Canada

I'm in northern Ontario and the treaty dealings we have here mostly feel like showmanship and political theatre.

On one hand we have governments making deals that include resource development and revenue sharing (a process where First Nations enter into agreements where resource development can happen, provided that profits are shared with First Nations) ... which is good on the face of it. Government has also given us more control over who comes and goes and does work in our territories ... which is also good.

But if a situation arises where a company finds a major deposit or the chances of a major deposit of minerals .... all agreements are more or less off the table and government and industry will bulldoze their way over and through First Nations to get what they want.

We have a right to participate, we have a right to agree, we have a right to share some wealth .... we don't have a right to refuse.

We're currently dealing with a major resource development called the 'Ring of Fire' in northwestern Ontario in very remote territory that has no roads or rail service. They think they've discovered major resource areas there and companies are scrambling to get there. First Nations want to take their time and work out deals to best suit them .... government wants to push everything through as fast and as easily as possible with or without First Nations. A couple of First Nations have tacitly agreed to the building of a new all season road to this new development area and many more First Nations have NOT agreed ... but due to company greed that really, really, really want to develop this land and the support of a conservative Ontario government, they are all wanting to just push everything through regardless of how First Nations feel about it all. Our Ontario Premier famously said last year 'If I have to hop on a bulldozer myself, we're going to start building roads to the Ring of Fire'

So yes, governments are giving us back control of the land ..... but if there is something valuable there or they need the land for something, that control is easily removed, forgotten and useless

It's still very paternalistic when you think about it ... it's like a parent telling their child that they have their own room in the house ... but if the child disagrees with something or refuses an order, their room is no longer theirs and their right to free space in the parent's house can be taken away.