There is an exciting movement afoot in Canada with rapid growth of Aboriginal participation in the economy through business development. Motivated to recover social and economic independence, Aboriginal people are asserting their rights and pressing for self-determination, using various models of development. In this thesis, economic development through the model of privately-owned enterprise is evaluated considering history, Aboriginal values and a female gender perspective. There is a brief highlight of the history of Aboriginal participation in the economy; the analysis focuses on influences which followed the 1969 Federal Government Statement on Indian Policy, known as The White Paper.
The research in this thesis demonstrates that through privately-owned enterprise, Aboriginal entrepreneurs can assert Aboriginal values within a capital market system that does not easily accommodate personal held values; and through this assertion Aboriginal entrepreneurs can achieve business success, self-determination and contribute positively to social and economic well-being for Aboriginal peoples.