“[W]e do not lose our treaty rights outside the... reserve”: challenging the scales of social service provision for First Nations women in Canadian cities

Recent work in political geography has emphasised how scale plays a role in constituting relationships and identities. Historically, the Canadian federal government has taken responsibilities for social services for First Nations people on reserves, leaving this responsibility to provinces for First Nations people in cities. This constitutes First Nations women as individuals with Aboriginal rights only on reserves, and as part of mainstream society in urban areas. First Nations women have challenged the definitions of their identities embedded in these scales of service provision. In presenting alternative geographies for organising the provision of services, they demonstrate the importance of paying attention to the diversity of women’s everyday geographies in the city. This is a phrase from Vicki English’s (1993) presentation to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, where she argues that treaty rights to housing, education, medicare and other services should not be confined to the boundaries of reserves. I use the term “First Nations” to refer to people who identify themselves as such, including people who are and are not registered pursuant to the Indian Act. By “Aboriginal peoples” I mean the descendants of the indigenous people in Canada, including First Nations people, Métis and Inuit. The Census of Canada uses the term “North American Indian” to refer to First Nations people, and I employ this terminology for clarity in some cases.

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