Renewable energy and energy autonomy: how Indigenous peoples in Canada are shaping an energy future

Abstract

In 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada formed a majority federal government on a platform that included prioritizing Nation-to-Nation relationships with Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) peoples in the country and re-asserting global leadership in climate change action by moving away from fossil-fuel based extraction and toward renewable energy initiatives. It may be argued that addressing both of these issues, advancing Indigenous–Settler reconciliation, and mitigating climate change, can be done in the same space. Indeed, though Indigenous peoples in Canada and elsewhere have recently moved forward with renewable energy initiatives within their Territories, there has been very little critical analysis on just how such projects have been operationalized and whether renewable energy can or even should be considered a vehicle for reconciliation efforts. In this paper, we present a systematic review of Canadian literature (spanning from 1980 to 2017) concerning Indigenous peoples’ involvement in renewable energy to better understand the stated motivations and desires of Indigenous peoples in Canada taking leadership, partnering in, and (or) participating in the renewable energy sector. Using a series of keyword search strings across three academic databases, two theses databases, and a grey literature search, we retrieved literature (n = 980) that was subjected to four exclusionary forms and then thematically analyzed the included literature (n = 26). Our findings suggest Indigenous peoples’ experiences and motivations are varied, yet many are developing renewable energy in their Territories to: break free of colonial ties, move towards energy autonomy, establish more reliable energy systems, and reap the long-term financial benefits that clean energy can provide. Despite the apparent advantages seen throughout most of the literature reviewed here, we suggest further research in this area is necessary before this kind of positive rhetoric of renewable energy in Indigenous communities builds enough momentum that proponents become blind to possible shortcomings. We conclude with a broader discussion of the interactions between Indigenous–Settler reconciliation in the context of renewable energy projects as well as offering indicators for future research to fill current knowledge gaps.