Resource Law

"Resource development and Aboriginal land rights are issues that have been prominent in law and policy in Australia for the last quarter century. The problem has been to achieve a resolution of the conflict that they have engendered. The dissatisfaction expressed by many groups does not suggest that such a resolution has yet emerged.

"In 1990, Richard Bartlett was appointed to the Chair of Natural Resources Law at The University of Calgary. While holding that position, he undertook a research project with respect to resource development and aboriginal land rights. As part of the project, Professor Bartlett conducted a seminar on that subject at the Faculty of Law, The University of Calgary, on 3 May 1990. The seminar was co-sponsored by the Faculty of Law and the Canadian Institute of Resources Law. The two papers that comprise this volume are the background research papers prepared for the purposes of the seminar.

"For more than fifteen years, Keith Crowe's A History of the Original Peoples of Northern Canada has informed a multitude of residents in and visitors to the Canadian North and has served as a standard text. Now, in a new epilogue, Crowe describes and analyses the changes in the North which have come about since the book's first publication.

"On the Land: Confronting the Challenges to Aboriginal Self-Determination in Northern Quebec and Labrador is a collection of seven essays about the various ways First Nations and Inuit in Quebec and Labrador are asserting their rights to the land and challenging the right of Quebec to sovereignty. Aboriginal voices include Matthew Coon Come, Zebedee Nungak, Daniel Ashini, and Mary Ellen Turpel. Views from the outside include Harvey Feit, Alan Penn, and Boyce Richardson. The book covers the Inuit of Quebec, the Innu of Labrador, and the James Bay Cree.

"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.

"This volume addresses a wide range of topics related to Aboriginal resource use, ranging from the pre-contact period to the present. The papers were originally presented at a conference held in 1988 at the University of Winnipeg. Co-editor Kerry Abel has written an introduction that outlines the main themes of the book. She points out that it is difficult to know what the enshrinement of Aboriginal rights in the Canadian Constitution means without knowing exactly what constituted the Aboriginal interest in the land past and present.

"On 1 November 1990, the government of Alberta enacted legislation to enable Métis ownership and government of Alberta's Métis settlement lands. This book explores the legislative history of the Métis settlements and constitutional issues arising from Alberta's initiative. The main body of the work provides an overview of the 1990 legislation with particular emphasis on land ownership and management. The integration of provincial jurisdiction to enact Métis legislation and constitutional protection of the Métis settlements legislation.

"From the Sonora to the Arctic, North America's indigenous peoples have been dispossessed of nearly all their original territory, with the residue held undera a colonial "trust" authority by the U.S. and Canada. Ironically, the presumably useless fragments of geography set aside to keep Native Americans out of sight and mind have turned out to be some of the most resource-rich on the planet. Native Americans should thus be among the most affluent sectors of the population, but instead, they are the absolute poorest.

"Discusses Indigenous associations with the sea, giving examples from Umpila, Meriam, Yolngu and Bardi peoples; relationship with commercial fishing industry; considers the legal question of whether the common law recognises marine interests in the same way it recognises native title interests, citing case law from Australia, New Zealand and Canada; briefly outlines constitutional history of acquisition of sovereignty of offshore areas; discusses proof of Indigenous sea rights and examines characterisation, scope, extinguishment and regulation of Indigenous sea rights; discusses whether a f