{"id":63546,"date":"2024-05-17T07:44:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T14:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/energi.media\/?p=63546"},"modified":"2024-05-17T07:44:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T14:44:00","slug":"first-nation-leaders-know-the-value-of-access-to-traditional-territories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/energi.media\/energi-notes\/first-nation-leaders-know-the-value-of-access-to-traditional-territories\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nation leaders know the value of access to traditional territories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obsidian Energy should negotiate an agreement with Woodland Cree First Nation because it won’t win this fight<\/h2>\n

Bill Hatton was a Vietnam vet, 300 pounds of menace, and an imposing figure around the board table. His only job, he once explained to me, was to sit across from CEOs and explain what access to First Nation traditional lands was going to cost them. The same principle is now at play in the dispute between the Woodland Cree First Nation (WCFN) and Obsidian Energy<\/a>, which is getting uglier by the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hatton returned home to Minnesota after his discharge and fell into community development. He was influenced by the work of notorious activist <\/span>Saul Alinksy<\/span><\/a>, who died in 1972. At some point he drifted into community economic development. In those days, that was defined as helping local and minority communities create businesses that boosted local employment while offering goods and services not otherwise available in the neighbourhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kitsaki Management is well known and respected for managing profitable joint venture companies.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like Alinsky, Hatton was a character. He talked in a grand eloquent style, frequently quoting – perhaps accurately, but probably not, who could tell? – military strategists like <\/span>Von Clausewitz<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Sun Tzu<\/span><\/a>. During the 1980s he worked in northern Saskatchewan with the La Ronge Band, which pioneered joint ventures between Canadian companies (eg trucking) and Indigenous communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I met him in the early 1990s, he was essentially a thug for hire. At least that was the way corporate types viewed him. They much preferred negotiating with the less experienced First Nations than the steely-eyed ex-Marine. Hatton knew how to say \u201cno\u201d and back it up. It\u2019s a simple skill, much harder to do than describe, and his services were much in demand from First Nations back in the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Hatton never forgot a lesson he learned during his days with the La Ronge Band: transfer skills to Indigenous leaders. A related lesson he never tired of talking about is the importance of building institutional and management capacity to support those leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watching interviews with WCFN Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom reminds me of Hatton, who hadn\u2019t worked in Canada for years and passed away some time ago. Articulate, resolute, and happy to call out Obsidian CEO Stephan Loukas for showing no respect to First Nation leaders. He has the backing of his council and his community. And, after yesterday, support on the ground at the WCFN camp near Peace River from other Chiefs.<\/span><\/p>\n