Alison Blay-Palmer (Director, Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems) and Andrew Spring (Ph.D. Candidate, Wilfred Laurier University) worked with the SRRB on the Best of Both Worlds project. Alison and Andrew both participated in planning meetings; in addition, Andrew attended a regional workshop in Deline in February 2014 and contributed a literature review to the project’s 2013-2014 report. Their work focuses on food security – the idea that all people at all times should have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. 1 In the Sahtú, food security relates to both the SRRB’s wildlife management mandate and to the involvement of community members in the process of wildlife management. 

The SRRB was invited to attend the Sustainable Regional Food Systems Workshop on June 25-27 at the Balsillie School for International Affairs, Waterloo, Ontario to deliver a presenation about the Best of Both Worlds project and participate in planning for a five-year, $5 million dollar proposal to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Fund. The workshop participants included researchers, students, and community partners.

Team Members

• Allison Blay-Palmer, Director, Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems
• Andrew Spring, Ph.D. Candidate, Wilfred Laurier University
• Joe Hanlon, Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı

Funder

Wilfrid Laurier University

Total Budget

$2,277

Best of Both Worlds is a two phase project to develop an Action Plan for promoting workforce readiness to support a healthy mixed economy. Phase 1 involved a literature review, workshop, focus group and interviews to learn about the status of the regional mixed economy and develop preliminary recommendations as the basis for the community-based action planning phase. Preliminary terminology research provided insights into Dene concepts related to the mixed economy.

Recommendations in the Phase 1 report will be used to inform community-based pilot projects and action planning in Phase 2, and priority items identified by communities will serve as indicators for evaluating the project. A total of 29 recommendations were made in the areas of program development, education and training, communication and awareness-building, and research. 

Key gaps to be addressed in Phase 2 are: documenting Dene concepts in the traditional economy; better understanding gender issues; drawing key lessons from the experience of the mining industry in the NWT; learning from the Native Employment Training Study from the 1980s (Frances Abele, Gathering Strength 1989); and addressing results of the 2012-14 Sahtú Oil and Gas Exploration Needs Assessment. Key research being conducted for the Tulı́t'a Community Readiness project will also be helpful.

Project Team

• Deborah Simmons (Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı)
• Joseph Hanlon (Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı)
• Kristen Yakeleya (Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı)
• Betty Harnum 
• Eugene Boulanger
• Daniel T'Seleie

Funders

Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) and Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI)

Project Reports

pdf Best of Both Worlds Volume II - Appendices (759 KB)  

Research Summary

pdf Best of Both Worlds Summary Report (345 KB)

This project is linked to two comparative studies. The project entitled Gender relations and gender-based analysis at the resource development/traditional economy interface led by Dr. Emilie Cameron of Carleton University is sponsored by the Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic (ReSDA) program. The purpose of this project is to: a) determine how existing institutions and policies with involvement in northern resource extraction are gendered; b) understand how changing employment patterns influence gender relations, particularly as understood by northern Indigenous women; and c) help develop relevant gender-based analysis materials and tools for use in northern communities. The project responds to a need identified by scholars, policymakers, and community organizations to better understand the gendered dimensions of northern resource extraction, and to provide meaningful, practical tools to address gender in decision-making, implementation, and monitoring.

Dr. Rauna Kuokkanen, an indigenous Sámi woman from Northern Finland visited Tulít’a in June 2014 to learn about community views on participation, decision-making, women’s changing roles and self-government. In Tulít’a, Rauna met with women and men, including leaders, elders and youth. As part of her project, she faciliated two youth gatherings in Tulít’a.

Rauna is interested in comparing experiences here with those of Sámi people in northern regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland, the Inuit in Greenland, and Aboriginal people elsewhere in Canada. Her research project is called Gendering Self-Determination: Comparing Indigenous Peoples in Canada, Greenland and the Nordic Countries. Rauna is associate professor of Political Science and Aboriginal Studies at the University of Toronto where she teaches Aboriginal and indigenous politics.

Rauna started the project in 2011 in her home territory, Sámiland (northern regions of Scandinavia). In March 2013, she spent a month in Greenland. She was in Tulít’a from June 9 to July 7, 2014. From September 2014 to July 2015 she will be writing up the research results after which she will share them with the communities involved in the project.

Funders

The Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada

Project Team

• Emilie Cameron (Carleton University)
• Rauna Kuokkanen (University of Toronto)
• Deborah Simmons(Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı and University of Manitoba)
• Suzanne Mills (McMaster University).

Total Budget

$8,000

Research Summary

pdf Tulita Youth Gathering Summary (269 KB)

Upcoming Reports

Upcoming Article in the Northern Review, 2018: Kennedy Dalseg, Sheena. Rauna Kuokkanen, Suzanne Mills, Deborah Simmons. "Reframing Environmental Assessments: Gender, Mixed Economics and Decision-Making in the Canadian North." Northern Review (2018)

Upcoming Article (Journal TBD): Kuokkanen, Rauna, Deborah Simmons and Leon Andrew. "Strong People, Strong Communities. Considering governance in the Sahtu, NWT."

 Upcoming Book Manuscript. Kuokkanen, Rauna. Restructuring Relations: Indigenous Self-Determination and Governance in Canada, Greenland, and Scandinavia. New York: Oxford Press, 2018. 

News Articles

News/North NWT Article- Workshop explores Northern Issues