Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
But he is right and he is the anti-spence.
I think property ownership going forward is the key. First of all it breaks the power monopoly of the Band Councillers. They can no longer hang your housing over your head.
Second of all, it allows them to have ownership and with that collateral, its a right that should have been granted a long time ago.
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There are some dangerous words in your post. I think it is all a great idea in principle but dangerous none the less.
The argument has been made that the reserve land is for all band members including future members. If you allow ownership by individuals then you allow them the ability to sell it. If you allow it to be used as collateral then you open up the possibility that said collateral will be collected. It is possible that entire bands could be purchased by mining companies leaving the band spread out and essentially non-existent.
It was a long time ago, but at least one state had a policy to loan natives as much money as they asked for against the value of their property. Once they were sufficiently indebted they called in the loans and took the land.