The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

Stephen Lerch
75310052
ETEC 521-64a
UBC
Dr. Michael Marker
December 4th, 2015

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

Ifyoutypethewordsaboriginal,educationandtechnologyintoUBClibrarys
searchbarorintoGoogle,youwillgethitswithsomerecurringthemes;generallystudies
determiningtheadvantagesordisadvantagesofmoderntechnologyandhowitaffects
FirstNationspeople.Someolderarticlesfocusonthenegativeconsequencesof
technology,howitdegradessacredinformationandblendswhatwasoncedistinctive
culturesintoonestereotypedgenericideaofapeople(Bowersetal.2000)(Howe,1998),
butthemastmajoritytautitsadvantagesandhowitcanbeutilizedtobetterthe
conditionsofAboriginalpeoples(PirbhaiIllichetal.2009)(Johnston,2008).Thetruthis
thattechnologyisheretostayanditisinfusedintoFirstNationslifewhetherornotthey
likeit,thesmartpeoplearetheoneswhotakeadvantageofit.InCanada,Indigenous
peoplefiguredouthowtoutilizemoderntechnologytotheiradvantageinasuccessful
wayintheearly1980s,andthisassertionhassetthetoneofhowFirstNationsgroupsin
NorthAmericahaveuseditsince.Infact,theFirstNationspeopleinCanadaaresosavvy
atusingtechnology,thattheysettheexampleforotherIndigenouspeoplearoundthe
world.Theiruseoftechnologyhasalsobenefittedsocietyatlargebyhalting
environmentaldestructionasasideeffectoftheirtreatyagreementsandcourtcases.The
examplesbelowgiveanideaofhowthisprocessstartedandhowitcontinuestodayby
reviewingtwocasestudies,onefromHaidaGwaiiandtheLyellIslandBlockade,andthe
otherfromacurrentdisputebetweenBritishColumbia(BC)FirstNationsandEnbridge,
aCanadianenergydeliverycompany.
LyellIsland

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

Inthe1970s,largescale,industrialclearcutloggingwasbecomingcommonin
BC,particularlyinHaidaGwaii.AlthoughmanyHaidapeoplewereemployedbythe
loggingindustry,Chiefs,eldersandcommunityleadersbegantoexpresstheirconcerns
abouthowloggingwasaffectingtheirwayoflife,includingthedestructionofsalmon
spawninggrounds,whichtheyrelyonforfoodandincome.In1974,theSkidegateBand
Councilofficiallyobjectedtoaplantologfor5yearsonLyellIsland,andin1975
commercialloggingbegan.In1980tensionsbuiltastheBCMinisterofForests,Tom
Waterland,encouragedbyloggingcompanylobbyists,announcedthatloggingwould
continueonLyellIsland(VonderPorten,2014),despiteanearlierpromisebythe
PremierDaveBarretttoplaceamoratoriumonlogginginthearea(Takeda,L.,2014).
TheHaidabegantoenlistscientistandphotographerstohelpbeginacampaignto
influencepublicopinion.Theyproducedenoughscientificevidencetoargueforthe
preservationoftheareaonscientificmerit,andcreatedaslideshowcombinedwitha
coffeetablebookcontrastingthelogginginducedlandslideswithcloggedriverstothe
untouchedbeautyofthearea.Despitemanyotherefforts,includingtheformationofthe
WatchmenwhereHaidavolunteerswatchedoversacredoldvillagesites,theapplication
oflandclaimsanddesignatingprotectedareas,loggingcontinued.Aftermuchstallingby
theBCgovernment,theHaidadecidedtoblockadearoadprovidingaccesstoatree
processingsiteonLyellIsland.
Eventhoughthecourtgrantedaninjunctioninfavouroftheloggingcompanies,
theHaidacontinuedtoblockadeaccesstotheisland.Aroundthistime,themediastarted
toshowup;youcanseeaCBCnewsreportonNovember2nd,1985showingtheblockade

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

andloggersarguingwithHaida(Tremel,1985).Themediadocumentedthearrestsof
severalHaidaEldersdressedinceremonialgarbandeventuallyoverthenextfewweeks
thearrestsofseventytwoblockaders,makingtheLyellIslandBlockadeadailynews
itemforseveralweeks.Themediacoverageswungpublicopinioninthefavourofthe
Haida,andtheresultingpressurecausedtheprovincetorelentandsigntheSouth
MoresbyNationalParkAgreement.ThiseventuallyledtothesigningoftheGwaii
Haanasagreementin1993,protectingthesouthernhalfoftheHaidaGwaiiislandsasa
park(Takeda,L.,2014).
LyellIslandwasanearlyexampleofFirstNationusinganintelligentand
multifacetedapproachtogaininglandandrights,whiletakingadvantageofmedia
technology.TheagreementreachedoverGwaiiHaanasparkmightneverhavehappened
ifthemediahadnotcoveredtheeventextensively,swayingpublicopinion.AfterLyell
Island,publicopinionwasforeverchanged,andacascadeofnewmediacovered
blockades(Hunter,1989)ledtoagreementsbetweenFirstNationsalloverCanadawith
provincialandfederalgovernments.Inthelate80s,theGitksan,Wetsuweten,Innu,
TemeAugamaAnishnabe,Lubicon,Algonquin,andMikmaqallsuccessfullyblockaded
andgainedtreatyrights.TheHaidathemselvesgainedatleasttenmoresuccessful
agreementsbetween1988and2010.Essentially,theLyellIslandblockadebecamethe
modelforfutureconfrontations,notjustforFirstNations,butalsoforenvironmental
groups(VonderPorten,2014).Theeffectoftheseblockadeswastheprotectionoftheir
ownrights,andtheyinadvertentlyprovidedcriticalprotectionfortheenvironment.The
Haidastumbledonavaluabletool,whichwastheuseofmedia,andquicklytook

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

advantageofit.Today,thirtyoneyearslater,FirstNationsinCanadahavebecome
expertsinusingtechnologytoprotecttheirinterests.

TheEnbridgeCase
Today,wecanseehowFirstnationsinCanadahaveincreasedtheiruseof
technologyfromsimplemediacoveragetoawidevarietyofwebbasedcampaigns.This
canbeseenbyexaminingacurrentencounterwhereseveralFirstNationstribeshave
opposedEnbridge,aCanadiancrudeoilandliquidspipelinecompany,frombuildingthe
NorthernGatewayProjectthroughtheirreserveland.TheproposedEnbridgeNorthern
Gatewaywouldhavetransportedmorethen70,000,000litresofpetroleumdailythrough
1172kmbetweenBruderheim,AlbertaandKitimat(BC)(Serviceetal.,2012).Itwould
havealsocrossedtheterritoriesofmorethenfiftyAboriginalcommunities.Thepipeline
wasconsideredimportantbecauseitwouldallowCanadatoexportpetroleumproducts
globallywithouthavingitpassthroughtheUnitedStates.
Thedisadvantagesofthispipelinearemainlyenvironmental;scientistsbelieve
thatapipelinelikethiswouldpushclimatechangebeyondatippingpoint,discourage
alternativeenergy,andincreasetheenvironmentaldestructioninAlberta,wheretheoilis
extracted(McCreary&Milligan2014).Thelikelihoodofarupturefromthepipelines
(twoparallelpipesareproposedbyEnbridge)isveryhigh,whichcouldresultindamage
todownstreamparks,fishbearingrivers,watersheds,andbiologicallysensitiveareas,
mostofwhichareinhardtoaccessareasmakingcleanupeffortsdifficult(Serviceetal.,

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

2012).SincethepipelineswouldpassthoughsomanyAboriginallands,arupturewould
alsodisruptFirstNationsabilitytosustainthemselvesinatraditionalway.
Asareactiontheproposal,eightFirstNationstribesbandedtogethertoformthe
CarrierSekaniTribalCouncil(CSTC)topreventtheprojectfrompassingthroughtheir
territory,theyhavebeenbehindmostoftheresistanceefforts.Onthe8thofSeptember
2010,theCSTCorganizeda500personprotestmarchinPrinceGeorge,BCandlaterin
DecemberanothergroupcalledtheYinkaDeneAllianceissuedtheSavetheFraser
Declaration,gainingthesupportandsignaturesof61FirstNationsTribes(McCreary&
Milligan2014).Youcanseethesignaturesanddeclarationonthewebsite
http://savethefraser.ca/.
Asyousearcharoundonlineaboutthisissue,youwillseethatalmosteverytribe
orcoalitionassociatedwithresistancetoEnbridgehasawebsiterelatinginformation
aboutthemselves,theissuestheyaredealingwith,mediacoveragetheyhavereceived,
pressreleases,andlegaldocuments.Allofthishastheeffectofpublicallydocumenting
conflictsorissuesandholdingcorporationsandpoliticiansaccountable.TheCSTCs
website(http://www.carriersekani.ca/)haspetitions,letterwritingcampaigns,
commercials,webinarpresentations,openletters,platformsforrallies,brochures,
timelines,linkstoothertribeswebsites,waystodonate,Facebookpages,Twitter
accounts,Intagramaccounts,andYouTubechannels.TheYouTubechannelshave
becomeparticularlyinnovativewithinstructionalvideossuchas,howtoblockade
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiVxyLb1hJA),andvideodocumentationof
resistanceefforts.

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

WiththeNorthernGatewayproject,FirstNationsinBCbegantocrowdfund,an
onlinewaytoraisemoney,onewebsite(http://pulltogether.ca/)hasraised$592,000so
farforlegaldefense.OnJune26th,2014theTsilhqotinwonalandtitleclaiminthe
SupremeCourtofCanadathatgavethemexclusiverighttodecidehowtheirterritoryis
usedandthattheBCgovernmentshouldhaveconsultedwiththembeforeallowing
loggingontheirland(TsilhqotinNationv.BritishColumbia,2014).Thiscasewas
monumentalbecausetheTsilhqotinwerenomadicinnature,astatethatusuallydenies
rightstoapieceofland;also,thisrulingcanbecitedforfuturecasessuchasalegal
defenseagainsttheNorthernGatewayProject.Winningcourtcaseslikethistakealotof
money,andcrowdfundingonlinecanhelp.
Becausethisissuegainedsomuchattention,itbecameoneofJustinTrudeaus
electionpromisestoformalizeamoratoriumofoiltankertrafficonBCsnortherncoast,
whichheorderedassoonashebecamePrimeMinister(Trudeau,2015).Theorder
essentiallyendedanychancesofsuccessforthepipelinebecauseOiltankerswere
supposedtoloadthepetroleumfortradeoverseasinKitimat,whichisontheBCcoast.
BCFirstNationhavebecomecompletelyadeptatusingtechnologytopromote
theirrightsandbringawarenesstotheircauses.Itiscommonplaceforhighqualityvideos
toappearonpeoplesFacebookpagesthatdescribeatribespointofviewonanissue
suchasonecalledHaidaGwaii:RestoringtheBalance(Marchfelder,2015).Whatdo
theseabilitieswithtechnologyhavetodowitheducation?
Theskillsneededtoproduceavideo,buildawebsiteorpromoteanideathrough
socialmediaarethesameskillsnecessaryintodaysmodernjobmarket.Young

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

Aboriginalscanseethepositiveimpactthattechnologyhashadontheircommunities,
suchastheonesdescribedabove,andmayfeelinspiredorempoweredtocontinuethese
successes.Astheydoso,theylearntheproficienciesessentialforjobmarkets,making
themselvesvaluableadditions.Anexampleofyouthsuccessfullycreatingavideocanbe
seenbywatchingMarchPoint(Silverstein&Rector,2008),adocumentarycreatedby
threeyoungSwinomishFirstnationteenagers,guidedbytwofilmmakers,who
investigatetheimpactoftwooilrefineriesontheirland.Theperspectivesandskillsthat
theseyoungSwinomishgainedbyparticipatinginthisprojectwerelifechanging.It
helpedthembuildconfidence,stayoutoftrouble,learnhowtoproducevideo,and
empoweredthemtomakeachangeintheirlivesandcommunities.Inadditiontousing
technologicalskillsforemployment,FirstNationsyouthcanusetheirknowledgeof
technologytodoallofthethingsthatstudiessayarehelping,suchaspreserving
languageandtraditions,maintainingabalancebetweentraditionallearningandmodern
learning,keepingremotecommunitiesconnectedwiththerestoftheworldandfurther
educatingthemselvesatapostsecondarylevel(McGregor,2012)(Bowersetal.,2000).
Asyoucanseefromtheexamplesabove,FirstNationspeoplesinCanadahave
becomeveryproficientinusingtechnologytotheiradvantage,andithasproventobe
somethingverybeneficialtoNativeandnonnativepeople.Theenvironmenthasbeen
protecteddespitethegovernmentandresourceextractioncompaniesbestefforts,and
FirstNationshaveusedittogaintreatyrightsandlandclaims.Asanextrabonus,
Aboriginalyouthcanlearnhowtousetechnologythroughthisactivism,whichhasthe
spinoffbenefitofprovidingthemwiththeskillsnecessaryfortodaysjobmarket.

The Advantages of Modern Technology for First Nations

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Howe,C.(1998).Cyberspaceisnoplacefortribalism.WicazoSaReview,13(2),1928.
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Johnston,A.L.(2008).Usingtechnologytoenhanceaboriginalevaluations.The
CanadianJournalofProgramEvaluation,23(2),51.
Marchfelder,B.(2015).HaidaGwaii:RestoringtheBalance[Videofile].Retrieved
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10

McCreary,T.A.,&Milligan,R.A.(2014).Pipelines,permits,andprotests:Carrier
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Tremel,G.(Reporter),&McLeanG.(Host).(1985,November02).LoggersConfront
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