Aboriginal self-determination and resource development activity - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 197

only wanted more land but they also wanted more responsibility to ensure
they would be able to govern that land. To that end, the VGFN sought
self-government as a way to protect land, devolve hierarchical decision-
making processes and empower community members. The new VGFN
government's goal is to protect their ancient cultural heritage and ancestral
homeland, exercise its inherent right to govern, assume responsibility for
the welfare of its citizens and provide responsible governance for the com-
munities, lands and resources. In addition to the economic opportunities
provided by a completed claim, self-government transforms the relationship
between the Aboriginal group at hand and the state. For instance, since
finalizing their land claim and self-government agreements in 1995, the
VGFN no longer functions as an 'Indian Act' band. Instead, the VGFN is a
legal entity and has the capacity, rights and powers of a natural person. This
means that unlike a conventional First Nation or Aboriginal group operat-
ing under the confines of the federal government of Canada, the VGFN are
able to enter into contracts, acquire and hold property, and raise, invest
and borrow capital. Moreover, as a self-governing community, the VGFN
has exclusive power to legislate in areas pertaining to the administration of
VGFN affairs and operations and the management of the rights and benefits
emerging out of the finalized land claim agreement. It also holds power to
enact laws in relation to the provision of programmes and services for its
citizens living on settlement land.
In the beginning, the VGFN government admits it fell flat on its face,
lacking any sort of idea as to how to construct a government. They were
thrown in the deep end and they sank like a stone. The doors and windows of
the band office were boarded up and former Chief Linklater admits they had
no idea where to begin in terms of operating a government. However, given
their tenacity, relative geographic isolation and desire for a better future, they
were forced to learn how to swim quickly and managed to remedy their situ-
ation. A lot of their success is attributed to the skills and vision of their chief,
Joe Linklater. To date the VGFN government has been busy developing its
governance structure, building capacity, drafting policies and even prepar-
ing a constitution. To achieve its goal of operating well as a government, the
VGFN has drawn on many resources including at one point hiring as CEO a
VGFN member who was also a former member of the territorial legislature,
and who infused the VGFN organization with a bureaucratic model of opera-
tion designed to streamline the decision-making process.
Further tied to security and political power is capacity. That is, self-govern-
ment is also about capacity-building: providing Aboriginal peoples the tools
to govern. Indeed Deiter and Rude (2005) urge the Canadian government to
provide training and direction to First Nations engaged in self-government
to ensure among other things that they possess the necessary tools to negoti-
ate policing agreements, develop their own constitutions, devise policy and
implement land management regimes.