I am the CEO and Founder of the Indigenomics Institute and the Global Center of Indigenomics. I am of Nuu chah nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation on Vancouver Island. In leading the establishment of a line of thought called #indigenomics- growing from a single word to an entire movement which focuses on the re-building and strengthening of Indigenous economies.

Indigenomics is a new word. I define Indigenomics as the collective economic response to the lasting legacy of the systematic exclusion of Indigenous peoples in the development of Canada. It is this economic displacement that has shaped the polarization of the Indigenous relationship across time. It’s time for a new story, one where Indigenous people assume their rightful place at the economic table of this country.

Why Indigenomics? The truths of this country lie in the experience of Indigenous communities in poverty without access to clean water, warm housing, clean power or good jobs. The root of this can be traced to centuries of being excluded economically.

Questions are the architecture for tomorrow. In asking better questions we can shape stronger innovation. The question of today is, how do we collectively facilitate the development of Canada’s $100 billion Indigenous economy? Setting the stage for a next-level Canada today means actualizing this growing story of Indigenous economic potential.

Indigenomics is a platform for economic reconciliation. Indigenous peoples have existed on the margins of the balance sheet, viewed as a liability. Reconciliation must now occur in the balance sheet of this country. To achieve a $100 billion Indigenous economy requires a shift in how we relate to Indigenous peoples – to see Indigenous peoples as economic powerhouses in our own right. The $100 billion Indigenous economy is a modern stake in the ground, the marker of a new economic reality on which Canada’s larger economic future now depends. Who wants to play Indigenomics?