Tsawwassen First Nation post-treaty community well being study

In 2009, the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) signed a self-governance treaty with the Canadian and British Columbia governments, the first to do so under the Federal-Provincial treaty process. The impact of obtaining self governance outside the Indian Act is, therefore, something that is important, not only for TFN, but as an example for other First Nations communities in British Columbia. This project will carry out an interview survey to determine the well-being of the TFN. This will provide data on the current state of well-being as well as baseline data on measures that can be used again in future years to determine directions of change under self-government. The significance of the research goes well beyond TFN. It is likely that many of the other FNs will ultimately sign a similar ‘treaty’. In doing so, they will be likely be influenced by whether or not the TFN has benefited under self government as identified through this study and subsequent repetitions of all or part of it. Furthermore, this study may provide a template that may be used by other FNs to measure well-being in their communities and whether it changes in it over time.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Ralph Matthews

Student:

Jordan Tesluk, Allison Takasaki & TBD

Partner:

Tsawwassen First Nation Economic Development Corporation

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Finance, insurance and business

University:

University of British Columbia