ABSTRACT
The Canadian land claims process is the product of a series of policies and laws directed at indigenous peoples that denies them consent over the relinquishing of their lands. As a result, the contemporary Canadian land claims process does not measure up to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP; UN 2007) and other international human rights standards. It does not meet even rudimentary standards in regard to providing informed consent and creates invidiously asymmetric responsibilities between the state and the indigenous party. The process requires indigenous peoples to extinguish their ownership of their lands, divides them into artificial configurations and thereby diminishes their negotiating power. Our analysis will principally be based on a reading of the Labrador–Quebec Innu land agreement and the social and political contexts in which these claims are situated. We will argue from our readings of the Canadian land claims process that expedients used in the past to obtain indigenous peoples’ lands and circumvent the colonial laws governing relationships with indigenous peoples is still evident today in Canada.
