Technological Solutions for
First Nations
The New Way to Manage Consultation
nakahâskwân (Plains Cree for “shield”) is a digital system that standardizes intake, creates capacity funding, and connects proponents who have a duty to consult with Nations in a structured and systematic manner.
Nations simply sign up — no purchase or heavy infrastructure required.
Revenues generated through nakahâskwân flow back to align with Nation priorities and business models.
nakahâskwân is a 100% Indigenous Owned Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model owned by Tatâga Inc. ©
Where is the gap in the market right now?
The Consultation Gap
The Business Case
Across Canada, many First Nations Lands and Consultation departments are chronically overwhelmed by the sheer volume of consultation requests from industry proponents.
Consultation is not optional — it is a legal requirement grounded in Canadian law.
Under Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), 2004 SCC 73, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that governments have a constitutional Duty to Consult and, where appropriate, accommodate Indigenous Peoples whenever decisions may impact Aboriginal or Treaty rights. In practice, however, governments frequently delegate much of the procedural work to industry proponents.
This has created a systemic gap:
Overload of requests
Oftentimes, Lands departments receive more consultation emails and project notices than they can meaningfully process, often without dedicated funding or staff capacity.
The “Reasonable Effort” Loophole
If a Nation does not respond — due to limited time, staff, or infrastructure — governments may still deem the Duty to Consult “discharged” as long as the proponent can demonstrate they made “reasonable efforts” to engage. This system disproportionately harms Nations with limited capacity, and can allow extractive development to proceed — even without meaningful Nation participation — when procedural aspects of consultation are delegated to proponents while the Crown still bears the ultimate responsibility (Government of British Columbia, Guide to Involving Proponents When Consulting First Nations, PDF)
This also results in:
Lost opportunities
Because of this imbalance, Nations miss out on:
Consultation-related funding or fees that could strengthen Lands offices
Clearer timelines, documentation, and accountability in decision-making
Greater influence in shaping or negotiating project outcomes
Negative environmental externalities
The Duty to Consult is intended to uphold the honour of the Crown and relationships with Indigenous Peoples. When consultation is rushed, underfunded, or bypassed, the result is weakened trust, continued disputes, and extractive projects proceeding without adequate input.
References
Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), [2004] 3 S.C.R. 511, 2004 SCC 73.
Government of British Columbia. (2010). Guide to involving proponents when consulting First Nations. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/consulting-with-first-nations/first-nations/involving_proponents_guide_when_consulting_with_first_nations.pdf
Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. (2019). The Duty to Consult.
nakahâskwân SaaS Solution
“A Nation’s Shield.”
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Step 1: Automated Intake
Every consultation request — whether by email or web form — receives an instant acknowledgement in the Nation’s name, confirming the request has been received and logged.
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Step 2: Consultation Fee Paywall
Proponents are directed to pay a nominal consultation processing fee in order to move forward. This step creates predictable resources for Lands offices and reduces frivolous or incomplete requests. -
Step 3: Structured CRM
Once the fee is processed, nakahâskwân securely connects the proponent to the Nation’s Lands/Consultation office, ensuring a documented, trackable, and resourced process begins.
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Step 4: Proponent and Partner Management
The system provides a light CRM tool that logs requests, payment status, timelines, and project details — ensuring governments cannot dismiss Nation participation as “non-response.”
How the Model Operates for Nations
The process begins when a Nation signs up with us.
As part of onboarding, the Nation updates its official Duty to Consult emails with the Province to a new nakahâskwân-powered address. This address is configured to auto-respond to all consultation requests, instantly acknowledging receipt and guiding industry proponents into the standardized process.
Alongside email integration, a new Consultation page is added to the Nation’s website. This page directs proponents to the nakahâskwân system, ensuring every request — whether by email or web — follows the same structured pathway.
Nations are provided with access to a secure dashboard. From here, they can:
Track which consultation requests have been received
Monitor which fees have been paid
Review auto-generated messages and correspondence history
While the Nation remains responsible for managing its consultation inbox, nakahâskwân also offers consultation support services that can be hired to assist with intake, triage, and administration. This flexibility allows each Nation to choose the level of involvement that best fits its capacity.
By combining automated acknowledgement, transparent payment, and a clear digital record, nakahâskwân ensures Nations are never left out of the process — while creating new streams of funding and accountability in consultation which have not existed in the past.
What does the data say?
Market Analysis Appendix
Methodology and Analysis
Purpose
This appendix outlines the approach used to quantify the volume of consultation requests directed to First Nations in Alberta. Because there is no single, public, Nation-by-Nation record of requests, the methodology triangulates credible government reporting sources and regulatory workflows to provide defensible estimates.
1. Alberta Aboriginal Consultation Office (ACO) Annual Reports
Primary Source: Government of Alberta, Indigenous Relations.
What it measures: Volumes of land and natural resource development applications screened by the ACO, which may trigger consultation.
Findings:
2021–22: ~8,000 development applications and nearly 12,000 associated activities on Crown land.
2020–21: ~10,000 applications processed across ACO workflows.
Why it matters: These numbers represent the most direct proxy for consultation request volumes, since ACO manages pre-consultation assessments, assigns consultation levels, and issues adequacy decisions.
Source: Government of Alberta. (2022). Aboriginal Consultation Office Annual Report 2021–22. Open Alberta.
2. Other Regulatory Processes (Parallel Channels)
Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC): Runs its own approval and consultation processes, though it often relies on ACO guidance.
Implication: ACO totals understate true consultation activity, as utility projects may generate additional requests.
Source: Alberta Utilities Commission. (n.d.). Indigenous consultation in energy project applications. auc.ab.ca
Alberta Energy Regulator (AER): Processes ~40,000 applications annually across energy development. Not all trigger consultation, but this indicates the scale of activity from which consultation requests arise.
Source: Alberta Energy Regulator. (2021). Annual Report.
3. Triangulation Approach (Future research)
Use ACO reports as the baseline quantitative measure of consultation files.
Supplement with AUC and AER data to demonstrate that total consultation requests are likely higher than ACO alone reports.
Frame ACO data as a minimum baseline and emphasize that Nation-level volumes will vary depending on location, industry presence, and regulatory overlap.
4. Next Steps for Nation-Level Data (Future research)
Freedom of Information (FOIP): File a request with the Government of Alberta (Indigenous Relations) or ACO to obtain Nation-specific data on consultation requests, pre-consultation assessments, and adequacy decisions.
Direct ACO inquiry: Contact the Aboriginal Consultation Office to request aggregated statistics by Nation or region.
Cross-check with Nations: Many Lands and Consultation departments track their own intake volumes, which can be used to validate provincial records.
Conclusion
By anchoring to ACO reports and acknowledging additional regulatory channels (AUC, AER), this methodology produces a conservative, evidence-based estimate of consultation requests to First Nations in Alberta. These numbers are sufficient to establish the scale of market demand for systems like nakahâskwân, while further FOIP requests can refine Nation-level business cases.
Our Company Ethos
At Tatâga Inc., our ethos is built on integrity, clarity, and shared value creation. We believe technology should not replace Indigenous voices, but rather create the structures, tools, and resources that ensure those voices are heard in every decision that affects their lands and rights.
We designed nakahâskwân to protect Nations from being overlooked in consultation, while also ensuring industry has a fair, standardized pathway to follow. Our approach balances efficiency with accountability, and innovation with cultural respect.
We measure our success not only in operational outcomes, but in the ability of Nations to respond to consultation with greater confidence, capacity, and control. Every feature of nakahâskwân reflects this ethos — a commitment to building systems that uphold fairness, transparency, and long-term sustainability for both Indigenous governments and the industries that engage with them.
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