RESTORING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY ECONOMIES

A TWO-DAY WORKSHOP ON SELF-RELIANCE AND FULL EMPLOYMENT

Mapping a Vision for the Community's Economic Future

Communities can sometimes feel stuck in economic dependency and marginalization, resulting in high unemployment, poverty and social distress.

The purpose of this 2-day workshop is to engage participants in exploring ways to restore Indigenous community economies to a situation of self-reliance and full employment.

In order to change the present reality we need to understand how we got to this situation. The workshop begins with an overview of the different historical periods of colonization in the Hudson Bay watershed:

The Fur Trade era (1670 to 1870);
Treaties and initial European settlement (1870 to 1910);
The undermining of local Indigenous (First Nations) economies (1910 to 1960);
Economic marginalization and dependency (1960 to the present).

It then proceeds to an analysis of contemporary First Nations community economies.

The task of restoring Indigenous community economies begins with identifying alternative approaches that local communities and Canadian society at large can pursue to disrupt and reverse the economic marginalization and dependency of Indigenous communities. Some of these are:

Import substitution
Expanded employment in the not-for-profit sector (arts & culture, sports & recreation, etc.)
Increased participation in regional economies
Procurement and other wealth accumulation strategies
Investing in people

Finally we look at some economic 'success stories' and invite participants to imagine an economic future for their own communities.

This workshop will interest Indigenous communities, organizations working with Indigenous communities, and anyone seeking 'economic reconciliation' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Community Works can help with the development of a Community Economic Plan for your community.