For over a century, the central goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada. The establishment of operation of residential schools were a central element of this policy, which can best be described as ‘cultural genocide’. (Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 2015, p. 1) In this paper, I focus on the epistemological, ontological and axiological practice traditions that help to reveal the taken-for-granted assumptions about the management of trust funds in First Nation communities. Informing this chapter is a qualitative research study involving 11 First Nation community members in Canada who were interviewed. Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing (Martin, 2008) and the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis et al, 2014) are used to identify the cultural discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements that enable and/or constrain practice. The findings reveal that Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing (Wilson, 2008) collide adversely with trust account decision making due to the duties and obligations guiding trust settlement agreements. The ways in which trust account practices can be transformed to ensure greater alignment with Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing are outlined.

Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P., & Bristol, L. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Springer Science & Business Media. Martin, K. L. (2008). Please knock before you enter: Aboriginal regulation of outsiders and the implications for research. Brisbane, Australia: Post Pressed. Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (2015). Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future. Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Retrieved from https://nctr.ca/about/history-of-the-trc/trc-website/ Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Halifax & Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood.