No Access

DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS IN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES: THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE

School of Environmental Planning, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, V2N 4Z9, Canada

Search for more papers by this author

HAN DONKER

School of Business, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, V2N 4Z9, Canada

Search for more papers by this author

, and

RICHARD KREHBIEL

School of Environmental Planning, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, V2N 4Z9, Canada

Search for more papers by this author

https://doi.org/10.1142/S1084946709001119Cited by:9 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

This study examines the historical development of corporate governance structures in First Nations communities in British Columbia, where development corporations are employed to assist privately-owned and community-owned entrepreneurial enterprises. First Nations entrepreneurial activity functions in an environment where business must market to a global economy while preserving traditional values, beliefs and other cultural elements. A brief history of First Nations and their enterprise development efforts is presented. Empirical research findings describe the close relationship between local community and corporate goals and identify conflicts of interest between political leaders and management of development corporations. The evidence demonstrates entrepreneurial success and economic development of First Nations communities rely on an independent decision-making process within business development corporations. An alternative business model is developed utilizing the empirical research, social enterprise literature and the unique regional cooperative model of the Mondragon region of Spain. The new model respects the land base and other environmental and social values while providing a framework for economic success. Exploration of this unique enterprise-to-region development model, which incorporates consideration for the natural environment and social and cultural values, offers lessons to other societies and regions that will assist in the movement toward an economic system based on concepts of sustainability.

Keywords:

References

M. Asch , Aboriginal and Treaty Rights in Canada: Essays on Law, Equality, and Respect for Difference ( University of British Columbia Press , Vancouver, British Columbia , 1997 ) . Google Scholar
British Columbia Claims Task Force , Report of the British Columbia Claims Task Force ( Vancouver , 1991 ) . Google Scholar
British Columbia Statistics , Aboriginal Peoples Labor Force Survey Labour Market Characteristics of Off-Reserve Aboriginal Population ( 2007 ) , www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/DATA/lss/abor/abo_lfs_2007.pdf . Google Scholar
British Columbia Treaty Commission , Negotiations Update ( 2007 ) , www.bctreaty.net/files/updates.php . Google Scholar
Cameron, M (1990). A Prototypical Economic Development Corporation for Native American Tribes. Harvard project on American Indian economic development, Working Paper PRS90-2 . Google Scholar
A. Chandler , Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise ( MIT Press , Cambridge, MA , 1962 ) . Google Scholar
A. Chandler , Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism ( Belknap Press , Cambridge MA , 1990 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar
G. Cheney , Values at Work: Employee Participation Meets Market Pressure at Mondragon ( Cornell University Press , Ithaca, NY , 1999 ) . Google Scholar
W. Churchill , Struggle For The Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Colonization ( City Lights Books , San Francisco, CA , 2002 ) . Google Scholar
Constitution Act (1867). s. 91(24). Ottawa, Ontario: Government of Canada. [laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/] . Google Scholar
Constitution Act (1982). s. 35. Ottawa, Ontario. [laws.justice.gc.ca/en/Const/annex_e.html#II] . Google Scholar
S. Cornell , C. Goodswimmer and M. Jorgensen , In Pursuit of Capable Governance: A Report to the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation ( Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and The University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ , 2004 ) . Google Scholar
First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act, S.C. (2005). c. 53. Ottawa, Ontario: Government of Canada . Google Scholar
First Nations Land Management Act, S.C. (1999). c. 24. Ottawa, Ontario: Government of Canada . Google Scholar
R. Fisher , Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 1774–1890 ( University of British Columbia Press , Vancouver, British Columbia , 1977 ) . Google Scholar
Government of Canada , Federal Policy Guide: Aboriginal Self-Government ( Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada , Ottawa, Ontario , 1995 ) . Google Scholar
K. Hindleet al., American Indian Quarterly 29(2), 1 (2005). Crossref, Google Scholar
Income Tax Act (R.S.C. 1985). c. 1, 5th Supp. Ottawa, Ontario: Government of Canada. [www.canlii.org/ca/sta/i-3.3/sec149.html] . Google Scholar
Indian Act (R.S.C. 1985). c. I-5. Ottawa, Ontario: Government of Canada . Google Scholar
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada , An Evolving Terminology Relating to Aboriginal Peoples in Canada ( Communications Branch , Ottawa, Ontario , 2002 ) . Google Scholar
D. Jenness , Sweet Promises: A Reader on Indian-White Relations in Canada , ed. J. R. Miller ( University of Toronto Press , Toronto, Ontario , 1991 ) . Google Scholar
Jorgenson, M and J Taylor (2002). What Determines Indian Economic Success? Evidence from Tribal and Individual Indian Enterprises. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Working Paper PRS00-3 . Google Scholar
P. Jull , Sweet Promises: A Reader on Indian-White Relations in Canada , ed. J. R. Miller ( University of Toronto Press , Toronto, Ontario , 1991 ) . Google Scholar
D. Leechman , Native Tribes of Canada ( WJ Gage Ltd , Toronto, Ontario , 1968 ) . Google Scholar
G. MacLeod , From Mondragon to America: Experiments in Community Economic Development ( University College of Cape Breton Press , Sydney, Nova Scotia , 1997 ) . Google Scholar
J. McBride , Our Own Vision: Our Own Plan ( Community Economic Development Center, Simon Fraser University , Vancouver, British Columbia , 2001 ) . Google Scholar
J. McBride and R. Gerow , Minding Our Business: How to Create Support in First Nations Communities for Aboriginal Business ( Community Economic Development Centre, Simon Fraser University , Vancouver, British Columbia ) . Google Scholar
C. Milne , Spirit of the Land: Sacred Places in Native North America ( Viking , Toronto, Ontario , 1994 ) . Google Scholar
Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa , Message from the Chairman ( 2007 ) , www.mcc.es/ing/quienessomos/presidente.html . Google Scholar
R. Morrison , We Build the Road as We Travel ( New Society Publishers , Philadelphia, PA , 1991 ) . Google Scholar
R. Muckle , The First Nations of British Columbia: An Anthropological Survey ( University of British Columbia Press , Vancouver, British Columbia , 1998 ) . Google Scholar
Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corporation (n.d.). [www.oibdc.com] . Google Scholar
T. Penikett , Reconciliation: First Nations Treaty Making in British Columbia ( Douglas and McIntyre , Vancouver, British Columbia , 2006 ) . Google Scholar
F. Rains, J. Archibald and D. Deyhle, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 13(4), 337 (2000). Crossref, Google Scholar
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples , Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples ( The Royal Commission , Ottawa, Ontario , 1996 ) . Google Scholar
P. Tennant , Aboriginal Peoples and Politics: The Indian Land Question in British Columbia. 1849–1989 ( University of British Columbia Press , Vancouver, British Columbia , 1990 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar
Treaty Commission Act (R.S.B.C. 1996). c. 461 . Google Scholar
W. Whyte and K. Whyte , Making Mondragon: The Growth and Dynamics of the Worker Cooperative ( ILR Press , New York, NY , 1998 ) . Google Scholar
J. Woodward (ed.) , Native Law ( Thomson Carswell , Toronto, Ontario , 2007 ) . Google Scholar