A View into the Sahtu: Land Claims and Resource Development

• Main Author: Smart, Miles
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Canada; Norman Wells; Northwest Territories; Sahtu Region; Metis
• Online Access: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/978947/; https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/978947/1/Smart_MA_F2014.pdf

This thesis examines the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories and the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement as a unique example of Northern Aboriginal governance. Attention is given to the political developments in Aboriginal/state relations which led to the contemporary relationship between the Sahtu regime, the Government of Canada, and the resource industry. The role of culture and the land are explored which comes together to form the Sahtu deep view. The Sahtu deep view is a pragmatic approach to government relations and resource development which invokes a profound cultural connection to the land and a parallel concern for the far future. The town of Norman Wells in the Sahtu is examined to reveal its unique position as a resource development town and regional hub. Specific examples of an oil exploration play and federal policy in land claim implementation are used as insights into how the Sahtu regime operates and its larger goals.