BUSINESS
COVER
Metis
Artist An Old Soul
BIOGRAPHY
Gino
Odjick Looks To Golf As A New Career
BOOKS
Native
Teen Coming-of-Age Tale
Historical
Pictorial Shows Effects of Commerce on Nation
BUSINESS
Business
and First Nations Team up for Green Energy
Nisga'a
Nation Manages Salmon With Tradition and Technology
Joint
Ventures Key to Haisla Plan for the Future
Westbank
Building Self-Government and Strong Relations
CRIME
Cree Family Accuses Judge of Racism
EDUCATION
UWO
Native Studies Centre hosts Ward Churchill
HUMOUR
Bee
in the Bonnet: Aren't You Special
POLITICS
Robert
Nault Will Not Seek Re-Election
Westbank
Building Self-Government and Strong Relations
Story
provided with permission by Indian Northen Affairs Canada
Larry Derrickson is driving through what looks like a typical suburban
British Columbian landscape. Flashing by the windows are shopping malls,
a community centre, playing fields, a golf course, a health-care facility
and subdivisions. Lots of subdivisions.
Derrickson, a councillor with the Westbank First Nation near Kelowna,
turns to his passengers.
"Can you feel it?" he asks. "We're on the reserve!"
Past another row of houses, he turns another corner and announces: "Now
we're off the reserve."
An aerial view of Westbank First Nation reserve and lease
lands,
including the Vintage Hills Golf Course, Sun Village housing
sub-division and Westbank Shopping Centre.
It's a good example of how well integrated the First Nation's lands and
interests are with those of neighbouring communities. It also illustrates
the business acumen the First Nation has demonstrated since the 1960s,
making it one of the most economically successful Aboriginal communities
in Canada. More than 100 non-Aboriginal businesses operate on the First
Nation's lands and more than 8,000 non-Aboriginal people live on its reserves.
But the Westbank First Nation is more than just a landlord. It has operated
its own local government for years, under provisions of the Indian Act,
providing a wide range of services including social housing, child care,
K-7 education, public works and utilities.
It took another step towards self-sufficiency on October 3, 2003 with
the signing of a new self-government agreement.
After 14 years of negotiation, Chief Robert Louie says, the agreement
allows the nation to assume full jurisdiction over areas such as land
management, resources, language and culture.
The new agreement also formalizes the Westbank First Nation Advisory Council
- an organization whose members are elected by non-Aboriginal residents
on Westbank reserve lands. The council was originally established on an
interim basis to provide regular input on issues such as property taxes.
Ray Manzer of the Kelowna and District Manufactured Homeowners Association,
which represents about 3,000 residents on the reserve lands, says Westbank's
move to official self-government has been positive for the community overall.
"It used to be a we/they situation between non-natives and the band,"
he says. "Now they take an interest in our concerns. I think the
self-government agreement and the advisory council have changed the atmosphere
here."
The new agreement gives the advisory council a broader role in the First
Nation's government. "We'll have input into all proposed laws that
directly affect us," says council chair Katja Maurmann.
This new relationship with tenants on its lands builds on the First Nation's
already close working relationships with the city of Kelowna, the community
of Westbank and the Central Okanagan Regional District. Louie says self-government
will also benefit the non-Aboriginal business community - now that the
First Nation has the authority to make decisions on local matters such
as business zoning without seeking approval from the federal government.
"We will be recognized as a First Nation government. We are ready
and able to meet that challenge," Louie says firmly.
To people passing by, not much will change. But, within the community,
ties will likely be closer. And, just as it is difficult to tell where
reserve lands begin and end as Larry Derrickson takes his visitors on
a tour, it's likely that the boundaries between First Nations and non-First
Nations interests will be even less obvious.
Maurmann says: "We believe that our whole community is better served
by this self-government agreement, and we are committed to building a
stronger community through it."