Land Decolonized Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Send us a text

Chief Scott McLeod of Nipissing First Nation says his communty and most other First Nations have been disrupted by the process of colonization and are trying to find their way back.

This includes what has been described as a crisis – the lack of enforcement of First Nations laws.

He told host Richard Perry that so-called "Crown' land, where his people have been sustained for centuries, can no longer continue to be withheld from the true rights holders.


Links:

• Contact Chief McLeod by email: scottm@nfn.ca
• Nipissing First Nation website
• 2023 Conference on Enforcing First Nation Laws website for updates and resources
• First Nations Land Management Resource Centre website

Send us a text

Tim Raybould is one of Canada's leading consultants in First Nations policy and governance.

For over twenty-five years Tim has provided professional advice to First Nations and Indigenous organizations in Canada and has been directly involved in a number of Indigenous–led sectoral and comprehensive governance initiatives.

Tim was Westbank First Nation’s self-government negotiator and remains active in title and rights issues for Westbank including participating in reconciliation negotiations with the Crown as part of the Okanagan Nation. He has been a senior advisor to the BC Assembly of First Nations and co-authored the BCAFN governance toolkit: a guide to nation building. Tim is the senior policy advisor to the First Nations Finance Authority and has worked with the First Nations Tax Commission, the First Nations Land Management Board and the former National Centre for First Nations Governance. He is also a faculty member for the Banff Centre’s Aboriginal Leadership and Management program.

Raybould encourages First Nations leaders to keep fighting for self-government and the establishment of First Nations courts within their own Indigenous justice systems. He sat down with host Richard Perry prior to delivering his address at the 2023 National Conference on the Enforcement of First Nation Laws.

Links:
Tim Raybould on LinkedIn
2023 Conference website for updates and resources
First Nations Land Management Resource Centre website

Send us a text

Jasmine Pouce Coupe has some advice for First Nations considering adopting their own land codes to take control of their lands and resources. Communicate well, and often! Repeat important messages to your community members.

Jasmine is helping guide Doig River First Nation, near Fort St. John, BC, as it develops a community-based land code. Has the effort been worth it? Absolutely, she says, and even more important now that Doig River has signed a Land Entitlement Agreement after 23-years of negotiation, a deal that will see a new urban reserve and new business development.

As she told host Richard Perry, she is incredibly proud of the community's accomplishments.

Episode runs 20:36.

Land Decolonized was ranked #1 in Apple Canada's non-profit directory in May 2021. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts.

LINKS
To reach Jasmine by email: jpoucecoupe@doigriverfn.com
Doig River First Nation website
Land Management Resource Centre website

Send us a text

Kim Guerin learned from an early age that a small First Nation could take on the Canadian government and win.

Her father spearheaded a legal battle over lease rights that went to the Supreme Court. R v Guerin affirmed that Ottawa has a fiduciary duty to a First Nation, that it is in a position of trust to act on the First Nation's best interests.

Musqueam is also part of the growing Land Code movement in Canada. It managed its own lands and resources in one of the most populated urban centres in Canada...the heart of Vancouver.

Ms. Guerin spoke with host Richard Perry about pride in community and why she sees land and sovereignty as critical pieces of Musqueam's future.

LINKS:
Musqueam Indian Band
First Nations Land Management Resource Centre
R. v Guerin Supreme Court decision

Send us a text

In this episode, land management trainee Bart Metansinine talks about his community of Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek (AZA), which was once known as the Lost Nation. By signing onto the Framework Agreement on First Nations Land Management, Bart says his community can move forward with development that will attract members home.

He credits fellow band staff members, Land Management Resource Centre staff and Dokis First Nation Chief Gerry Duquette, Jr. for their mentorship during his journey from working in the woods to a career in carpentry and now land management.

Links:
AZA website
Land Management Resource Centre
Episode 2  with Chief Gerry Duquette, Jr,  Dokis First Nation
Bart Metansinine email: bartm@aza.ca
John Makson, Exec. Producer, email: podcast@labrc.com

Send us a text

In this episode, you'll meet Tania Solonas, land management officer with the McLeod Lake Indian Band. With about 500 members, MLIB is one of the most experienced First Nations with the land code process, being the second in the province and among the first in Canada to sign onto the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management.

You'll discover:

• how the Band's addition to Treaty 8 in 2000 sparked interest in the land code;
• why having a land code isn't a one-shot deal; it can be modified over time;
• challenges exist even with a land code. Some community priorities can still wait years for implementation;
• why the community sees a need to ratify an amendment this year to address enforcement issues;
• where McLeod Lake Indian Band sees future development opportunities beyond the current Duz Cho Group of Companies.

For more information, visit www.mlib.ca. Please comment wherever you listen to this podcast. You can also send comments or suggestions to our executive producer John Makson at podcast@labrc.com or host Richard Perry at podcast@richardperry.ca

Send us a text

Show Notes

Down...but not out!

On this episode of the Land Decolonized podcast, Jordon Hatton shares the incredible comeback story of Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabeck, an Ojibwa First Nation in Ontario. Its land was taken by the province in the 1940s to make a provincial park, but was eventually returned so a new reserve could be created.

Jordan is Director of Economic Development. He shares the sad history of the dispossession, but the modern climate that saw the land returned, a reserve created, and a Land Code passed by the community in 2014.

Key topics:

• Location and history of Sand Point First Nation
• The rationale for signing onto the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management
• Key goals in community and land planning
• Forecasting potential economic opportunities and residential development

Links:

Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabeck
First Nations Lands Management Resource Centre

Jordan Hatton's email: jhatton@bnafn.ca

Send us a text

With the 2021 annual general meeting right around the corner, Lands Advisory Board Chair Robert Louie joins host Richard Perry for a thorough review of current challenges and opportunities around the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, including the Covid pandemic, fires and floods in western Canada, and the ongoing delays over a key legislative change needed in Ottawa.

Robert offers his personal take on:

• what de-colonization means on the road to economic and political independence;
• his frustration over political delays on necessary legislative reform;
• his appreciation for regional Resource Centre staff who have worked through difficult circumstances while serving land code communities;
• the need for greater public education on  reconciliation and the value of economic empowerment of First Nations.
• the importance of resisting colonial mindsets and lingering practices.
  
  Links:
• Long Plain First Nation and Canada settle 100-year-old land sales dispute for $32 million (CBC News article mentioned in our conversation)
• First Nation Lands Management Resource Centre
• Framework Agreement on First Nations Land Management FAQs
• Land Decolonized podcast page on FNLMRC website

SHOW IDEAS? Contact John Makson, executive producer: podcast@labrc.com or landdecolonized@labrc.com.  Contact Richard Perry, host: podcast@richardperry.ca

Send us a text

Respected elder Albert Marshall, Sr. joins Richard to talk about his lifelong quest to protect the environment in the face of continued demands to use Indigenous lands and resources for economic development.

He discusses the two important concepts of Two-Eyed Seeing and Netukulimk and how they can help reach consensus on the best path forward. To Albert, it's all about talking with one another and listening deeply.

LINKS:

Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources home page
Concept of Netukulimk explained
Article: Did Eels Change the Course of History?
First Nations Land Management Resource Centre

2021 Virtual Annual General Meeting details - Dec. 14/15, 2021

Send us a text

SHOW NOTES:
1:24   Ty describes the rationale for his community entering the Land Code process.
2:49   Having a land code has cleared up some confusion and potential conflicts of interest around land use.
5:44   Ty's background in environmental and soil sciences is ideal for his current work as reserve land manager. His work experience began up north.
8:35 Land codes are always a work in progress, but environmental protection is in the draft stage for all 19 reserves, ensuring that quality of lands is sacrosanct and that violations will lead to stuff penalties. No longer 'the wild west.'
12:17  Talks are underway to explore Treaty 6 agricultural benefits, more commonly referred to 'Cows and Plows'. Chief and council taking the lead on this.
13:55   A huge benefit is being able to take advantage of owning huge tracts of agricultural land - about 35,000 acres that is rented out. That revenue is no longer controlled by Indigenous Services Canada.
15:35   Lac La Ronge Indian Band has stepped in to help with emergency relief for homeless people in the tri-communities area.
19:12.  Ty comments on a recent award to Chief Tammy Cook-Searson by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.
21:09. The community is launching ground radar searching for the graves of those lost in two residential schools in the area.
22:31   Ty describes the emotional difficulties when talking about de-colonizing, the need to be heard and recognized so people can hear the truth, that there will no reconciliation without the truth. He says Land Code can help.
25:01.  He has been fortunate in his own life to succeed in the outside education, but has benefited from traditional teaching, so has seen himself walking in two worlds.
26:51. Ty has exciting news about the birth of their first son, Watson Edward Roberts!
28:00. His contact: ty.roberts@llrib.ca. The band also has an active website and Facebook page which has current info including job postings.
28:51  Richard's extra and call-to-action to visit labrc.com for current news and important upcoming online events.

LINKS:
Ty Roberts email - ty.roberts@llrib.ca
Lac La Ronge Indian Band website
Lac La Ronge Indian Band Facebook page
First Nations Land Management Resource Centre website