Common wealth? : cultural and economic conflicts over nature in Nuu-chah-nulth country

Abstract

Relations of power, cosmology and economics come to the fore in conflict over natural resource management in the contemporary nation-state. The ethnographic focus here is on the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples of western Canada, who have been engaged in the politics of treaty negotiation and the ecological management of their traditional territories for many years. This has given rise to conflict between Nuu-chah-nulth, as well as between Nuu-chah-nulth and various groups of non-Aboriginal others. Competing ideologies and economies impact on Nuu-chah-nulth communities and restrict their ability to access natural resources. Combined with high unemployment, a history of colonial oppression, and social marginalisation, this is leading to social dysfunction and debilitated communities. I examine the effects of colonial and more recent government policies, arguing that these have maintained a systematic repression of Nuu-chah-nulth cultures and livelihood, with a consequently high negative impact on the well-being of Nuu-chah-nulth communities.