‘Worth celebrating’: What Whitecap Dakota Nation’s historic vote means

“Essentially what it means is these communities look after themselves,” he said. “They negotiate an overall umbrella financing arrangement. They get away from the project-by-project and item-by-item processes that they had to use in the past. They have much less reporting to Ottawa.”

The First Nation still receives federal funding but with this new adherence to self-governing, they don’t have to go through as many bureaucratic windows as they did before.

“You get more of a clock funding approach. If you want to apply for housing you apply to this area, if you want education, you go here, social services, you go this direction; it’s very time-consuming,” said Coates.

“Self-government means you have a global agreement that provides block funding every year and the First Nation has a lot more flexibility to move funds from one section to the other. It gives them autonomy in financial affairs and decision making.”

While Whitecap Dakota First Nation is the first in Saskatchewan to make this move, they’re not the first community in the country to do it.

In April of this year, the federal government and Anishinabek Nation in Ontario announced they had reached an agreement towards the self-governing of those First Nation communities.

“This Agreement is one for our history books,” said Chief Irene Kells of Zhiibaahaasing First Nation. “It will help us build new relationships within our community. We need to keep Anishinaabemowin alive in order for us to connect with our surroundings and be proud of who we are.”

The process, as Coates pointed out is not an easy feat. For Anishinabek Nation, it took more than 20 years of negotiations with an Agreement-in-Principle reached in 2007 and concluded in 2019.

For Whitecap Dakota, the vote came after a decade of negotiations and consultations with community members.

“You need to have very strong relations between communities and their government, you have to have a good electoral selection process, a good integration of the Elders into the decision making,” said Coates “Some communities have used self-government to re-introduce traditional cultural leadership and decision-making process. There’s an awful lot at stake here.”

So, could other First Nations in Saskatchewan move to self-governance in the future? Coates believes so but cautions they should only do so if they’re ready.

“People have been admiring what Whitecap doing. But there are a number of communities in the Province of Saskatchewan that are very close to getting to the point where they’re going to have these serious conversations themselves,” said Coates. “They want to make sure the rules are clear, and the financial arrangements are obvious.”

The Metis Nation of Saskatchewan is another example of Indigenous communities becoming self-governing. In June 2019 the MN-S announced the signing of the Métis Government Recognition and Self-Government Agreement with the federal government.

That agreement established the MN-S as the government mandated to advance Metis rights, self-government, and self-determination for all its citizens.

Coates said it’s moments like that that need to be recognized and admonished in Saskatchewan.

“It’s a real sign of independence and autonomy and a vote of confidence in their own future and I think that’s worth celebrating.”

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock

by Derek Craddock

‘Worth celebrating’: What Whitecap Dakota Nation’s historic vote means

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