Abstract
Resource extraction companies worldwide are involved with Indigenous peoples. Historically these interactions have been antagonistic, yet there is a growing public expectation for improved ethical performance of resource industries to engage with Indigenous peoples. (Crawley and Sinclair, Journal of Business Ethics 45, 361–373 (2003)) proposed an ethical model for human resource practices with Indigenous peoples in Australian mining companies. This paper expands on this work by re-framing the discussion within the context of sustainable development, extending it to Canada, and generalizing to other resource industries. We argue that it is unethical to sacrifice the viability of Indigenous cultures for industrial resource extraction; it is ethical to engage with indigenous peoples in a manner consistent with their wishes and needs as they perceive them. We apply these ideas to a case study in the coastal temperate rainforest of Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada. In this case a scientific panel comprised of Nuu-Chah-Nulth elders, forest scientists and management professionals, achieved full consensus on developing sustainable forest practice standards by drawing equally on Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and Western science in the context of one of the most heated and protracted environmental conflicts in Canadian history. The resulting sustainable forest practice standards were later adopted by leading forestry firms operating on the coast. Our analysis of this scientific panel’s success provides the basis for advancing an ethical approach to sustainable development with Indigenous peoples. This ethical approach is applicable to companies working in natural resource industries where the territories of Indigenous peoples are involved.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- TEK:
-
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
- TEKS:
-
Traditional Ecological Knowledge Systems
References
InstitutionalAuthorNameAssembly of First Nations (1994) Breaking the silence, an interpretive study of residential school impact and healing as illustrated by the stories of First Nations individuals Ontario Ottawa
J. D. Barman McCaskill Y. Hébert (1986) Indian Education in Canada Vol 1 The Legacy University of British Columbia Press Vancouver
M. Battiste J. (Sa’ke’j)Youngblood Henderson (2000) Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage Purich Saskatoon
F. Berkes (1993) Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Perspective J. T. Inglis (Eds) Traditional Ecological Knowledge Concepts and Cases International Program on Traditional Ecological Knowledge (Canadian Museum of Nature) and International Development Research Centre Ottawa
F. Berkes C. Folkes (1994) Investing in Cultural Capital for Sustainable Use of Natural Capital A-M. Jannson M. Hammer Folke Carl Costanza Robert (Eds) Investing In Natural Capital The Ecological Economics Approach to Sustainability Island Press Washington DC
Canada, Supreme Court: 1997, Delgamuukw v. British Columbia. File No.: 23799, 1997; June 16, 17; December 11, under General Principles, Item No. 84
J. Coleman (1990) The Foundations of Social Theory Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA
A. Crawley A. Sinclair (2003) ArticleTitleIndigenous Human Resource Practices in Australian Mining Companies: Towards and Ethical Model Journal of Business Ethics 45 361–373
J. Cruikshank (1981) ArticleTitleLegend and Landscape: Convergence of Oral and Scientific Tradition in the Yukon Territory Arctic Anthropology 18 IssueID2 67–93
J. Cruikshank (1998) The Social Life of Stories University of Nebraska Press Lincoln
H. Daly (1994) Operationalizing Sustainable Development by Investing in Natural Capital A-M. Jannson M. Hammer C. Folke R. Costanza (Eds) Investing In Natural Capital: The Ecological Economics Approach to Sustainability Island Press Washington, D.C
J. DesJardins (1998) ArticleTitleCorporate Environmental Responsibility Journal of Business Ethics 17 825–838
F. Duerden R. Kuhn (1998) ArticleTitleScale, Context and Application of Traditional Knowledge in the Canadian North Polar Record 34 IssueID188 31–38 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0032247400014959
R. Fisher (1983) Contact and Conflict, Indian-European Relations in British Columbia UBC Press Vancouver 1774–1890
M. M. R. Freeman (1985) Appeal to Tradition: Different Perspectives on Wildlife Management J. Brosted (Eds) et al. Native Power: The Quest for Autonomy and Nationhood of Aboriginal Peoples Universitetsforlaget Oslo
M. M. R. Freeman (1995) The Nature and Utility of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Gaffield Chad Gaffield Pam (Eds) Consuming Canada Copp Clark Ltd Toronto
P. Garcia H. Vredenburg (2003) ArticleTitleBuilding Corporate Citizenship through Strategic Bridging in the Oil and Gas Industry in Latin America Journal of Corporate Citizenship 10 IssueIDSummer 37–49
J. Hall H. Vredenburg (2003) ArticleTitleThe Challenges of Innovating for Sustainable Development MIT Sloan Management Review 45 IssueID1 61–68
S. Hart (1995) ArticleTitleA Natural Resource-Based-View of the Firm Academy of Management Review 20 IssueID4 986–1014
Hart, S.: 1997, ‘Beyond Greening: Strategies for a Sustainable World’, Harvard Business Review 75 (January/February)
S. Hart M. Milstein (1999) ArticleTitleGlobal Sustainability and the Creative Destruction of Industries MIT Sloan Management Review 41 IssueID1 23–34
Higginson, N.: 2004, Firm-ENGO Strategic Alliances as a Knowledge-Based Strategy for Sustainability: The Case of the Joint Solutions Project in B.C.’s Coastal Forest Products Industry, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Haskayne School of Business, (University of Calgary, Calgary)
D. Lertzman (1996) A Spirit of Understanding: Community Based Program and Curriculum Guidelines for the First Nations Integrated Resource Management Program Ministry of Education, Skills and Training, Province of British Columbia Victoria
Lertzman, D. A.: 1999, Planning Between Cultural Paradigms: Traditional Knowledge and the Transition to Ecological Sustainability, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Community and Regional Planning, (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)
Lertzman, D. A.: 2002, ‘Rediscovering Rites of Passage: Education, Transformation and the Transition to Sustainability’, Conservation Ecology 5(2)
D. A. Lertzman (2003) Caveat on Consilience: Barriers and Bridges for Traditional Knowledge and Conservation Science Westley Miller (Eds) Experiments in Consilience: Integrating Social and Scientific Responses to Save Endangered Species Island Press Washington DC
J. F. Lozano A. Boni (2002) ArticleTitleThe Impact of The Multi-National in the Development: An Ethical Challenge Journal of Business Ethics 39 169–178
Mac Gregor, R.: 2001, ‘Natives meet ‘to save our children”, Globe and Mail, February 8: 9
C. McKee (2000) Treaty Talks in British Columbia UBC Press Vancouver
P. Macklem (2001) Indigenous Difference and the Constitution of Canada University of Toronto Press Toronto
P. Nadasdy (1999) ArticleTitleThe Politics of TEK: Power and the ‘Integration’ of Knowledge Arctic Anthropology 36 IssueID1,2 1–18
D. Nettle S. Romaine (2001) Vanishing Voices: the Extinction of the World’s Languages Oxford University Press New York
A. Pablo S. Sharma H. Vredenburg (1999) ArticleTitleCorporate Environmental Responsiveness Strategies: The Importance of Issue Interpretation and Organizational Context Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 35 IssueID1 87–108
J. Pasquero (1991) ArticleTitleSupra-organizational Collaboration: The Canadian Environmental Experiment Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 27 IssueID1 38–64
D. M. Payne C. A. Raiborn (2001) ArticleTitleSustainable Development, The Ethics Support the Economics Journal of Business Ethics 32 157–168
D. Pearce A. Markandya E. B. Barbler (1989) Blueprint for a Green Economy Earthscan London
M. Porter C. Linde Particlevan der (1995) ArticleTitleGreen and Competitive: Ending the Stalemate Harvard Business Review 73 IssueIDSeptember/October 120–134
R. Price (1999) The Spirit of the Alberta Indian Treaties University of Alberta Press Edmonton
R. Putnam (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy Princeton University Press Princeton, New Jersey
Rees, W.: 1989, Defining ‘Sustainable Development’, UBC Centre for Human Settlements, CHS Research Bulletin, University of British Columbia
Rees, W.: 1990, ‘Sustainable Development and the Biosphere.’ Teilhard Studies 23
Rees, W.: 1996, ‘Revisiting Carrying Capacity: Area-Based Indicators of Sustainability.’ Population and Environment 17
W. Rees (1997) ArticleTitleIs ’Sustainable City’ an Oxymoron? in Local Environment 2 IssueID3 303–310
InstitutionalAuthorNameRoyal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1995) Choosing Life: Special Report on Suicide Amongst Aboriginal People Minister of Supply and Services Canada Ottawa
Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound: 1995,Report 3 First Nations’ Perspectives Relating To Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound, Victoria
Semmens, G.: 2004, ‘Environmentalists Attack Encana’s Record in Ecuador’, Calgary Herald, March 26, B10
P. Senge G. Carstedt (2001) ArticleTitleInnovating Our Way to the Next Industrial Revolution MIT Sloan Management Review 42 IssueID2 24–38
S. Sharma H. Vredenburg (1998) ArticleTitleProactive Corporate Environmental Strategy and the Development of Competitively Valuable Organizational Capabilities Strategic Management Journal 19 729–753
Sharma H. Vredenburg F. Westley (1994) ArticleTitleStrategic Bridging: A Role for the Multinational Corporation in Third World Development Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 30 IssueID4 458–476
F. Stormer (2003) ArticleTitleMaking the Shift: Moving from ‘Ethics Pays’ to an Inter-systems Model of Business Journal of Business Ethics 44 279–289
E. B. Titley (1986) A Narrow Vision, Duncan Campbell Scott and the Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada University of British Columbia Press Vancouver
Treaty Seven Elders and Tribal Council with W. Hilderandt, S. Carter and D. First Rider: 1997,The True Spirit and Original Intent of Treaty 7, (McGill–Queen’s University Press, Montreal)
R. L. Trosper (1998) ArticleTitleIncentive Systems That Support Sustainability: A First Nations Example Conservation Ecology 2 IssueID2 11
L. Tuhiwai Smith (2001) Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples Zed Books New York
N. J. Turner M. B. Ignace R. Ignace (2000) ArticleTitleTraditional ecological knowledge and wisdom of aboriginal peoples of British Columbia Ecological Applications 10 IssueID5 1275–1287
R. K. Turner P. Doktor N. Adger (1994) Sea-Level Rise & Coastal Wetlands in the U.K.: Mitigation Strategies for Sustainable Development A. M. Jannson M. Hammer C. Folke R. Costanza (Eds) Investing In Natural Capital: The Ecological Economics Approach to Sustainability Island Press Washington D.C
H. Vredenburg (2003) Strangers at the Party: An Industry Strategy Perspective on PHVAs Westley Miller (Eds) Experiments in Consilience: Integrating Social and Scientific Responses to Save Endangered Species Island Press Washington DC
H. Vredenburg F. Westley (1997) ArticleTitleInnovation and Sustainability in Natural Resource Industries Optimum: the Journal of Public Sector Management 27 IssueID2 32–49
Vredenburg, H. and F. Westley: 2002, ‘Sustainable Development Leadership in Three Contexts: Managing for Global Competitiveness’, Journal of Business Administration (Special Issue), 239–259
F. Westley H. Vredenburg (1996) ArticleTitleSustainability and the Corporation: Criteria for Aligning Economic Practice with Environmental Protection Journal of Management Inquiry 5 IssueID2 104–119
E. O. Wilson (1999) Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge Vintage Books New York
InstitutionalAuthorNameWorld Commission on Environment nd Development (1987) Our Common Future Oxford University Press Toronto
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
David Lertzman Ph.D. is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainable Development and Senior Associate with the TransCanada International Institute for Resource Industries and Sustainability Studies at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary. He teaches courses on Sustainable Development With Indigenous Peoples at the Graduate and Undergraduate levels, and in the MSc Program in Sustainable Energy Development for Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr. Lertzman also teaches a Wilderness Retreat on Leadership for Sustainable Development in the MBA program. He is a private consultant and has worked in many Indigenous communities, mostly in Western Canada.
Harrie Vredenburg Ph.D. is Professor and Suncor Energy Chair in Competitive Strategy and Sustainable Development at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary where he is also Director of the TransCanada International Institute for Resource Industries and Sustainability Studies. He teaches in Haskayne’s MBA and PhD programs. He is also Academic Chair of the MSc program in Sustainable Energy Development for Latin America and the Caribbean offered by the Haskayne School of Business at the Quito Ecuador campus of regional partner, the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE). He regularly teaches in the Latin American program.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lertzman, D.A., Vredenburg, H. Indigenous Peoples, Resource Extraction and Sustainable Development: An Ethical Approach. J Bus Ethics 56, 239–254 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-3528-8
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-3528-8