Mining and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics, and Memory

CSN-REC Best Collection in Canadian Studies, Mining and Communities in Northern Canada combines oral history research with intense archival study to examine the historical, social, economic, and environmental impacts of mining on Indigenous communities in Northern Canada.

For Indigenous communities throughout the globe, mining has been a historical forerunner of colonialism, introducing new, and often disruptive, settlement patterns and economic arrangements. Although Indigenous communities may benefit from and adapt to the wage labour and training opportunities provided by new mining operations, they are also often left to navigate the complicated process of remediating the long-term ecological changes associated with industrial mining. In this regard, the mining often inscribes colonialism as a broad set of physical and ecological changes to indigenous lands.

This collection examines historical and contemporary social, economic, and environmental impacts of mining on Indigenous communities in Northern Canada. Combining oral history research with intensive archival study, this work juxtaposes the perspectives of government and industry with the perspectives of local communities. The oral history and ethnographic material provides an extremely significant record of local Indigenous perspectives on histories of mining and development in their regions.

With contributions by: Patricia Boulter, Jean-Sébastien Boutet, Emilie Cameron, Sarah Gordon, Heather Green, Jane Hammond, Joella Hogan, Arn Keeling, Tyler Levitan, Hereward Longley, Scott Midgley, Kevin O’Reilly, Andrea Procter, John Sandlos, and Alexandra Winton

Arn Keeling is an associate professor in the Department of Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His research and publications focus on the historical and contemporary encounters of northern Indigenous communities with large-scale resource developments, domestic and industrial pollution, environmental politics, and the history of the conservation/environmental movement.

John Sandlos is an associate professor in the Department of History at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His recent research examines the conflict between state wildlife managers and resource harvesters in the hinterland regions of Canada. His book, Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories, won a Clio Prize.

Acknowledgements
Glossary of Key Mining Terms
A Note on Terminology
Summary of Key Locations and Characteristics of Case Study Mining Sites

Introduction: The Complex Legacy of Mining in Northern Canada
Arn Keeling and John Sandlos

Section 1: Mining and Memory

From Igloo to Mine Shaft: Inuit Labour and Memory at the Rankin Inlet Nickel Mine
Arn Keeling and Patricia Boulter

Narratives Unearthed, or, How an Abandoned Mine Doesn’t Really Abandon You
Sarah M. Gordon

"It’s Just Natural:" First Nation Family History and the Keno Hill Silver Mine
Alexandra Winton and Joella Hogan

Gender, Labour, and Community in a Remote Mining Town Jane Hammond

"A Mix of the Good and the Bad:" Community Memory and the Pine Point Mine
John Sandlos

Section 1: History, Politics, and Mining Policy

The Revival of Quebec’s Iron Ore Industry: Perspectives on Mining, Development and History
Jean-Sebastien Bouttet

Indigenous Battles for Environmental Protection and Economic Benefits during the Commercialization of the Alberta Oil Sands, 1967-1986
Hereward Longley

Uranium, Inuit Rights, and Emergent Neoliberalism in Labrador, 1956-2012
Andrea Procter

Privatizing Consent? Impact and Benefit Agreements and the Neoliberalization of Mineral Development in the Canadian North
Tyler Levitan and Emilie Cameron

Section 3: Navigating Mine Closuer

Contesting Closure: Science, Politics, and Community Responses to Closing the Nanisivik Mine, Nunavut
Scott Midgley

"There Is No Memory of It Here:" Closure and Memory of the Polaris Mine in Resolute Bay, 1973-2012
Heather Green

Liability, Legacy , and Perpetual Care: Government Ownership and Management of the Giant Mine, 1999-2015
Kevin O’Reilly

Conclusion
Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
Index

Mining and Communities raises key questions about the value of minerals to contemporary society in light of their impacts on community economics and the environment… This book should also be praised as a model of collaborative scholarship and research mobilization… This is a solid compilation that brings Indigenous voices and interests to the forefront.

—Susan Roy, Oral History Forum d’histoire oraled

Intertwining historical research with an impressive collection of oral histories, Mining and Communities in Northern Canada successfully amplifies the voices of First Nations communities that have been routinely left voiceless in mining history and in policy decisions regarding mineral exploration and development. It is an important collection of meaningful scholarship, and should serve as a jumping-off point for future studies exploring the historical negotiations between indigenous communities, mining companies, policy makers, and the broader political ecology of remote resource extraction.

—John Baeten, Michigan State University