Description
Negotiating the Deal: Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements in Canada provides a political science-framed analysis of the factors that explain both completed and incomplete treaty negotiations between First Nations, the Inuit in Quebec and the federal, provincial, and territorial governments of Canada. Since 1973, First Nations and Inuit that have never signed treaties with the Crown negotiated what the government calls “comprehensive land claims agreements,” otherwise known as modern treaties, which formally transfer jurisdiction, ownership, and title over selected lands to Indigenous signatories. Despite their importance, not all Indigenous peoples have completed such agreements – a situation that is problematic not only for governments but for First Nations interested in rebuilding their communities and economies. Using in-depth interviews with Indigenous, federal, provincial, and territorial officials, Christopher Alcantara compares the experiences of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation (with a completed treaty) and the Kaska Nations (with incomplete negotiations) in Yukon Territory, and the Inuit (completed) and Innu (incomplete) in Newfoundland and Labrador. Based on their experiences, Alcantara argues that scholars and policymakers need to pay greater attention to the institutional framework governing treaty negotiations and, most importantly, to the active role that First Nations and Inuit play in these processes.