Masters in our Own House: Report of the Think Tank on First Nations Wealth Creation [Skeena Native Development Society]

"The objective of the Think Tank on Wealth Creation was to examine how wealth is created and how the journey of economic prosperity could be reached in a free market economy on reserve. What conditions and barriers exist that prevent the creation of wealth and prosperity? Inversely, what conditions must exist to build a meaningful and sustainable economy, especially absent from the creation and reliance on characteristics of dependency. In doing so, we quickly arrived at the conclusion that we must also simultaneously examine why poverty exists, why people are poor, and what changes would need to be implemented which are absent from the insidious tools of dependency and expectation. Using international models and experiences, comparisons were drawn into the discussion for this purpose. Together with the diverse mix of the Think Tank membership, we were able to identify, explore, compare, and explain patterns common to the objective of creating sustainable free market economies."