Indigenous Governance Database
Centre for First Nations Governance (CFNG)
Traditional Governance and Constitution Making among the Gitanyow
This paper is a report on traditional governance and constitution making among the Gitanyow people prepared for the Gitanyow and for the First Nations Governance Centre. The Gitanyow are well along in the development of a national constitution based on traditional governance, and this paper will…
Best Practices Case Study (Transparency and Fairness): Westbank First Nation
The Westbank First Nation is located in south-central British Columbia in the Okanagan Valley. In the mid-1980s, conflicts within the Westbank First Nation council created significant animosity among community members. The outcome was the Hall Inquiry which made recommendations around strengthening…
Best Practices Case Study (Respect the Spirit in the Land): Haisla First Nation
The primary residence of the Haisla people is Kitamaat Village, found at the head of the Douglas Channel on British Columbia's north coast. In 1990, elders of the Haisla First Nation found a logging road flagged into the Kitlope Valley -- the largest unlogged coastal temperate rainforest watershed…
Best Practices Case Study (Respect the Spirit in the Land): Champagne and Aishihik First Nations
Located in far north-western British Columbia, Tatshenshini-Alsek Park was one of the last areas of B.C. to be mapped. The area's earliest residents were the Tlingit and Tuchone First Nations. Today, with the park in the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN),…
Best Practices Case Study (Meaningful Information Sharing): Miawpukek First Nation
Miawpukek First Nation (MFN) are Micmac people living on the south coast of Newfoundland. In 1998 they indicated to the Government of Canada their desire to move toward self-government negotiations. Recognizing the nature and scope of achievements of the community within its short existence as an…
Best Practices Case Study (Meaningful Information Sharing): Squiala First Nation
Squiala First Nation is located within the boundaries of the City of Chilliwack, B.C. in the central Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. The connection of Evans Road to Ashwell through Squiala lands has been an issue of ongoing discussions between the City of Chilliwack and Squiala First Nation. In…
Best Practices Case Study (Participation in Decision Making): Gila River Indian Community
Gila River Indian Community, which borders the Arizona cities of Tempe, Phoenix, Mesa, and Chandler, has nearly 17,000 tribal citizens. Half of the population is younger than 18. Like youth elsewhere, Gila River youth are challenged by a host of problems. Gang violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and…
Best Practices Case Study (Economic Realization): Hupacasath First Nation
When Hupacasath Chief Judith Sayers and the council decided to harness the power running through their lands, the result was a best practices model of how to build a small hydro project. Widespread opposition to the Duke Point natural gas facility in the late '90s was the impetus for the council to…
Best Practices Case Study (Strategic Vision): Tsleil-Waututh Nation
The Tsleil-Waututh are a Coast Salish people who live in a community located on the north shore of Vancouver, B.C. The Tsleil-Waututh have worked hard to protect their community identity and culture in the face of rapid urban expansion. Community leaders, including Chief Dan George and John L.…
Best Practices Case Study (Economic Realization): Osoyoos Indian Band
The Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) is located in the interior of British Columbia. They are a member community of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. The Band was formed in 1877 and is home to about 370 on-reserve band members. The goal of the OIB is to move from dependency to a sustainable economy like that…
Best Practices Case Study (Territorial Integrity): Yakama Nation
The Yakama Nation is located in central Washington State. Their struggles with land loss began over 150 years ago when, in 1855, the federal government pressured the Yakama to cede by treaty more than ten million acres of their ancestral homelands. In the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s,…
Best Practices Case Study (Results-Based Organizations): First Nations & Inuit Home & Community Care
For more than 15 years, the lack of home care services relevant for First Nations and Inuit communities has been identified as a significant health and social issue. In response to this need, a Joint Health Canada / Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (DIAND) / First Nations / Inuit…
Best Practices Case Study (Cultural Alignment of Institutions): Teslin Tlingit Council
Situated in southern Yukon, the Teslin Tlingit people have a clan system of government. That clan system of government operated for years prior to the imposition of the Indian Act. Through the Indian Act, traditional governance was separated from formal decision-making power and authority. Then in…
Best Practices Case Study (Cultural Alignment of Institutions): San Carlos Apache
Traditional Apache culture is based on an intimate spiritual connection with and knowledge of the natural world. Apache elders believe that connection is necessary to respect one’s self, other humans and all living things. The San Carlos Apache elders living in San Carlos in northern Arizona have…
Best Practices Case Study (Inter-Governmental Relations): Sliammon First Nation
In 2002, the City of Powell River, on the Sunshine Coast in south-western B.C., began construction on a seawalk park. The project inadvertently destroyed or disturbed significant cultural sites of Sliammon First Nation including petroglyphs and shell middens. Deeply concerned by the site impact and…
Best Practices Case Study (Inter-Governmental Relations): Squamish & Lil'wat First Nations
The Squamish First Nation and the Lil'wat First Nation are both located in southwestern B.C. and have an area of overlapping traditional territory that extends into the lands around the resort community of Whistler. Although they are two distinct First Nations with different cultures and social…
Best Practices Case Study (Expansion of Jurisdiction): Tsawwassen First Nation
Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) is located in the Metro-Vancouver area of British Columbia. In 2007, following 14 years of negotiations, TFN signed a treaty with Canada and B.C. It was the first treaty reached under the BC Treaty Commission (BCTC) process and the first urban treaty. The Effective…
Best Practices Case Study (Expansion of Jurisdiction): White Bear First Nation and SIGA
On March 22, 1993, the provincial government of Saskatchewan sent the RCMP tactical team to shut down the White Bear casino on White Bear First Nation near Carlyle citing criminal code violations. The result was a highly hostile raid where all assets and records were confiscated. "We had every…
Best Practices Case Study (Rule of Law): Nisga'a Nation
Nisga'a Nation, comprised of four communities; New Aiyansh, Gitwinksihlkw, Laxgalt'sap, and Gingolx, is located in northwestern B.C. In the 1890s, Nisga'a hereditary chiefs and matriarchs formed the Nisga'a Land Committee and began to aggressively pursue self-government and title to their lands. In…
Best Practices Case Study (Territorial Integrity): Haida Nation
Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) is an archipelago on the coast of B.C. Haida Gwaii is the pristine home to some of the world's best remaining stands of cedar, hemlock and Sitka spruce. In 1974, controversy began over logging permits being issued in Haida Gwaii. Haida…