Indigenous Property Rights

This research will focus on Indigenous law, theory, and policy regarding Indigenous land rights and tenure. Topics to explore include the theory of communal land ownership and the impacts of proposed privatization of reserve lands on Indigenous property rights. This research will cover law, theory, scientific research, and government policy. Some of the documents to be reviewed are those relating to the government of Canada’s role in encouraging reserve privatization obtained via Access to Information requests as well as reviewing government statements and the media to determine who is promoting privatization and for what purpose. The concept has significant legal political and social implications not yet fully explored. We hypothesize that under communal property regimes, there are long term benefits and protections afforded to Indigenous Nations; and that environmental protection and natural resource management is more efficient and effective. Similarly, the research to date shows that individual property rights in Indigenous contexts exacerbate not alleviate poverty. This research is ongoing.