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Paper short abstract

Based on ethnographic studies conducted among the Atikamekw Nehirowisiwok, I propose in this presentation a critical reflection on the problems of Indigenous overlapping claims in the context of comprehensive land claims negotiation.

Paper long abstract

This paper describes the incompatibilities between the logic of state sovereignty and Indigenous relational territorialities in the context of comprehensive land claims. As part of the Canadian comprehensive land claim process, the federal and provincial government compels the indigenous people present at the negotiating table to frame their claims within fairly narrow boundaries, constraining them to appropriate and use discursive strategies related to ethno-territorial state nationalism and sovereignty (Nadasdy 2012, 2018; Sletto 2009; Thom 2009, 2014, 2015). The obligation to prove exclusive occupation is problematic in that it does not take into account the principle of territorial and resource sharing that is at the core of Indigenous relational territoriality for many First Nations in Canada (Charest 2001; Feit 2004; Nadasdy 2012; Thom 2014). Based on ethnographic studies conducted among the Atikamekw Nehirowisiwok and in relation to the work of different researchers (Op cit.), I propose in this presentation a critical reflection on the problems of Indigenous overlapping claims in the context of comprehensive land claims negotiation.