Negotiated spaces : work, home and relationships in the Dene diamond economy ...

• Main Author: Gibson, Virginia Valerie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2008
• Subjects: Northwest Territories
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0066393; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0066393

This thesis examines Dene engagement with the diamond mining economy in Canada’s Northwest Territories. While historic treaties, policy and regulation create situations of powerlessness, the space for the negotiation of a bilateral relationship between Treaty mining companies and communities exists, formalized as Impact and Benefit Agreements. An initial emphasis on socio-cultural impacts and vulnerability of the communities in relation to the mines illuminated variable outcomes. This led to a central focus on how outcomes are negotiated, with the outcomes strongly related to forms of community and cultural resilience. Surprisingly, the ability to bounce back, or be resilient (not vulnerable), as defined by the Tåîchô and Yellowknives Dene communities is central to community response and well being in this new economy. The possibility of self determination and the potential to be in relationships of reciprocity are found to be fundamental drivers of community health and thus resilience. Study of the Tåîchô ...