaces one form of tax revenues with another, thinly-disguised form, while providing only a handful of people with jobs. For the vast majority of First Nations people, it will amount to little more than a new form of welfare income. Inevitably, as revenue from gaming increases, revenue from the federal government will decrease. First Nations peoples will still be dependent on others for their livelihood and a welfare economy will still exist, with all of its inherent indignities and social problems.

The elimination of the second-class status imposed on most First Nations people can only be accomplished through real economic development. This means restoring the ability of First Nations peoples to be primary producers of wealth, which cannot be accomplished without a viable land base and sizeable capital funding.

One of the features of the treaties signed 129 years ago between the Canadian government and the First Nations peoples of what is now Manitoba was the promise that the land ceded to the government would be sold to farmers and the revenues so raised would be used to establish a fund for First Nations economic development. This promise was never fulfilled, as the land was given free to homesteaders and no such fund was created. The federal government should be held to this promise and the resulting could be used by First Nations people to purchase good agricultural land, establish secondary industry and build modern communities.

Another promise made to First Nations people at the time of the signing of the treaties was that any land left undeveloped would return to their jurisdiction. This promise was also broken and the undeveloped Crown land became the economic base of the federal and provincial governments. The honouring of this promise would restore control of undeveloped Crown lands to the First Nations, providing them with a basis for establishing a modern economy and thousands of jobs.

The honouring of the contract between the federal government and the First Nations peoples has nothing to do with charity or sentimentality. Rather, it is a matter of law and justice. It would go a long way towards the elimination of First Nations social problems which stem from systemic poverty and institutionalized discrimination. It would also result in the eradication of the colonial status of First Nations peoples and the creation of new, modern arrangements between the original inhabitants of this land and the descendants of the settlers and other immigrants who comprise the majority of the population.