GITXSAN TREATY TRANSITION STRATEGY
Gitxsan Economics
The structure, institutions and rules of Gitxsan economics emerge directly from that most basic of human relationships - the family. Indeed, the evolution of society on the Skeena River can be thought of as an exploration of how far in time, in scale and in complexity the idea of the family can be expanded without losing its essential character.
Economic transactions are face-to-face between people who know each other
well. They are oral rather than written, which means that the exchange
is identified with both the giver and the receiver. There is no anonymity,
no separation of knowledge and the knower. This makes unethical behaviour
difficult and when it does occur, makes its consequences immediate and
inescapable. Authority rather than power determines decision-making, and
authority comes from personal respect. In this context political decisions
are by consensus, with greater weight given to the thoughts of those with
proven ability, experience and wisdom. There is a democracy, not of one-man-one-vote
but of identifiable although shifting factional interests. Decisions and
laws are not policed. Instead there is a withdrawal of support from the
person or group making the unpopular decision. Those who continue to offend
established laws and morals lose authority in the society.
The system coheres through the constant interaction among people which
is often, but not necessarily, accompanied by great love. This affectionate
economy is extended back in time through reference to the oral histories.
Family links made thousands of years ago can be re-established for trade,
exchange or other purposes. The histories also record how familial ties
were made with certain animals and how certain lineages came to be responsible
for particular, well defined areas of land. These historical events recognise
a commonality of spirit among humans and all living things including the
land and this is the basis of the laws governing the people’s relationship
with the rest of the world.
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Structure
For a Gitxsan there is no such thing as a purely economic transaction or a purely economic institution. All events in both day-to-day and formal life have social, political, spiritual as well as economical aspects. The structure that has evolved to facilitate the family relationships described above is therefore an all-purpose one.
The primary political unit of the system is the House, named from the long house where many of its members lived at one time. All House members share a common ancestry that in most cases they can trace. They thus share a common oral history which is encapsulated in songs and in crests displayed on blankets, poles and house fronts. The House members responsibilities to the natural world, to others and to each other are spoken to by the Head Chief of the House. The House, through its Chief, is the land holding entity in Gitxsan society. There is no higher authority in the system than the House Chief. While the Chief is responsible for the actions of the House and each of its members, he or she does not act alone. Within the House, other chiefs, the wings of the Head Chief, must be consulted along with the Houses’s elders and, on important enough matter the Chiefs of other Houses.
A Gitxsan is born into his or her mother’s
House succession to chief names comes through the mother’s side.
Those Houses that are closely related and have shared critical historical
moments remain important to one another and it is the Chiefs of these
Houses that most frequently consult each other. The broadest grouping
of related Gitxsan Houses is the Pdek or
Clan. The Gitxsan have four Clans. Clan
members know they are historically related but no longer may be able to
recall the precise blood relationship that binds them. Clan identity is
important in marriage law in that no one can marry within his or her Clan.
Marriage out of the Clan combined with succession through the mother tends
to fragment enduring male power blocks and diffuse both exceptional and
ordinary individuals throughout the society.
Although the society is matrilineal, the father’s side is important,
particularly at the beginning and end of a person’s life. A father
is expected to help raise his children even though they are not members
of his House Clan. As they go through life the children return their father’s
assistance and when they die, it is their father’s House which arranges
their burial.
The most important economic transactions travelling this network serve to share wealth within the House and reciprocate services and obligations between Houses. Reciprocity is reflected in the feast, the institution where the community formally recognises the authority of each Chief and of the system as a whole. There are a number of types of feast depending on the nature of the main business being done and its importance to the community. Crucial feasts for a House are concerned with the succession of the name and responsibilities of a Head Chief. The formality and mutual respect of the feast proceedings, combined with the need of the host House to have its business witnessed by the Chiefs of other Houses and Clans, imposes a sense of common purpose on the often fractious day-to-day affairs of the various families.
The feast is the occasion where a Chief may extend authority over Houses
other than his or her own. This jurisdiction is exercised when a guest
Chief confirms the host House’s description of its territorial boundaries
and river fishing sites and reaffirms the society’s laws. But no
Chief or group of Chiefs has authority over all the Gitxsan.
A Chief may have knowledge of the laws, history and protocols of a number
of related Houses and of more distant Houses with whom there are frequent
marriage ties. In this way each Chief’s authority extends over part
of the society, weaving into that of the next Chief and so on until the
whole society is covered with a mat of authority. The mat’s weave
pattern reflects that of the kinship net.
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Economic Consequences
The ownership prerogatives of the House influence Gitxsan economic life more than the jurisdictional prerogatives of the Chiefs together. The horizontal authority structure is underlined by the absence of a central power, a high Chief of all the Gitxsan. This contrasts with the economic and political structure of nations where the jurisdiction of the state generally overrides individual and especially community ownership rights. In the decentralised kinship society, the economy works by design rather than by planning; by understanding the total present rather than attempting to predict fragments of the future. Gitxsan people have chosen to trust the centruries old authority structure and the leadership of those they pick to be Chiefs rather than the ephemeral blueprints of bureaucrats.
The small size and high autonomy of the Houses is parallelled by low
rates of internally generated philosophical and hence organisational change.
This inherent structural conservatism is modified by a willingness to
adopt those aspects of other cultures which do not threaten the essential
character of Gitxsan society.
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Transition
Gitxsan histories record that for at least
the last10,000 years, groups of people from very different origins and
cultures have migrated into and what is now northwestern BC. In an ongoing
process of evolution and coalition these groups form the various aboriginal
people in the region today. Each new party of immigrants formed alliances
with those already there and in the process each modified and adopted
parts of the other’s culture. That is until the Europeans came.
Particular qualities of the dominant European culture of the last 500
years has blocked the recognition and respect needed to allow its migrants
and the Gitxsan to exchange the best in
each other’s culture and experience. Vigorously asserted and implemented
ideologies backed by a superior society by temporarily marginalising the
Gitxsan and other aboriginal peoples. The
result has been dysfunction in both sides. Recent legal decisions from
the provincial courts and the promise of treaty negotiations with BC and
Canada may enable the needed mutual accommodation to occur. If this promise
holds true, a transition process will be required to help both cultures
to overcome their dysfunctions.
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Goals and Processes
Gitxsan leaders have thought about the transition and have developed the following goals;
- The practical accommodation has to be with the non-Gitxsan (Lixs Giigyetim Gyet) living within the Gitxsan territories, rather than with the populations of BC or Canada.
- To do this, the Gitxsan propose a form of autonomous territorial government accommodating both the Gitxsan House system and the Lix Giigyetim Gyet if they agree.
- Until the Gitxsan know more about the wishes of the local Lixs Giigyetim Gyet, the form of this overarching government structure cannot be determined.
- For its part, the Gitxsan have determined
the government will accomodate:
a. Each House being responsible for its members and its territories.
b. Land co-management applied consistently over all territories (no land selection)
c. Decision-making according to Gitxsan Law. - At all stages of this transition the Gitxsan Houses will be consulted on, will ratify and will implement the structures developed.
For some Gitxsan and Lixs Giigyetim Gyet
the prospect of treaty settlements causes much fear. People fear change,
fear having to assume responsibility, and fear pressure from their peers.
In both societies, there is both individual and community dependence as
unhealthy, they are reluctant to take the first step away from it. As
with any significant change, the last of the old ways always beats the
first of the new. The last crossbow was better than the first musket,
the horse was faster than the first car. Any new government structure
will have to accommodate dissenting and dysfunctional behaviour from some
community members.
Fear of change requires a successful post-treaty transition strategy to have two essential elements. First, it must conform to realistic but very firm deadlines. Second, support for all community members at all stages must be designed and in place well before the planned change takes place. The nature of the needed support requires careful thought and a willingness to learn from past projects. For example, showing the way with pilot projects, making development funds available, and putting on training courses have generally not been successful ways of initiating self sufficiency among Gitxsan Houses.
Based on the above experience, the following three-phase transition process may be one way to achieve the stated goals.
- Dependency Weaning - this would be a strictly time-limited phase in which the obligations between the new Gitxsan government and the province and Canada would be administered using existing structures eg. Land use through provincial planning methods, social services through existing agency structures, etc. With adequate planning and appropriate pre-treaty agreements, this phase could be quite short and even eliminated. No employees would be hired to service this phase, all work would be done under short-term contracts.
- Default Protection - this would be the true transition phase. It would provide minimal protection of the interests of House members and House territories while those Houses which were not prepared could ready themselves eg. provide for basic ecosystem mapping of Gitxsan territory as a whole based on existing information, provide basic social and educational services based on Gitxsan principles, etc. This phase would be administered by trustees who would not be empowered to make political decisions. As with the first phase all work would be done by contractors.
- Wilp-based Government - in this phase, the trust would continue but
would bow be charged with making training, technical support and information
services available to all Houses. The House group would now have three
choices in the management of its affairs;
a. Self management - with all benefits from territory being commensurate with work put in and distributed through the feast.
b. Default management by the trust (this would occur if no choice was made )
c. Opting out completely (this would allow provincial/federal government services and management only )
- Gitksan Treaty - Continuity and Vision
- Gitxsan Statement
- Why a treaty?
- Self-Government and Economic Initiatives
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