Indigenous Self-Determination and Food Sovereignty through Fisheries Co-Governance in the Great Lakes Region

Fishing has long been essential to the sustenance and ways of life for Indigenous peoples throughout the Great Lakes region. With the arrival of European settlers in the 17th century, Indigenous fishing activities were... [ view full abstract ]

Fishing has long been essential to the sustenance and ways of life for Indigenous peoples throughout the Great Lakes region. With the arrival of European settlers in the 17^th century, Indigenous fishing activities were deliberately and forcibly disrupted. The result of a settler colonial (broken) treaty process, reserve system and imposed legislation was that Indigenous peoples’ control of, and access to fish, land and water systems was significantly curtailed in both Canada and the United States, with devastating implications on livelihoods, community conservation, social relationships, cultures, economies, and food systems. Despite this violence, Indigenous people throughout the Great Lakes are involved in various efforts to reclaim their fishing rights as part of broader efforts towards self-determination through a range of co-governance initiatives - from stakeholder engagement to self-governance. 

In this contribution, we present two place-based case studies of fisheries co-governance involving Indigenous and settler engagements and spanning a range of scales from local communities to regional and national governments and trans-national agreements. Drawing on research undertaken with two Indigenous communities on Lake Huron and Lake Superior, we seek to understand their perspectives and experiences within these co-governance efforts. We explore the different goals and aspirations, strategies used to exercise jurisdiction, and perceptions of opportunities and limitations in organizing towards enhanced equity in a sustainable fisheries governance network. Ultimately, we seek to contribute to a sharing of co-governance experiences to enhance the potential for Nation to Nation relationship building and to support Indigenous movements towards self-determination and food sovereignty.