Indigenous Land Use Studies: Towards a Holistic Concept of Land Use

Kwusen regularly completes Indigenous Land Use Studies (ILUS) with First Nations across British Columbia and Alberta. Indigenous Land Use Studies are a form of social science investigation that brings together community knowledge with ethnographic, archival, and sometimes archaeological information to provide clarity on places and values of cultural, economic, heritage or community importance. This is usually accomplished through the recording of oral historical data and map biographies in interviews with community Elders, knowledge keepers, and sometimes a larger sample of the community.

Land use and occupancy mapping started in the 1970s with a number of First Nations and Inuit organizations preparing for land claims negotiations with the federal government. In the 1990s, in response to the 1993 Delgamuukw v. British Columbia court decision, the governments of both Alberta and British Columbia developed “Traditional Use Study Programs”. Alberta’s program was associated with the Arctic Institute and helped fund There is Still Survival Out There, the first TLUS completed with Fort McKay (Fort McKay First Nation 1994). The Delgamuukw v. British Columbia decision “directed the government to determine whether or not specific Aboriginal Rights would potentially be infringed upon by provincially authorized activities such as the issuing of forest licenses or mining and land development permits” (Markey 1996:7). The use of the term “traditional” in TLUS (and TUS) is a reference to the Court’s understanding of Aboriginal Rights but has been considered problematic by many people. In Living Proof, a Use and Occupancy Mapping methods textbook, Terry Tobias explains,

the governments’ choice of the word “traditional” when naming their programs was unfortunate, because it inadvertently supports stereotypes . . . Governments often approach negotiations and litigations with Aboriginal parties from the perspective of traditionalism, which means “the upholding or maintenance of tradition, especially so as to resist change.” . . . [Whereas] “Tradition” is the “transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation.” The word does not imply cultures are static. Adaptive change is inherent in every tradition. Still, people often mistakenly confuse traditionalism and tradition, to the detriment of Aboriginal peoples (Tobias 2009:33).

Although ILUS are often referred to as Traditional Use Studies (TUS) or Traditional Land Use Studies (TLUS), Kwusen has adopted the term “Indigenous Land Use” as an intentional move away from the term “Traditional,” which can connote “traditionalism,” or the notion that Indigenous cultures are somehow “in the past.” The term Indigenous Land Use (ILU) is intended to convey a more holistic concept of land use that reflects the dynamic nature of Indigenous Rights and culture. Kwusen’s ILUS research methodology reflects this holistic approach by ensuring that the historical, ecological, and cultural values associated with each mapped site identified by a community member are recorded. We recognize that it is only through the meaningful engagement of community members in the research process that a holistic understanding of the connections between land use, history, language, ecology, and culture can be achieved.

References

Fort McKay First Nation 1994 There Is Still Survival Out There: A Traditional Land Use and Occupancy Study of the Fort McKay First Nations. Fort McMurray, AB: Arctic Institute of North America and Canada Alberta Partnership Agreement in Forestry.

Markey, Nola 1996 Data “Gathering Dust”: An Analysis of Traditional Use Studies Conducted within Aboriginal Communities in British Columbia. Master of Arts, Simon Fraser University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Tobias, Terry N. 2009 Living Proof: The Essential Data-Collection Guide for Indigenous Use-and-Occupancy Map Surveys. Vancouver, BC: Ecotrust Canada and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.