Resource development and aboriginal culture in the Canadian north

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between resource development and aboriginal community and cultural impacts in Canada's north from the 1970s to the present. Based on a review of published literature, it is contended that northern centred scholarship can be conceptualised in two phases. These are firstly the community impacts phase (1970 to mid-1990s), a phase guided largely by a cultural politics of assimilation, a sociology of disturbance, and an anthropology of acculturation; and secondly the community continuity phase (mid-1990s to present), a phase underpinned by political empowerment, participatory social impact assessment, and the influence of cultural ecology. Due to these shifting political dynamics and research frameworks, and a lack of longitudinal research in the north over the last four decades, it is concluded that the nature of the relationship between resource development and aboriginal culture remains elusive and subject to wide ranging interpretation. Analysis shows that cultural impacts from resource development are dependent on the scale of development and spatial disturbance. It also shows growing political power in the north, a greater focus on community-based research, and renewed discussion of cultural continuity and how it is defined and assessed over time.