Urban Indian Reserves: forging new relationships in Saskatchewan. (Book Reviews).

Peters, Evelyn J.

Barron, F. Laurie and Joseph Garcea (eds).

Urban Indian Reserves: forging new relationships in Saskatchewan.

Saskatoon: Purich Publishing, 1999.

xiv + 315 pp.

ISBN: 1-895830-12-5

$28.00 US (paperback)

This volume examines the creation and implications of urban Indian reserves in Saskatchewan. Urban reserves are urban land holdings by band councils living in rural areas, which have official legal status as a reserve. Most of the urban reserves created to date have business and investment opportunities as their main emphasis. The book focuses on four Saskatchewan urban reserves in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Yorkton and Fort Qu'Appelle.

The book has a foreword by Peter Frood, who emphasizes the importance of detailing the urban reserve experience because of its lessons for positive municipal-Aboriginal relationships. An introduction by the late F. Laurie Barron and Joseph Garcea note that the development of urban reserves reflects the attempts by First Nations to find strategies for economic and political development of communities which do not compromise Aboriginal and treaty rights. The first essay, also by Barron and Garcea, situates the development of urban reserves in the context of the position of municipalities in global economies and their role in competing for business investment and the desire of First Nations' leaders to gain access to a business scene beyond reserve borders. At the same time, the creation of each reserve demonstrates the complexity of the jurisdictional, financial and political interests involved. The chapter provides a historical context for the development of each of the four reserves.

The focus of the book then turns to the legal context, the structure and content of the agreements, and the kind of mutual understanding which must be developed before negotiations can proceed. An essay by Peggy Martin-McGuire describes the history and nature of the treaty land entitlement process, which provided the prerequisite for the creation of urban reserves. Kathleen Makela explains the legal process for urban reserve creation, and places urban reserves within the context of Aboriginal and treaty rights. In the next essay, David Miller provides a comparative structure of the elements contained in the four agreements. He argues that the content of the agreements demonstrate some of the underlying concerns of the negotiation process -- a central issue for municipalities was to prevent revenue loss and to control costs, while the different bands had varying objectives for urban reserve lands. Joseph Garcea analyses two reports produced by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association that detailed the purposes of urban reserves, the procedures for creating them and the various issues associated with their creation. Garcea notes that these reports were important in generating a mutual understanding of issues, language and interests among First Nations and municipalities.

The book then turns to various perspectives on the experiences of creating particular urban reserves. Two essays focus on the negotiations surrounding the creation of the Opawakoscikan Reserve of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Prince Albert. The first provides a "city perspective," written by Denton Yeo. The second, commissioned by the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, describes the band's objectives in the negotiations. The creation of the McKnight Commercial Centre, the Muskeg Cree Nation's reserve in Saskatoon, also comes into focus from different points of view. Lester Lafond, a Muskeg Lake businessman credited with the idea of establishing a reserve in Saskatoon, offers a critique of the process of creating the reserve and describes the protracted negotiations which brought it into being. Marry Irwin analyzes the reserve creation process and identifies important lessons for the success of such negotiations. There are three perspectives on the Fort Qu'Appelle and Yorkton urban reserves. Noel Starblanket describes the band's challenges and how it overcame them. Harold Smith documents factors leading to the creation of the Fort Qu'Appelle reserve. Sam Bunnie explains the reasons the Sakimay band sought to create an urban reserve. These papers are crammed with lessons and cautions for bands and governments contemplating the creation of urban reserves.

The final section addresses some more general themes. Michael Gertler provides a reminder that urban reserves should not be promoted at the expense of community development, and that they have the potential to reinforce income inequalities and to affect the balance of political decision-making. By way of conclusion, F. Laurie Barron and Joseph Garcea reflect on the major findings and themes and suggest further directions for research.

This is a nicely put together book which avoids technical jargon and is remarkably free of repetition. It situates urban reserves in the context of international indigenous movements for greater political and economic development, while detailing the history and legal and administrative structures of particular cases. It also provides perspectives from First Nations and those of city negotiators, and richly details prerequisites for successful outcomes.

The book should be of interest to a wider audience than its subject at first suggests. While it addresses the details of one particular strategy for economic and political development for contemporary First Nations peoples, the principles it identifies have applications for relationships between Aboriginal peoples and other government and corporate bodies. Aboriginal people are an increasingly important element in urban areas, both because of their increasing populations in cities, and because of the increasing number of reserves located near or within urban boundaries. This book provides useful material for policy-makers and administrators interested in creating positive relationships between municipalities and urban Aboriginal peoples. Finally, the book presents Aboriginal people and organizations as important players in the economic life of urban areas -- a perspective that is all too rare in the academic literature.