Indigenous Governance Database
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Tribal Economic Development: Nuts & Bolts
Tribal economic development is a product of the need for Indian tribes to generate revenue in order to pay for the provision of governmental services. Unlike the federal government or states, Indian tribes – in general – have no viable tax base from which to generate revenues sufficient to…
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…
White Earth Nation Constitutional Reform Workbook
The core purpose of this Constitution is to take action and directly express, through that action, native cultural sovereignty. This workbook is designed to help the citizens of the White Earth Nation to understand their constitution. Through this effort and through your understanding of the…
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…
Huu-ay-aht First Nations Government Act
The Government Act sets out the legal framework for the Huu-ay-aht government which includes the following branches: the Legislature, Executive Council, the Ha’wiih Council, and the People’s Assembly.
Tribal-citizen entrepreneurship: What does it mean for Indian Country, and how can tribes support it?
The following feature, a special to Community Dividend, is the condensed version of a speech Professor Cornell delivered at the Montana Indian Business Conference in Great Falls, Montana, on February 2, 2006. The conference, which was cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, focused…
The Commission on State-Tribal Relations: Enduring Lessons in the Modern State-Tribal Relationship
(From the article introduction) Forty years ago the relationship between state and tribes was primarily adversarial, both in perception and practice. Leaders of both state and tribal governments looked to the courts or Congress to define it in their favor, until events led to the creation…
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): 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 (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 (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 (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 (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),…
Colonial Fracture And Community Cohesion: Governance In The Stó:Lõ Community Of Shxw'õwhámél
This paper has three goals: 1) To briefly outline the process through which Shxw’õwhámél came to adopt the Siyá:m System in 1994; 2) to highlight certain concerns about the limitations of that system as articulated by community members in 2006; and 3) to provide a detailed discussion of those…
Indigenous Governance: Questioning the Status and the Possibilities for Reconciliation with Canada's Commitment to Aboriginal and Treaty Rights
Indigenous peoples have always had governance. This fact has been a matter of great debate among Canadian politicians and scholars for many years, but there is little doubt that Indigenous Nations had developed for themselves complex systems of government prior to colonization. The…
Indian Act Colonialism: A Century Of Dishonour, 1869-1969
In 1867, with the passage of the British North America Act, Canadians began the process of nation building. Over the next few years, new provinces emerged--Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island--and Canada became, by 1873, a nation from sea to sea. At the same time, by way…
Aboriginal Nationhood and the Inherent Right to Self-Government
Canadian governments and courts recognize that pre-contact Aboriginal societies possessed their own legal and political systems and that to this day these nations have not surrendered the powers they fully exercised before colonial policies undercut their authority. …
Systems of Conflict Resolution Within First Nations Communities: Honouring The Elders, Honouring The Knowledge
First Nations people are well aware that many of our governments and citizens struggle to move beyond the violence and dysfunction that characterizes some individuals, families and communities. Within some community settings, drugs and alcohol prevail, family members are involved in…
Indigenous Justice: Clearing Space and Place for Indigenous Epistemologies
The realization of Self Determination for Indigenous Peoples is an exhilarating and fascinating movement that encourages human perseverance and an unfaltering belief in human potential and responsibility. It is a multi-dimensional movement that acknowledges and accepts human flaws…
First Nation Small Business and Entrepreneurship in Canada
There are thousands of Aboriginal organizations in Canada. They are owned, managed and staffed, wholly or in part, by First Nation (status and non-status Indian), Inuit, and Métis men, women, and youth. They exist in every region in the country where they perform profit, not-for…