The road to self-determination
Sustainability – people, environment and economics
The road to self-determination
An interview with Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus
By Dene Skylar
In 1970 the Indian Brotherhood of the NWT was incorporated to protect the rights and interests of the Dene of the NWT under Treaty. Long before this political organization was created; the Dene used and occupied their traditional lands without significant disturbance. In the late 1960s and early 1970s increased mineral, oil and gas encroachment on Dene traditional lands as well as public government developments prompted the Dene to organize into a collective organization to protect their interests. In 1978 the Indian Brotherhood of the NWT changed its name to the Dene Nation and continued to advocate for the protection of the environment and Dene interests in political, social and economic development. Native Journal recently met with Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus to ask him about the early days of the Dene Nation and the Dene Nation’s continuing role in the Denendeh/NWT.
Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus
NJ: Indians were given the franchise “right to vote” in federal elections in 1960. What do you remember about this?
Chief Erasmus: “I remember my grandmother wanting to know why they wanted us to vote. My grandmother said we have a Chief, why should we vote. It didn’t make any sense to us because we had our own system and we did not understand theirs. Most of our people chose to abstain but as the 1970’s continued outsiders were getting elected and they had their own agendas so we had to make a conscious choice to participate to get our people in and to get our interests heard. What it meant to me is that if we did not have the vote then we were not Canadians. It was part of assimilation to absorb us into the body politic. There was a huge push when government came north to say we are all northerners. When we did the Dene Declaration in 1975, NWT Commis-sioner Stewart Hodgson was very upset. He wanted us to be Indians but we were not from India and we remained firm that we were Dene.”
NJ: At one time the Dene Nation worked with all Dene Chiefs of the NWT to pursue a Land Claims Settlement Agreement together for the Dene and Métis of the NWT. This process eventually dissolved after some success and changed from a united process into a regional process. What happened to make this change?
Chief Erasmus: “In 1988 an Agreement-In-Principle was signed and we said there were outstanding issues to be resolved. For example, our people made it clear that there would be no extinguishment. In 1990 we signed the Dene-Métis Final Agreement on the condition that other changes would have to be made but other things were happening. Things like the Meech Lake constitutional talks and Oka and I think they knew there were diamonds and they could not envision us owning such rich resources so they (federal government) changed, walked away and changed the claims policy to go regional. When we first started, the Dene were one people. We wanted to in-clude all Dene people but the government said they could not for funding purposes. Can-ada didn’t really have an understanding of who we were as a people.
We stuck to our principles that we were the land owners so how could we accept anything different. The 1990 Dene-Métis Agreement did not get ratified because they could not address our principles at that time.”
NJ: Since the federal claims policy in the north changed to allow for regional land claims three comprehensive land claims agreements on land and resources have been settled in three of the six Dene regions of the NWT. The Dene Nation’s role also changed from being actively involved in claims negotiations to more of an advocate role. What does the Dene Nation do and what is its role today?
Chief Erasmus: “We are still a political organization. We lobby and advocate for our people’s interests in various areas such as protection of the environment, language, health, archives, history, heritage, education and capacity development. We also play a coordinating role by bringing people together. We are the only table for all chiefs to come together to advocate, lobby and communicate for the protection of our people’s rights and interests. The Dene Nation plays a vital role. When we had a Special Assembly in Fort Good Hope (2006) it was clear that the people wanted the Dene Nation to stay together. The Dene Nation respects community and regional interests but works to bring people together at the national level. People said we have to have a central government and a Denendeh Constitution. The key is not to duplicate. When we first started, we helped our communities develop capacity, but we need to be careful not to take on the responsibilities, instead we need to facilitate and coordinate meaningful progress. The Dene Nation is about helping people become self-sufficient.”
NJ: What do you see as the Dene Nation’s priorities in the next few years?
Chief Erasmus: “The Dene Nation will continue to actively advocate for our people’s interests. Some important activities will be to help coordinate the constitutional discussions; focus on Territorial elections and advocate people who run for office to have a vision consistent with our communities and the north; and to advance toward a Constitution by 2010. The key for us is to stay together to advance our interests which is consistent with our Elders and Ancestors vision.”
During the week of July 16-20, 2007 the Dene Nation held its 37th Annual Dene National Assembly in cooperation with the 3rd Annual Tlicho Gathering at Behchoko, Denendeh. Chiefs, leaders and participants from all across Denendeh attended to continue the important work of advancing the rights and interests of the Dene of Denendeh. Mahsi cho to Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus for sharing some of the important work that the Dene Nation is doing. For more detailed information on the Dene Nation contact www.denenation .com
Sustainability – people, environment and economics
Much has been written over the last couple of years regarding Corporate ‘Triple Bottom Line’ performance. An interesting term… Triple Bottom Line, one which is intended to capture the three fundamentals of ‘economic, environmental and social’ performance, or more simply stated by some as ‘Profit, Planet & People’. These dimensions are actually interrelated and interdependent, and are more than just performance indicators. They should run deep to the core values of any company or project.
Avalon Ventures Ltd. has clearly embraced these values and will clearly demonstrate them as it initiates an in-fill drilling program on the Lake Zone Rare Earth Element (REE) deposit at the Thor Lake Rare Metals Project in the Northwest Territories. The program is designed to define the higher grade REE sub-zones identified from the 2005-6 sampling programs and define a new indicated resource. The program has a preliminary budget of $1,100,000. In addition, the company has budgeted a minimum of $170,000 for environmental remediation work related to historical development work at the North T deposit, as well as community consultation work The program is scheduled to commence in the late July having recently receiving the requisite permits. This environmental work will be carried out concurrently with the drilling. A second phase winter drilling program is planned for early 2008.
Avalon had been consulting and working with local Aboriginal communities since 2005, as part of its desire and commitment to learning as much as it could and to address any concerns prior to the company filing its application for a land use permit. These consultations were conducted with a broad range of communities such as Yellowknives Dene First Nations, Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation, Deninu Ku’e First Nation, Fort Resolution Metis Council, and the North Slave Metis Alliance. These discussions have introduced Avalon’s desire to work toward negotiating participation agreements with impacted First Nations. In some respects, Avalon aspires to build on a participation model implemented by Polaris Minerals Corporation for engagement of several Vancouver Island First Nations in its gravel quarry projects, and for which they won an award from the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada in March 2007.
The basic framework of this model involves placing the mineral title into a private company in which the First Nation(s) become shareholders, a creative alternative to the more common IBA/royalty agreement structure. In the Polaris case, the First Nation was offered and assumed a 10% interest - financed through a debt arrangement where the cost was to be re-paid from the First Nations share of future production revenues. The proposed model not only offers First Nations the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to the upside of asset appreciation, but just as importantly, provides opportunities through board or management participation to have direct involvement in the operation, and direct input on environmental, health and safety policy.
As noted earlier, the three dimensions of the triple bottom line are not mutually exclusive. There will always be a delicate balance when viewing each of these dimensions and the three together… respecting that all views will very well differ based on the values, perspectives, and experience of the engaged group or individual.
Avalon Ventures has found that through effective and regular consultation, transparency, inclusiveness, consistency, and timeliness, much can be learned, understood and appreciated. This approach can only benefit the company and the communities with which it lives and works, in defining, shaping and delivering projects and programs that enable a healthy future.
Avalon fully recognizes and respects that it takes time to build consensus and support in many communities. Consultation is a continuing process where trust is built by proving one’s commitment. The junior mining industry is just starting to embrace the principles of environmental sustainability and social responsibility. It takes leadership by pioneers like Avalon Ventures Ltd. to show the way for the rest of the mineral exploration community before these principles are generally accepted.