Evelyn Peters , Queen's University at Kingston peterse@post.queensu.ca. and
Kathleen Wilson , Queen's University at Kingston 6kjw@qsilver.queensu.ca.

Renegotiating the Boundaries of Cultural Identities: Exploring the Struggles of Urban First Nations peoples in Canada

In Canada, the proportion of First Nations peoples living in urban centres is increasing steadily. The urban First Nations population faces many challenges such as abject poverty, racism and lack of access to adequate housing. However, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in Canada argues that one of the greatest challenges they face is maintaining their cultural identity as First Nations peoples. In addition, recent writing on migration contends that First Nations peoples who move from reserves to urban areas face lower levels of access to their culture, in particular, the land.

In this paper, we present the results of in-depth interviews conducted with 18 First Nations peoples who relocated from reserves to three different urban centres in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the interviews was to understand how migration to cities shapes relationships to the land. The interviews revealed that relationships to the land are not cast aside with migration to cities. Rather, by creating spaces within cities where they can express their physical, spiritual and symbolic relationships to the land, First Nations peoples resist the forces of colonialism and neocolonialism that have traditionally limited and contained their cultural identities within the territorial boundaries of reserves. The findings from this research are important as they challenge historical ideas concerning where First Nations peoples belong and where culture can exist. They disrupt and displace theories of First Nations identity and location, which argue that cultural identity is bounded within particular locations (i.e., on reserves). Further, they demonstrate that First Nations peoples can come from the margins and create spaces of cultural safety within urban settings that challenge hegemonic constructions of place and identity.

Key words: First Nations peoples; cultural identities; urbanization.