Natural Gas and First Nations

The inexorable push of European immigrants across the continent had a profound impact upon the traditional lifeways of Canada’s indigenous groups. Increasing numbers of non-native explorers, traders, missionaries and settlers transformed the social, political, spiritual and daily lives of Alberta’s native First Nations. In general, the historical relationship between indigenous and European peoples in Canada was characterized by a competition for land and resources and an erosion of native rights. More recently, however, increasing efforts are made to forge partnerships between natives and non-natives for resource management and conservation.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 seemed to mandate restraint in the spread of immigration by stating that First Nations land must be officially ceded to the

British Crown before settlement could occur. This was followed by a series of Numbered Treaties signed between 1871 and 1921 that restricted native dominion as the country sought to secure the land for both increased settlement and a transcontinental railroad. Treaties 6,7 and 8 brought the land of southern Alberta under Crown control as First Nations representatives agreed to share land in exchange for regular treaty payments, education, reserve land, and supplies. First Nations pledged to live in peace with the European settlers beneath the mantle of the Queen’s Law (Her Majesty Queen Victoria of England).

To this day, questions remain regarding how First Nations interpreted the treaty process: did the native signatories believe they were signing an agreement to share the land in peace? Or to surrender the use of the land forever?

While there is some awareness of indigenous use of oil, bitumen, and coal, there is little indication of ways in which indigenous peoples might have used natural gas. And so the exploration for and development of natural gas resources in Alberta during the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did not involve the First Nations who had inhabited the region for so very long. Even though petroleum exploration and discovery occurred on or near lands occupied by Plains Cree, Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Tsuu T’ina and Nakoda groups, indigenous peoples remained absent both from company decision-making and company workforces. After World War II, an increased awareness of First Nations human rights accompanied the growing concern for the environment. As affirmed by the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development, the traditional knowledge base of indigenous

cultures can provide significant insight into the challenge of “sustainable development”—drawing upon natural resources for current use while ensuring their availability for future generations.

Petroleum development has been disruptive to indigenous community life, which strongly relies on hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering. Indigenous groups are not, however, uniformly anti-development even if they criticize the methods of development. Some groups approach resource development as a means to improve their living conditions and reduce their dependency on federal support for basic services and infrastructure. No matter their attitude, there is a growing demand for resource sharing with increased control and compensation in order to mitigate the impact of development on their traditional lifeways.