It might not be the largest band in the Lower Mainland, but Kwantlen First Nation is harnessing the rising tide of aboriginal purchasing power to revive its business spirit.
A year ago the band, which has 200 members and six reserves spread between Fort Langley, Maple Ridge and Mission, was developing ideas about how best to capitalize on its lands and resources.
Earlier this year, those debates turned into a reality when the Kwantlen launched four companies, collectively known as the Seyem’ Qwantlen Group of Companies, that reached into half a dozen different business sectors to re-ignite the band’s entrepreneurial history.
“The Lower Mainland is bursting at its seams … and it’s encroaching now on reserve lands where people want to do business with First Nations,” explained Brenda Fernie, director and corporate secretary of the Seyem’ business group.
Unlike larger bands that have been able to capitalize on valuable Vancouver and waterfront landholdings, the Kwantlen are just beginning to feel a rush of demand as development moves east. With only 200 members, the Kwantlen have struggled to rekindle the long lost business spirit that allowed them to become a key trading partner with the Hudson’s Bay Co. at Fort Langley in the early 19th century.
At the time, the Kwantlen were the largest First Nations group on the lower Fraser River, with a territory that stretched from Tsawwassen to Mission.
In the 1700s, the band population numbered between 10,000 and 15,000 members, Fernie said, before an outbreak of small pox began to take its toll.
In recent years, the band has focused on providing education opportunities for its younger members, building capacity that will allow the community to develop business opportunities and generate wealth.
“There’s been a lot more in the last number of years, and even more than the opportunities we have the capacity [to take advantage of] as well,” she said.
One of those business opportunities came to fruition earlier this year when the Kwantlen assumed operations at the Fort Langley National Historic Site gift shop, located near the band office on McMillan Island.
“We were fortunate … being at the fort was pretty low risk because we have an ongoing customer base visiting the fort so we’re seeing revenue,” Fernie said.
The band is also using its development companies to get involved in cultural heritage, forestry, fisheries, construction and commercial development.
The Kwantlen hope to hit the market with a land development opportunity in Maple Ridge this fall, a plan that’s been in the works for years.
But instead of just selling off the land or signing over a lease, Fernie said the band is focusing on business strategies that generate the most benefit for the community.
“We’re trying to get away from just signing over the land and having no involvement,” she said. “We want to create employment for the long term for band members.”
Her comments echo a common theme these days among bands throughout B.C. that are more interested in long-term gains than short-term payouts.
Bands have begun to establish economic development corporations (EDCs), which lay out strategies to capitalize on a community’s resources and strengths.
A recent TD Economics report suggested the increase in the number of EDCs has improved aboriginal income totals across Canada.
The report said the total combined income of aboriginal businesses, households and government sectors will hit $24 billion this year, double what it was a decade ago.
TD said the total business income of Canada’s aboriginal market is expected to hit $9 billion this year compared with $4 billion in 2001.
“By putting a number out there and showing the aboriginal income [across Canada] is actually exceeding that of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island combined, it shows you how important these individuals are to the national economic outlook,” said Sonya Gulati, an economist with TD.
She said the increase in aboriginal purchasing power presents new opportunities for the private sector to form business relationships with aboriginals.
Clint Davis agreed.
“The opportunities are limitless,” said Davis, president and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. “The … conditions are ripe now for aboriginal communities to capitalize on business opportunities.”
And even though the Kwantlen are one of the Lower Mainland’s smaller bands, Fernie believes it has all the right stuff to build success.
“We see ourselves as the quiet underdog,” Fernie said. “That’s fine; we’re going to carry on and surprise people, and we kind of like being in that role.”