Planning for Skén:nen: Conceptualizing a Haudenosaunee Culture of Planning

Abstract

This work is a response to Western planning cultures and Canadian planning cultures in particular which have been complicit in genocidal efforts against Indigenous Peoples. I engage with Indigenous research methodologies and Indigenist planning theory to conceptualize a Haudenosaunee culture of planning. I consult the Haudenosaunee Great Law, Two Row Wampum Belt, and Thanksgiving Address to find elements of peace, rationality, thankfulness, and priority of future generations. I analyze these elements against a framework originally for interpreting Indigenous law, which I reshape to match the context of Indigenous planning. Through this, I interpret Haudenosaunee values as elements of a theory and culture of planning. Finally, I summarize what Haudenosaunee planning theory and practice looks like, ultimately working towards goals of decolonization, emancipation, and spatial justice.