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		ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR AMERINDIANS

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EDAI presents information
about the overall situation
of Amerindian People...

Conditions for aboriginal economic development have traditionally not been in favour of aboriginal peoples.

Outside power and interests are guiding to a large extent the decisions of non-native politicians, business and organizations, with decision- making processes that are not always transparent.

Even in democracies like the US or Canada, public policy and government actions have often hindered the economic development aspirations of First Nations.


	*To combine economic development and sustainable practices is an idea everybody would agree with.* *Considering Northamerican forestry, it’s still exceptional...* EDAI knows about the activities of the Menominee Tribal Enterprises in Wisconsin,USA, the Whitefeather Forest Corporation in Northem Ontario and the Nuxalk Nation in British Columbia, Canada. Interestingly, the three enterprises which are in the process of bridging economy and sustainability are Native. Their philosophy and work has its roots in their Aboriginal culture, in hundreds of years of their ancestors experience and philosophy. One would expect environmental organizations to consider carefully both the sustainable traditions and the pioneering concepts of those native enterprises, before imposing theoretical standards on those proven specialists. But this is still the exception...

	Worth reading: Cornell, Stephen and Joseph P. Kalt. *"Reloading the Dice: Improving the Chances for Economic Development on American Indian Reservations."*

Canadian forestry:
A conflict of ideologies
ignoring First Nations unique input
(read Ma-Mook Coulson Gazette on PDF)

Big business:

Unlimitled economic development,
too often with disregard for nature
and First Nations:

- Clearcutting of forests,
- Oilsand-exploitation in Alberta
- Uranium-mining in Saskatchewan
and Ontario

Environmental NGO's:

Rigid standards,
“don’t touch” total protection
in Wilderness parks

The differences between
First Nations and
Environmental NGO's
forestry principles
have economic consequences:

Forestry in the First nations's way risks not being certified by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), if it doesn’t conform to Environmental NGO's principles.
That means

- lower prices,

- fear of buyers
"to be brandmarked as being against ecology",

- or only a restricted license, making a First Nation's economic venture economically unfeasible

- which by in itself is reason enough
for not receiving FSC- certification.

Total protection is thus perceived by First Nations
as one more imposed extreme, disregarding unique traditional know- how.

The intent is to harvest timber,
wisely and respectfully,
in a sustainable way.

An existing example of Native sustainable forestry in the US
“Through careful planning, sustainable forest practices, and a respect for the land, the Menominee Forest remains a central part of Menominee life and economy. Many visitors perceive the Menominee Forest as pristine and untouched. In reality, it has been one of the most intensively managed tracts of forest in the Western Hemisphere.
Visitors to the Reservation will appreciate the wisdom of the Menominee people in cherishing their forest. Nowhere else in Wisconsin can you drive along miles of highway lined with towering old white pines. Over the last 140 years the Menominee have removed two billion board feet oflumber. Even so, the volume of sawtimber now is greater than in 1854 when the Wolf River Treaty created the present Menominee Reservation”.
Read more (PDF)...

Click to read about a new project of Native sustainable forestry
(the Whitefeatehr Forest Initiative of Pikangikum First Nation
http://www.whitefeatherforest.com


	picture: from www.whitefeatherforest.com website


	website updated March12th 2010


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