https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-voluntary-rent-first-nations/
"In March, a small non-profit in British Columbia cut 10 cheques worth
approximately $5,500 each, and hand delivered them to as many First Nations on
southern Vancouver Island. The money, collected in the second half of 2023, is
the first annual installment of voluntary “rents” paid by residents and
business owners who live and work on the First Nations’ homelands.
The South Island Reciprocity Trust is the brainchild of Craig Candler, a
second-generation Canadian and cultural anthropologist who has worked with
Indigenous communities for nearly three decades. “I felt it was really
important for there to be a pathway that wasn’t just recognizing with words
that we’re on Indigenous territory, but was actually meaningfully giving back
to the communities who we need to thank for where we get to live.”
Established in June 2023, the South Island trust is the first of what Candler
intends to grow into a series of regional trusts created in partnership with
First Nations across Canada. The trusts will fall under the broader umbrella of
the Reciprocity Trusts Society, the non-profit created by Candler to administer
the program.
The idea for a “voluntary rents” initiative first came to Candler nearly two
decades ago, not long after he purchased his first family home in Esquimalt,
B.C. “After renting for ages, we were able to put a down payment on a house,
which turned us into landowners,” he says.
Yellow plants sprout up on the shore of a bay overlooking a shoreline with
buildings on Vancouver Island
At the time, Candler was employed by an engineering and environmental science
firm that was working on various land-use projects involving Indigenous
communities — in both remote places and major cities. This experience opened
his eyes to the extreme constraints imposed on urban nations’ access to their
traditional territories and resources. “It was the first time I had worked with
a set of urban nations whose lands had been taken up by thousands and thousands
of little pieces of private property, just like the one we had bought.”
Moved to act, Candler approached the late Andy Thomas, then-chief of the
Esquimalt Nation. Candler asked to pay a portion of his taxes to the First
Nation. “[Chief Thomas] basically said, ‘Craig, we’re happy that you’re on our
lands. You’ve done good work for the nation. But it would be such a headache to
have to administer that! Maybe someday, if you and a bunch of your friends can
get together, we should have another conversation.’ ”
That suggestion stuck with Candler, and in 2020 he founded the society, hired
executive director Sarah Reid, and together they began work in earnest to
create what would eventually become the South Island trust."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-black-land-trust-voluntary-rent/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
