Lessons from Algonquin Territory: Conceptualizing land claim agreements in land-use planning
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: "The Algonquin Land Claim negotiations have been ongoing for over 25 years in Ontario, \nand will be the province’s first modern-day constitutionally protected treaty. Traditional territories \nof the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation under claim include areas in the Ottawa River Valley and \nthe city of Ottawa itself. As a result, this land claim is unique in jurisdictional complexity, situated \nin urban landscapes that are heavily populated and developed, as well as rural areas that \nfeature cottage country, hunting and fishing camps, provincial parks and natural resource \nprojects. A series of public information sessions across the settlement area were held by the \nAlgonquins of Ontario and Governments of Canada and Ontario to address land-use planning \nissues such as access, right-of-way and user interests on the selected Crown lands. Raising \ncontention among stakeholder groups, private property owners, anglers and hunters and \nconservation authorities, the Algonquin Land Claim’s community consultation component proves \nto be an interesting juncture to examine concerns and conceptions of Indigenous assertions \nover territory. \nThe research explores the Algonquin Land Claim negotiations process within the current \njurisprudential landscape of Indigenous sovereignty and recognition, and implications for a case \nstudy in the exurban regions of Frontenac County, Ontario. The analysis draws from discourse \nin political ecology, planning theory, and settler-colonial studies to investigate how Indigenous \nland claims are perceived within this non-Indigenous community, and the role municipal \ngovernments have in navigating these spaces of difference. The research illuminates commonly \nheld notions of ‘amenity’ and ‘property’ environmental ideologies, and suggests opportunities for \nplanning to broaden its conceptual scope in order to rightfully include Indigenous definitions of \nland use in self-governance and planning frameworks. Recommendations flowing from this \nstudy include amplified cultural competency and Indigenous-relations capacity training by \nmunicipal planners, as well as critical reflections on ingrained settler-colonial ideologies \nregarding land use, economic development and ‘the environment’ in treaty negotiations. \nReconciliation as an action word – as opposed to a buzzword – in planning will require strong \nleadership and concerted interdisciplinary efforts of truth-sharing and relationship-building \nbetween Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities."
Source: YorkSpace (York University)
Author: Jennifer Davidson
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: York University
OpenAlex ID: W3014957762