IDEAS Insights The transformative power of social enterprise | Page 5

The Osoyoos Indian Band has created a financially successful social enterprise portfolio
– averaging $2.5 million in profit in 2016 [6]– while remaining culturally and
ecologically appropriate. This portfolio affords members key employment and
leadership opportunities. Given that its benefits extend beyond simply tackling
socioeconomic challenges, OIB exemplifies the potentially transformative nature of
social entrepreneurship [8].
In an aboriginal context, social enterprise has the potential to be transformative. As
well as addressing social problems, indigenous social entrepreneurship can arguably
transform power dynamics and broader social structures, perhaps even ultimately
engaging in a longer-term process of decolonisation [9].
The financial autonomy and self-sufficiency sown by social entrepreneurship can put
an end to the dependent relationship that exists between indigenous communities and
the Federal Government [8]. Through indigenous entrepreneurship, the Osoyoos
Indian Band achieved its aim of ensuring total economic self-sufficiency by 2005 [5].
The success of the Band’s business ventures has enabled its members to re-establish
control of their lives & the small portion of their original territory on which they now
reside, all while strengthening their culture.
Moreover, indigenous social entrepreneurship can fundamentally alter the power
dynamics between non-indigenous and indigenous people. Indigenous business
owners are faced with an employment crisis, where two thirds cite difficulties in finding
qualified indigenous employees [10]. This crisis unlocks the potential for external
organisations to share knowledge and technical resources. In the case of the Osoyoos
Indian Band, collaboration with a provincial program called Industrial Adjustment
Services has helped in training Band members and provided mentorship to the Band’s
Chief, Clarence Louie. This training resulted in the introduction of strict financial
controls and accountability measures; exemplified in Louie’s unpopular decision to
reinvest revenues from a pipeline lease deal for the future, as opposed to giving out
payments to band-members as was demanded by the community [6].
Following the Band’s success, Louie has become a prominent name, giving speeches to
CEOs, politicians and other native leaders, as well as consulting international
governments on aboriginal economic development. Allowing Chief Louie to share his
own ancestral and entrepreneurial knowledge is helping to expand the knowledge base
of other actors in the social system [7].
The benefits of indigenous entrepreneurship extend beyond the community-level.
Aboriginal Canadians are the youngest and fastest growing segment of the population:
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