In the Shadow of Development: The Persistence of First Nations’ Subsistence Economies in the Peace River Country, Canada

With the signing of Treaty 8 (1899), First Nations of the Peace River region of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada were assured that their traditional uses of the land would not be affected by European settlement, and their opportunities to hunt, trap, fish, and gather resources from the land would not be constrained. Notwithstanding those commitments, First Nations have been forced to bear witness to the development of their traditional territories to meet the economic interests of others. These developments have taken the form of agriculture, forestry, hydroelectric, and the burgeoning energy industry that have collectively threatened the continuance of First Nations’ subsistence economies.

Whereas subsistence includes the harvesting, processing, sharing, consuming of traditional foods, these activities are embedded within a culture system that includes norms, social relationships, worldviews, identities, and environmental knowledge that give subsistence meaning. It is the potential loss of these cultural values that motivated a research partnership between the University of Saskatchewan and the Little Red River Cree, Saulteau First Nations, and the McLeod Lake Indian Band; a collaboration premised on the co-production of knowledge aimed at advancing the territorial rights and interests of First Nations.

At the outset of the research, First Nations leaders called upon the research team to ensure that whatever research was conducted it could not be dismissed as anecdotal or based merely on grievance. Rather the team was directed to develop new participatory tools that not only quantified past and future impacts of resource development, but would do so in visual, testable, and indubitable ways. It was with this direction that our collaborative research has been carried out.

The applied contribution of this research is a more dynamic understanding of how extractive industries are affecting the subsistence economies of First Nations, which is allowing for targeted interventions to be developed that support community food systems. These strategies are central to the ongoing efforts of First Nations to reestablish sovereignty over their traditional food systems, which is fundamental to the restorative justice necessary for meaningful reconciliation.

This research exemplifies the benefits of anthropological praxis (knowledge to action), where theories of food production are being used to inform a suite of applied research methods that together are advancing the territorial rights of First Nations in the Peace River region of Canada.