2. Women's Perspectives - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure ...

Aboriginal women involved at the community or nation level stated that their vision of
economic development includes ensuring that their people are healthy, educated and full
participants:
[We] would like to share with you the vision on economic development as established by
the Gitksan-Wet'suwet'en people. This came about from a number of community
consultation meetings which started in September of 1990. The Gitksan-Wet'suwet'en
people were concerned about economic development. People will be healing or healed of
social and spiritual disease. An inventory of people's skills will be taken. Education and
training…will continue to take place….Management will be based on the Gitksan and
Wet'suwet'en systems, our system of Aboriginal self-government. The Gitksan and
Wet'suwet'en house groups will be healthy….Our mandate is to act as a catalyst for
encouraging increased participation by the Hereditary House Groups, by the communities
and by individuals in the development of a sustainable economy.
Violet Gellenbeck
Executive Chairperson
Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en Economic Development Corporation
Kispiox, British Columbia, 16 June 1992
Aboriginal governments need to regain effective control of their economies if they are to
pursue forms of development appropriate to their culture and needs. To do so, they need
powers in the economic realm as governments. They also need to be able to shape their
economies through their own economic development institutions. We therefore
recommended in Volume 2, Chapter 5 that federal, provincial and territorial governments
enter into long-term economic development agreements with Aboriginal nations (or
institutions representing several nations) to provide multi-year funding to support agreed
economic development goals and principles. Women must have an active role in shaping
these institutions and processes, so that their perspectives are incorporated in economic
development and they have equal opportunities to benefit from it.
In addition, because women are particularly active in the small and micro-business sector,
the business development activities of Aboriginal nations must pay special attention to
their needs. In our discussion of economic development, we therefore highlighted the
importance of lending and support programs for micro-businesses and noted the
contributions that very small businesses can make to the economic development of a
community — and to providing business-related income for women in particular. We
also called for the further development of micro-lending programs as an important tool
for the development of very small businesses.
On the issue of access to equity capital, Economic Development for Canadian Aboriginal
Women recommended that the mandates of Aboriginal capital corporations (ACCs) be
expanded so that all Aboriginal women have access, that more Aboriginal women be
included in the decision-making process of ACCs, and that ACCs design specific
programs and services for Aboriginal women. 107 In Volume 2, Chapter 5, we
recommended that ACCs take appropriate steps, with the assistance of the federal
government, to improve their administrative efficiency, their degree of collaboration with
other ACCs, and their responsiveness to Aboriginal clients.
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