"There has been a great deal of development and change in Aboriginal communities since 1966, the year the Hawthorn Report was released. The Hawthorn Report examined about 17 different Indian communities across the country and documented their social and economic conditions in the early 1960s. The report lays out contemporary social thinking about how these communities ought to be developed and what strategies the Government of Canada ought to follow. The report's main idea is to treat Indians as citizens plus.
"....document, examine, and reflect on the transitions in Aboriginal society that I see going on around me. As a society, we are starting to move away from the time of great pain and to lay the foundations for what I have come to call "modern Aboriginal society." Across the country, I see a strong desire to build Aboriginal communities on a foundation of Aboriginal tradition, custom, and ideas. Accomplishing this goal is difficult as a result of our position as Aboriginal peoples as a small minority within an environment dominated by western ideas.
"There have been enormous and significant changes within aboriginal society within the last generation. We need to reflect upon them in order to discern their meaning and impact. I present these stories as examples of the type of change of the last two decades as prelude to my topic. I have been asked to write on the unique perspectives that aboriginal belief systems have for development, how these can be preserved, and what lessons these might have for future development efforts both within aboriginal communities and the mainstream.
"This paper sketches a view of Aboriginal economies and their development over the next twenty years. It focuses on three fundamental questions: (1) What do Aboriginal economies look like now? (2) What are the critical factors that need to be considered for their development? (3) What are possible scenarios for Aboriginal economic development?"
"Founded by Professors Stephen Cornell and Joseph P. Kalt at Harvard University in 1987, The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (The Harvard Project) aims to understand and foster the conditions under which sustained, self-determined, social and economic development may be achieved among American Indian nations. The project has become something of a benchmark for current discussion of First Nations economic development.
"The following is the keynote address of Chief Billy Diamond presented at the Fourth Annual General Assembly of the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO), which took place in Montreal, September 25 to 27, 1997. Chief Diamond's speech was both timely and moving. In it he is direct and honest highlighting - in no uncertain terms - what must happen if economic development is going to have a positive impact on the future of Aboriginal communities in Canada. His message is as vitally important today as it was in 1997.
"In this paper, we examine the major issues affecting First Nations forestry in Canada using comparison of means tests and multivariate analysis. This paper will be of interest for those working in the economic development field, particularly those who are on the front-line of such changes and challenges. In some cases, economic development officers participated in the survey that we conducted. The results will present a snapshot of the larger issues affecting the current state of First Nations forestry."
"In this paper, we examine practices implemented by forest processing firms to increase retention of Aboriginal employees in the workplace from the perspective of Aboriginal women workers. Although cultural sensitivity trainings were a common ameliorative used by companies, Aboriginal women working for these firms were equivocal in their opinions of them. While some Aboriginal women found the recognition of Aboriginal culture empowering, others found the exercise tokenizing, particularly when white 'experts' made presentations explaining Aboriginal culture.
In this essay, I position Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) as central to decolonizing theory and praxis in relation to education and economic or social development in Aboriginal communities. While there are many local and national examples of good work in this regard, as witnessed in RCAP, I also draw attention to the work of postcolonial thinkers and especially the Maori of New Zealand - their resistance, conscientization, and theory-making - to inspire and to give new, high validity language for the development agenda in Aboriginal communities in Canada.
It was decided that an interview be conducted with Casino-Rama Director of First Nations Affairs, Kevin Wassegijig, who spoke with the Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development regarding the success of Casino-Rama while outlining some of the challenges casino manage- ment must deal with in upcoming years. Aboriginal gaming in Canada is a recent development, and the success of Casino-Rama has come as a pleasant surprise to many. At the same time, however, the success of Casino-Rama has generated concerns that have unwittingly resulted from their own success.
