The Possibility of Difference: Rethinking Co-management

Many of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples have adopted the language, concepts and procedures of environmental resource management in order to advance their needs, rights and interests in co-management. Drawing on the author’s experiences in co-management, the advantages and disadvantages of this project for Canada, its Aboriginal peoples, and its landscapes are explored. Alternatives to the status quo, grounded in social, cultural and ecological sustainability, and modelled after the two-row wampum, are then considered. Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal parties to co-management must critically examine current management policies and practices in order to develop innovative approaches that will create the space required for the meaningful and equitable inclusion of Aboriginal peoples in decisions taken in respect to their lands and resources.