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First Nations’ Land Referral Forum
September 12 & 13, 2007
Dakelh Territory, Prince George, BC
The FINAL REPORT for the Forum is now available! It has recently been brought forward to the First Nations Leadership Council for review and consideration.
FINAL REPORT - First Nations Land Referrals Forum (Sept. 12 & 13, 2007)
Appendix A - Presentation Summaries
Appendix B - PowerPoint Presentations (See Below for PDF Versions)
Appendix C - Main Issues/Challenges from Group Discussions
Appendix D - Detailed Group Flip Chart Notes
Appendix E - List of Participants
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Photo: Leonard Thomas, Chair addressing Forum participants during a surprise visit from NDP leader Carole James.
**This event was webcast live on September 12 & 13 (morning), 2007 from the Prince George Ramada Hotel. Clips from the workshop will be available in the coming weeks.**
AGENDA - FN Referrals Workshop Sept. 12 & 13, 2007 Prince George
09-14-07 Press Release FN Land Referrals Workshop.doc
WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS
Day 1 - Wed. Sept. 12, 2007 (in order of appearance)
Hupacasath - Referrals Workshop - Brandy Lauder Sept 12 2007
Nesconlith First Nation (Ska’tsin Lands & Resources) Referrals Workshop - Steve Murphy Sept 12 2007
Ktunaxa Nation - Referrals Workshop - Jose Galdamez & Ray Warden Sept 12 2007
Treaty 8 - Referrals Workshop - Leanna Rhodes Sept 12 2007
Nesoo Watchie Resource Managment - Referrals Workshop - Stewart Aird Sept 12 2007
Tsilhqot’in National Government - Referrals Workshop - Sam Zirnhelt & Mary Thurow Sept 12 2007
Tsilhqot’in National Government - Referrals Workshop - Sam Zirnhelt & Mary Thurow Sept 12 2007 (1)
Tsilhqot’in National Government - Referrals Workshop - Sam Zirnhelt & Mary Thurow Sept 12 2007 (2)
CSTC (CSGT) - Referrals Workshop - Jaime Sanchez & Scott Emmons Sept 12 2007
GeoConnections - Referrals Workshop - Simon Riopel Sept 12 2007
Day 2 - Thurs. Sept. 13, 2007
ILMB 1 - Referrals Workshop - Colleen Hanigan Sept 13 2007
ILMB 2 - Referrals Workshop - Dugald Smith Sept 13 2007
Presentation by Herb George (Satsan) - Chair, National Centre for First Nations Governance. For more information regarding the Inherent Rights Strategy document please contact the NCFNG (CLICK HERE)
Poster Presentations
Geographic Valuation System (GVS) - Nancy Elliot - UNBC & ILMB
Geographic Valuation System (GVS) - Nancy Elliot - UNBC & ILMB 2
Geographic Valuation System (GVS) - Nancy Elliot - UNBC & ILMB 3
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Photo: Facilitators Norm Leech (FNTC) and Scott Emmons (GeoBorealis) assist in an Open Space discussion during Day 2 of the Forum.
Other Resources
Nanwakolas Overview (Not Presented)
Aboriginal Mapping Network (external website - CLICK HERE)
FORUM PROPOSAL
A majority of First Nations in the province experience significant levels of frustration in dealing with forestry and crown land referrals on a daily basis. Chief Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith Indian Band of the central interior region says "New technology based management tools for referrals will soon provide viable solutions for First Nations. Hundreds of referral applications are received by the bands, which are under funded and short staffed and are expected to respond to each referral in a limited time. Usually each referral is manually processed, which is time consuming, and is not submitted in any standard format which compromises data management controls”.
The First Nations Technology Council (FNTC) is a committee of the First Nations Summit but works on behalf of all BC First Nations on issues regarding technology. FNTC also has a mandate from the BC Chiefs to develop an integrated approach to information management. As such, FNTC is working with a number of Tribal Councils, Nations and First Nations organizations to develop a collaborative approach to Land and Resource Stewardship information management. While the long term goal is to work towards setting up a comprehensive information management system for First Nations Land Stewardship, the initial project is to look at how land referrals are process, stored and analyzed. Working together on the referral process would:
- Better utilize scare resources – financial and human;
- Standardize the referrals process among First Nations and between First Nations, government and industry;
- Develop policies, processes and practices that would work for all;
- Benefit the many small First Nations communities in BC that do not have the resources required to implement change while coping with the onerous referral process;
- Provide better decision making information to communities while reducing the administrative burden of processing referrals;
- Allow neighbouring communities to share referrals information and to collaborate on projects, as appropriate.
Proposal:
FNTC is proposing to host a Forum to bring together First Nations groups currently developing or First Nations groups that have developed land referral processes and/or land referral tracking systems. The purpose of the Forum would be to share information about these various information management projects. The goal is to work together wherever possible, to share best practices and, where it makes sense, to share software currently being developed so that the remaining First Nations communities who are thinking about developing a referral tracking system will not have to go through the system development process. The long term goal is to build sustainability in the land stewardship information management process.
Approach:
FNTC has been discussing the land referral process with a number of stakeholders including, among others: Treaty 8, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, Neskonlith Indian Band, Adams Lake Indian Band, Ktunaxa Nation Council, Kaska Tribal Council, Tsilhqot’in National Government, Nanwakolas, EcoTrust Canada, National Centre for First Nations Governance and the First Nations Forestry Council. In addition, FNTC is contacting other Tribal Councils and individual First Nations to determine ‘who is where’ in the land referral process and what degree of interest exists in working together. The response has been very positive from all respondents.
Forum Structure:
The Forum will be held in Prince George. The University of Northern British Columbia is actively working with some of the northern tribal councils and First Nations on various projects related to land management, referral processes and capacity building to support land stewardship and will be an important player in the workshop. The Forum would be ‘by invitation’ to key stakeholders and would be limited to 50 or fewer participants. Space for poster presentations and general information about projects will also be made available.
Audience:
The Workshop is intended for technical staff of First Nations communities that are at variable levels of developing referral tracking systems, including GIS. The FNTC will engage participants and extend an invitation to attend. Some travel costs will be covered for participants.
Day 1 will consist of presentations from current initiatives including (tentative):
- Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
- First Nations Stewardship of Natural Resources/CONECT
- GeoConnections
- Hupacasath
- ILMB / Front Counter
- Kaska Dene Tribal Council
- Ktunaxa Nation
- Neskonlith Indian Band/Adams Lake Indian Band
- Treaty 8
- Tsilhqot’in National Government
- Others
Day 2 – Facilitated Session
Best practices
o Land referral process
o Moving from resource draining to revenue generating
o Capacity development
o Application development – open source vs proprietary software
o Information hosting
Requirements
o Analyses of requirements to determine areas of overlap/difference
o Commitment to working together to reduce duplication
o Commitment to information sharing
Sponsored by:
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