As Long as the Rivers Run
Hydroelectric Development and Native Communities
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Author:
Ebook

In past treaties, the Aboriginal people of Canada surrendered title to their lands in return for guarantees that their traditional ways of life would be protected. Since the 1950s, governments have reneged on these commitments in order to acquire more land and water for hydroelectric development. James B. Waldram examines this controversial topic through an analysis of the politics of hydroelectric dam construction in the Canadian Northwest, focusing on three Aboriginal communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. He argues that little has changed in our treatment of Aboriginal people in the past hundred years, when their resources are still appropriated by the government “for the common good.” Using archival materials, personal interviews and largely inaccessible documents and letters, Waldram highlights the clear parallel between the treatment of Aboriginal people in the negotiations and agreements that accompany hydro development with the treaty and scrip processes of the past century.
About James B. Waldram
James B. Waldram is a medical anthropologist at the University of Saskatchewan.
Table of Contents
Cover | 1 |
---|---|
Contents | 8 |
Maps | 11 |
Preface | 12 |
Acknowledgements | 18 |
1 Hydroelectric Development and Native People in Canada | 22 |
Hydroelectric Development from Coast to Coast | 26 |
2 Treaties, Scrip and the Alienation of Native Lands in Western Canada | 38 |
Politics and Leadership in the Pre-Treaty Period | 39 |
Prelude to the Western Canadian Treaty Era | 44 |
The Treaty-Making Process | 48 |
Treaty Five: A Brief Case Study | 58 |
The Métis and the Scrip Commissions | 65 |
The Community of Cumberland House | 74 |
3 Cumberland House and the Squaw Rapids Dam | 74 |
Community History | 75 |
The Squaw Rapids Dam | 77 |
Consideration of Downstream Effects | 80 |
The Community View of the Dam Proposal | 83 |
Emerging Problems | 84 |
The Churchill River Study | 89 |
More Study – No Action | 91 |
Legal Action | 93 |
Mediation | 97 |
The Community of Easterville | 100 |
4 Easterville and the Grand Rapids Dam | 100 |
Community History | 101 |
The Grand Rapids Dam | 104 |
The Grand Rapids Forebay Administration Committee | 104 |
Land Surrender and Site Selection | 107 |
Negotiating Away a Home | 112 |
The Role of the Federal Government | 118 |
The Forebay Agreement: A Letter of Intent | 120 |
Legal Action | 125 |
The Special Forebay Committee: A Native Reaction | 128 |
5 South Indian Lake and the Churchill River Diversion Project | 134 |
The Community of South Indian Lake | 134 |
Community History | 135 |
The Churchill River Diversion Project | 137 |
Anachronism in a Technological Age | 139 |
Negotiations and Public Hearings | 140 |
New Government – Same Old Story | 151 |
Legal Action | 155 |
Appeal to the Federal Government | 156 |
"Just People of Manitoba" | 161 |
Divide and Conquer: The Age-Old Strategy | 163 |
The Northern Flood Committee | 166 |
The Northern Flood Committee's Legal Action | 170 |
A Clash of Democracies | 173 |
The Panel of Public Enquiry into Northern Hydro Development | 175 |
The Northern Flood Agreement: A "Charter of Rights and Benefits" | 177 |
The Commission of Inquiry into Manitoba Hydro | 181 |
After the Flood: Negotiations and Compensation | 183 |
The Augmented Flow Dispute | 186 |
6 Conclusion | 190 |
Treaties and Dams: For the "Common Good" | 190 |
How Common is the "Common Good"? | 198 |
Appendix 1: Treaty No. Five | 204 |
Appendix 2: The Forebay Agreement | 212 |
Appendix 3: Manitoba Hydro's 1969 Compensation Proposal for South Indian Lake | 222 |
Bibliography | 224 |
Notes | 232 |
Index | 258 |
A | 258 |
B | 258 |
C | 259 |
D | 260 |
E | 261 |
F | 261 |
G | 262 |
H | 262 |
I | 263 |
J | 264 |
K | 264 |
L | 264 |
M | 265 |
N | 267 |
O | 267 |
P | 268 |
Q | 268 |
R | 268 |
S | 268 |
T | 271 |
U | 272 |
V | 272 |
W | 272 |
Y | 272 |
Book details
- Publisher
- University of Manitoba Press
- Categories
- Native American, Post-Confederation (1867-), Sociology
- Published
- November 1993
- Pages
- 272
- Chapters
- 87
- Language
- English
- ISBN Paper
- 9780887556319
- ISBN PDF
- 9780887553134