Exploring Sub-Surface Land Rights and the Tli'Cho Land Claim Negotiations

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, land claim, resource development

Principal Investigator: Hoogeveen, Dawn AB (2)
Licence Number: 14605
Organization: University of British Columbia
Licensed Year(s): 2009
Issued: Aug 31, 2009

Objective(s): The aim of this project is to begin a comparative examination of the contemporary land claims agreements. This project will examine land claim agreements, and the settlement of sub-surface land rights.

Project Description: The aim of this project is to begin a comparative examination of the contemporary land claims agreements. This project will examine land claim agreements, and the settlement of sub-surface land rights. Emphasis will be placed on the utility and importance of the delineation made between surface and sub-surface land rights. This is fundamental to the legal and spatial, and subsequent social and economic terms of land claim negotiations. The methods for this research include informal semi-structured interviews with relevant actors of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and First Nations legal consultants and representatives from the Tli'Cho. The Tli'Cho land claim process will be of primary focus because it is the only claim area where the NWT First Nation has received all of the sub-surface rights. How and why did this negotiation process differ from the Inuvialuit, Sahtu and Gwich’in land claim agreements? Approximately five interviews will take place. The significance of this study is the fact that current land rights negotiations process surface and sub-surface rights in different capacities. Asking why and how sub-surface discussions take place could provide a critical lens to view the concurrence of resource development with aboriginal title rights during land claim negotiations. This study has the benefit of contributing to understandings of Canadian land claim agreements within the context of the NWT. Research results will be available upon request in the format of a written report. The researcher is also available to present the results in person if requested and may be contacted at any point during this project for verbal and or written feedback. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 29, 2009 to December 31, 2009 from Yellowknife and Behchoko, NT.