Where the Rivers Meet

Carly A. Dokis

ISBN 10: 0774828455 / ISBN 13: 9780774828451

Published by University of British Columbia Press, CA, 2015

About this Item

Oil and gas companies now recognize that industrial projects in the Canadian North can only succeed if Aboriginal communities are involved in decision-making processes. Are Aboriginal concerns appropriately addressed through current consultation and participatory processes?Where the Rivers Meet is an ethnographic account of Sahtu Dene involvement in the environmental assessment of the Mackenzie Gas Project, a massive pipeline that, if completed, would have unprecedented effects on Aboriginal communities in the North.Carly A. Dokis reveals that while there has been some progress in establishing avenues for Dene participation in decision making, the structure of participatory and consultation processes fails to meet the expectations of local people by requiring them to participate in ways that are incommensurable with their experiential knowledge and understandings of the environment. Ultimately, Dokis finds that the evaluation of such projects remains rooted in non-local beliefs about the nature of the environment, the commodification of land, and the inevitability of a hydrocarbon-based economy.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780774828451

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Where the Rivers Meet
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press, CA
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774828455
• ISBN 13: 9780774828451
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 480 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Oil and gas companies now recognize that industrial projects in the Canadian North can only succeed if Aboriginal communities are involved in decision-making processes. Where the Rivers Meet is an ethnographic account of Sahtu Dene involvement in the environmental assessment of the Mackenzie Gas Project, a massive pipeline that, if completed, would have unprecedented effects on Aboriginal communities in the North. The book reveals that while there has been some progress in establishing avenues for Dene participation in decision making, the ultimate assessment of such projects remains rooted in non-local beliefs about the nature of the environment, the commodification of land, and the inevitability of a hydrocarbon-based economy.

About the Author

Carly A. Dokis is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Nipissing University.