PART II of II

Clarence Louie, chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB), in the South Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, has had an outsized impact on First Nations communities and the broader society throughout Canada. He is the author of a book whose title belies his perspective: Rez Rules [:] My Indictment of Canada’s and America’s Systemic Racism Against Indigenous Peoples. I interviewed Chief Louie on June 19, 2023. The focus was on business and entrepreneurship. For Chief Louie’s perspective on other First Nations issues, please refer to his book (NOTE: The following content is from the interview. In addition, there are a few quotes with square brackets indicating the page references from his book). (To read the first part of the interview see Part I).

RG: What projects is OIB working on now with outside partners?

CL: We always have people kicking our tires. Developers want to lease our land or enter joint ventures, as happens with many Indian bands. Opportunities exist in residential, commercial, and industrial property projects and forestry and mining. We are involved in those types of negotiations—but there's no finish line in it. 

We're involved in everything from A to Z. We don’t know if some of those things will ever come off the drawing board. Probably 70% of the things we need with developers never happen. 

RG: Why is OIB a good partner?

CL: We’re pro-business. “Many years ago, I wrote the Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corporation’s motto: ‘In Business to Preserve Our Past by Strengthening Our Future.’ It’s also a motto for life” [99]. If you're not pro-business, your future leaders are going to leave. They get educated. They go to where the jobs are. People that get degrees don't want minimum wage. 

RG: What’s been one of the high points in your life/career and what did you learn? 

CL: It's creating jobs for people and seeing our people do well. I always say that the one sentence. I love hearing my people say "I love my job." 

RG: What’s something you have failed at and what did you learn?

CL: No one bats 1,000! I understand that everybody has failures in business. You're going to strike out sometimes. I have realized that chances of success are improved by working within the political dynamics of Indian reserves. You must pay attention to it and always realize that in First Nations communities you always got to deal with reservation politics. You can't just be strictly business. Many of our people are culturally and environmentally sensitive as they should be. That is the First Nations away.

Even recently we messed up on something we could have avoided easily if we read the documents more carefully or got more information and never let the developers on site until we properly communicated to our Band membership. Communication always needs to improve. You would think now with cell phones and the Internet and social media and all that stuff that we would be better—but we're still miscommunicating!

RG: How do you think Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can work better together in the coming years?

CL: It's gotten better over the years. Of course, it couldn't get any worse. The Canadian government and the provinces ripped off First Nations peoples and took away our reservation lands. I recently met with the regional district from one of the communities and they're always talking to me about reconciliation. It starts with getting our old reserve lands back. We won’t get back lands that are in private control—that’s always off the table. But no towns or cities should be opposing additions to reserves from their government land. The injustices of the past when it comes to land still must be dealt with.

I always remind corporate Canada that maximizing profits is at the core of the Canadian and American psyche in business—but that's not the First Nation way. It can't be. We can't follow that 100%. We should not be focused on maximizing profits. That's the non-native way of doing business. 

For example, we're not interested in maximizing the number of truckloads we can get out of the forest. 

We should only be interested in making a reasonable profit, not maximizing the return. I think that's what got us into the climate problem. That's always talked about because they're looking at maximizing.

RG: What do you think companies can do to be a positive force in that process?

CL: Business leaders play an important role in the fabric of this country and that's why I always remind First Nations people that you got to start hanging around the business crowd. You need to start building relationships. Even presidents of major forest and mining companies realize that they must have a First Nation strategy. Major banks also have Indigenous strategies.

RG: What is the focus in the coming years?

“One of the toughest questions I get is about my legacy” [316].

“My work has never been just about me or my family. A Chief’s work is about and for the whole community they belong to and also extends to their tribal nation and the rest of Indian Country” [317].

We are 4,000 acres short on our reserve. Our reserve, from Osoyoos to Oliver, was set aside in 1877 and was approximately 36,000 acres. There were two land rip-offs and the reserve dwindled to 32,000 acres. So, we're looking at buying more land to add to the reserve.

 Our reserve needs to get up to 36,000 acres again. We're going to go after the province for the reserve lands that they still hold and that they took away with the swipe of a pen. I'm telling the Province that they speak of truth and reconciliation. Well, give us our reserve land back with a swipe of a pen.

[What’s next? His work continues. As he writes:] “Addressing the ongoing injustices against my people became my calling. I decided to dedicate my life to doing something about this dysfunctional relationship between federal governments and Natives—a relationship that has so often been referred [to] by Canadian and American leaders as the “Indian Problem” [97].