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Samiresearcherexaminesself-governanceinTulitaCallstorestructureDeneNationontheriseAdvocatesforchangewantsolefocustobeontreatiesland7TuesdayJuly152014ByMEAGANWOHLBERGAgroupofFirstNationsleadersintheNortharecallingforarestructuredDeneNationconsistingoffewerdelegatestruecon-sensusdecisionmakingandarenewedfocusontreatiesfollowingtherecent44thDeneNationalAssemblyinFortSmith.Selectchiefsandeldersareadvocatingthattheor-ganizationwhichformedoutoftheIndianBrother-hoodinthe1970sreturntoitsoriginalfocusonpro-tectingthelandandtreatyrightsaswellasitsrootsasafullyconsensus-basedpoliticalbody.Theissueofrestructuringwaspartoftheassemblysagendalastmonthbutwasnotformallydiscussedduetotimeconstraints.InsteadLutselKeDeneFirstNa-tionChiefFelixLockhartputfortharesolutionthattheissuebeworkedonandareportwithrecommenda-tionsbebroughtforwardatnextyearsassemblyinDeline.ThoughsomeFirstNa-tionshavecompletedtheirself-governmentandlandclaimagreementswhileothershavenotLockhartsaidthetreatyiswhatisgoingtopullusalltogether.PoliticsFirstNationsPoliticsSelfGovernanceWeretryingtohittoomanyissueswithnomoney.FrancoisPauletteByDALICARMICHAELAresearcherfromtheUniversityofTorontohasincludedcommunitiesfromtheNorthwestTerritoriesinaninternationalcomparativestudyexaminingindigenousself-determinationself-gover-nanceandhowthoseelementsintersectwithgenderissues.Dr.RaunaKuokkanenas-sociateprofessorofpoliticalscienceandAboriginalstudiesatUofTisinherthirdyearofconductingherresearchprojectGenderingSelf-De-terminationComparingIn-digenousPeoplesinCanadaGreenlandandtheNordicCountries.FromJunetoJulyshetravelledtoTulitaNWTtoconductgroupinterviewsandgatherdataforthestudy.Ivebeentalkingtoacon-siderableamountofpeoplemaybeabout30Kuokkanensaidnotingthatthenumberincludedsomeyouthandsomemenbutmostlywomen.ShesaidshechosetovisitTulitabecauseofitsongoingeffortstowardself-governancealongwithsomeresidentsinDelinebecauseoftherecentlyratiedDelineFinalSelfGovernmentAgreementFSGA.Struggleswithachievingself-governmentaswellascon-stantnegotiationoverindustrialnaturalresourcedevelopmentslikeoilandminingmaketheseSahtucommunitiessimilartootherindigenousgroupsinNortherncountriesshesaid.Onepartoftheresearchisaskingwomenaboutthenewself-governanceandwhattheythinkaboutself-governanceinstitutionsortheprocessesthataretakingplaceintheircommunitiesKuokkanensaid.Theotherkeycompo-nentistokindofassessandconsiderhowindigenousgovernanceinstitutionsareaddressingthequestionofviolenceagainstwomenbe-causeanywhereintheworldthetwomostimportantissuesthatindigenouspeopleusuallymentionareself-determinationandviolenceagainstwomen.OneofthemainthemesoftheresearchsofaremergedinTulitaisthatpeoplewouldliketoknowmoreaboutIssuesinSamiCouncilKuokkanensaidshewasin-spiredtoconductherresearchprojectasaresultofherownexperiencesasaSamiwomananindigenousgrouppresentinNorwaySwedenRussiaandherhomecountryofFinland.IwasinterestedinSamiyouthpoliticsandorganiza-tionsandthenwomensor-ganizationsandthenIwasenrolledintheSamiCouncilandIsawasayoungwomanhowpoliticsisoftenamaledominatedarenawheretherearewomeninvolvedbuttheirattendanceisdenedbymenwhohavebeeninvolvedinpoliticslongershesaid.IthoughtasaresearcherIdhavemorefreedomtoaddresstheseissuesinadifferentway.Rarelywhenwetalkaboutself-governanceorindigenousself-determinationandthere-searchthatisouttheredoesittalkaboutviolenceagainstwomenandhowitcouldbeaddressedthroughthesein-digenousinstitutionsKuok-kanensaid.Yetwomensaythattheycannottalkaboutself-governanceandindige-nousself-determinationwith-outaddressingviolencelikeitispartofthecommunity.InadditiontotheNWTKuokkanenhastakenherre-searchtoVictoriaandVancou-verB.C.andsouthernOntario.ShehasalsocollecteddatafromInuitlivinginGreen-land.Overthenextyearshewillbetakingaresearchleavefromherpositionattheuni-versityusingthetimeoffasanopportunitytoexamineherdataandwriteabouthernd-ingswhichshehopestomakeaccessibletothelaypersonaswellasanacademiccrowd.IdeallyIwouldliketosharetheresultsandhaveapublicmeetingorvisitschoolsordoitthroughthemedialikelocalradioorsomethingshesaid.MyselfImlookingfor-wardtotherestructuringoftheDeneNation...Imreallylookingforwardtotherenewalofthetreatyhetolddelegates.Wehaveagreementalreadywiththetreaties.Ourancestorsbasi-callyputthatdownforus.SowhynotworktowardsimplementingthatWecouldexerciseourabilitiestomakedecisionsaboutourlandandresourcesandourselves...Wedontneedthefederalgovernmenttodothatforus.SmithsLandingelderFrancoisPaulettewhoservesasanadvisortotheDeneNationhasbeenchargedwithworkingontherestructuringoftheor-ganizationforyearsbuthasnotbeenabletomakemuchmovementduetolackoffundstomeetwiththevariousregionsandleaders.HisproposaltotheDeneNationinvolvestighten-inguptheorganizationsstructurebylimitingthenumberofdelegatesabletovoteensuringbalancedrepresentationfromeachre-gionsettingstrongerrulesforquorumeliminatingproxyvoteswhenchiefsareabsentandcenteringdiscussiononpoliticalis-suessurroundinglandandtreatieswhilekeepingthebusinessarmoftheorga-nizationentirelyseparate.TherestructuringmightalsoseeanationalchiefelectedoutoftheveregionalgovernmentsratherthanastandalonechiefspositionrightnowoccupiedbyBillErasmuswhowasunavail-ableforcommentonthemat-ter.Fivetribalchiefsrepre-sentingeachregionwouldbegivenaportfoliotoworkonsuchasissuesofwateroreducation.Paulettesaidthenationwhichhasbeenslowlydis-integratingovertheyearsasgroupsbreakoffandsettletheirownclaimsandtakeopposingsidesonissueslikedevolutionneedstoreturntoitsrootsifthe33memberFirstNationsaregoingtostaytogetherintothefuture.LessthanadozenchiefswerephysicallypresentattheFortSmithassemblywhichPaulettesaidsignalsagrowingproblem.ItwillbedifculttoreachconsensusnowbecausethereissomuchdivideandconquerbythegovernmentPaulettesaid.Weneedtoradicallychangeourviewsonwherethingsarepresently.Weneedtodecolonize.Asitstandshesaidthenationhaslostitsfocusandisstuckinashotgunapproachtodealingwithtoomanyissues.Thoughdozensofresolutionsarepassedwitheachleader-shipmeetingandnationalassemblyhesaidfewhavebeenactedupon.Theresnorealvision-notbytheheadofcebutbytheleadershipthechiefs.Theresnostrongdirectionbeinggivenhesaid.Weretryingtohittoomanyissueswithnomoney.Morethananorganiza-tionaloverhaulPaulettesaidhehopestherestructuringwillsettheDeneNationonanewpath.Ifwedontdothatwerelosthesaid.Weneedtolookatsomethingmoreprac-ticalmoredowntoearth.PhotoMeaganWohlbergTocollectherdataKuok-kanenconductedseveralfocusgroupswithlocalpoli-ticiansadministratorsmenandwomeninleadershiporganizationsandwomenwhomightnotformallybeinleadershippositionsbutstillcontributemuchtotheircommunity.WhileitistooearlytojumptoconclusionsKuokkanensaidthatsomeofherdataarealreadyshowingearlytrendsintheNWT.governmentprocessesshesaid.PeoplesaythatthesebigthingsarehappeningintheircommunitiesbutsomepeopleevendontknowthatTulitaisnegotiatingselfgovernment.ShewasalsostruckbywhatshedescribesasanoverlapofinstitutionsororganizationsmostlyFirstNationsandad-vocacygroupsthatseemtobeaddressingsimilarissuesbutultimatelycreateaslowergov-ernmentalprocessbythetimeallinputshavebeensharedWomensaythattheycannottalkaboutself-governanceandindigenousself-de-terminationwithoutaddressingviolence.Dr.RaunaKuokkanenDelegatesvoteonresolutionsduringthemostrecentDeneNationalAssemblyinFortSmith.