‘It’s like, we are thankful. But in the other way…they are just killing us too’: community members’ perspectives of the extractives industry’s funding of recreational and cultural programmes in Fort McKay, Alberta

Abstract

The growing role of the extractives industry in providing funding for recreational and cultural programmes in exchange for access to Indigenous lands raises some important questions about the impact this has on local community members. Informed by tenets of postcolonial theory and a community-based participatory research methodology, we worked with individuals in a small Indigenous community, Fort McKay, Alberta, Canada, to learn about their perspectives of the role of industry in funding their recreational and cultural programs. Our findings revealed that while many were grateful for this funding, they also felt that industry had a responsibility to fund these programs to offset the negative impacts industry had on their traditional territories. Further, they felt that the provision of these programs does not fully address the loss of access to traditional cultural practices. While proponents of the extractives industry promote funding as a way to increase Indigenous self-determination, our findings show that increased selfdetermination through such arrangements is limited.

Extractives Companies’ Social Media Portrayals of Their Funding of Sport for Development in Indigenous Communities in Canada and Australia

“…While Indigenous communities’ partnerships with extractives companies may increase access to cultural and recreational programs (Hayhurst & Giles, 2013), these partnerships nevertheless arise due to a lack of funding and resources from elsewhere. Indigenous peoples are not passive recipients of the help and partnerships offered by extractives companies; nevertheless, CSR practices of using SFD exist in a system that is heavily rooted in settler colonial logic and asymmetries, which can lead Indigenous communities to engage in partnerships with the extractives industry because they are left “with few choices” (van Lujik et al, 2020, p. 514).…”

Sport for Indigenous resurgence: Toward a critical settler-colonial reflection

“…Essentially, SFD is driven by corporate wants, where partnership-led structures convey unequal power relations dominated by settler-oriented donors, sponsors, and policy-makers (Nicholls et al, 2011). This problem is particularly apparent given the role the extractives industry plays in sponsoring SFD initiatives, an industry with a long and complex history of colonizing Indigenous land (Millington et al, 2019; Van Luijk et al, 2020).…”