Dances with Dependency
Out of poverty through Self-Reliance
Author: Mere Takoko
In the face of fatigued ‘warrior gene’ theories that offer little more to a poor man than a sinker at the bottom of a fish pond comes a new tell-all book by Canadian Aboriginal author, Calvin Helin, of the Tsimshian Nation. Dances with Dependency, yet to be released in Aotearoa, examines First Nation dependency on the federal government in both the U.S. and Canada. Painting a picture of the fall of indigenous peoples from self-reliant and profoundly spiritual societies to nations at the mercy of federal transfer payments, Helin argues that without self-generated wealth they will continue to have little control over their destiny.
Some US$18 billion in federal payments are transferred to First Nations in Canada annually. At a time when millions of baby boomers are set to retire and where U.S. and Canadian foreign debt is spiraling out of control, Helin shows how it’s only a matter of time before both countries’ finances are exhausted. Add to that the rapidly growing legions of poor people relying on expensive government ‘entitlement crumbs’ and Helin says you have a formula for a fiscal ‘demographic tsunami’ on a scale never before seen. With serious concerns about Ottawa and Washington D.C.’s ability to sustain its spending on indigenous communities the question posed by Dances with Dependency is: will indigenous reserve communities sink even further down the totem pole or recognise an unprecedented opportunity to achieve meaningful self-government?
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Key quotes from article:
“Dances with Dependency is a book that is set to accelerate a discourse among indigenous peoples that is not about assigning blame on the government but about moving communities forward. And, as Helin shows, there are other potential economic models that communities in North America could consider including Maori. In fact, he dedicates almost a chapter to showing how the value of the Maori economy has almost trebled since the 1980s. After looking at government reforms such as devolution and privatization, he says Maori were forced to move further ahead in the ‘development/economic integration curve.’ Add to that a conscious focus on education, traditional culture, language and identity, and Maori just may provide a potential map to build on.”
“The good news is that indigenous peoples in North America are in the best position ever to build their economies and take advantage of their very substantial resource base. With over 600,000 square kilometres of land and some US$20 billion yet to be paid in treaty settlements, they will soon have access to tremendous wealth. In order to utilize these assets as well as the US$18 billion in annual transfer payments, the only thing First Nations have to lose is “the dependency mindset, the colonial grip of a patronising bureaucracy, and the plague of social and political pathologies,” says Helin. “This is the major challenge facing Indian country today. It also is the key to solving the seemingly intractable problem of reservation poverty. Tribal leaders must use the power they have to build viable nations before the opportunity slips away.”
