James B. Waldram

In past treaties, the Aboriginal people of Canada surrendered title to their lands in return for guarantees that their traditional ways of life would be protected. Since the 1950s, governments have reneged on these commitments in order to acquire more land and water for hydroelectric development. James B. Waldram examines this controversial topic through an analysis of the politics of hydroelectric dam construction in the Canadian Northwest, focusing on three Aboriginal communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. He argues that little has changed in our treatment of Aboriginal people in the past hundred years, when their resources are still appropriated by the government “for the common good.” Using archival materials, personal interviews and largely inaccessible documents and letters, Waldram highlights the clear parallel between the treatment of Aboriginal people in the negotiations and agreements that accompany hydro development with the treaty and scrip processes of the past century.

Hydroelectric Development and Native Communities

As Long as the Rivers Run

Noel Dyck

The essays in Anthropology, Public Policy, and Native Peoples in Canada provide a comprehensive evaluation of past, present, and future forms of anthropological involvement in public policy issues that affect Native peoples in Canada. The contributing authors, who include social scientists and politicians from both Native and non-Native backgrounds, use their experience to assess the theory and practice of anthropological participation in and observation of relations between aboriginal peoples and governments in Canada. They trace the strengths and weaknesses of traditional forms of anthropological fieldwork and writing, as well as offering innovative solutions to some of the challenges confronting anthropologists working in this domain. In addition to Noel Dyck and James Waldram, the contributing authors are Peggy Martin Brizinski, Julie Cruikshank, Peter Douglas Elias, Julia D. Harrison, Ron Ignace, Joseph M. Kaufert, Patricia Leyland Kaufert, William W. Koolage, John O'Neil, Joe Sawchuk, Colin H. Scott, Derek G. Smith, George Speck, Renee Taylor, Peter J. Usher, and Sally M. Weaver.

James B. Waldram

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