D3. Responsibilities and Self-Determination
Specific Expectations
D3.1
identify some of the responsibilities that are associated with Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and self-governance (e.g., providing leadership, developing membership codes, visioning, risk management, strategic planning, community planning, community consultation, developing dispute-resolution measures and law-making procedures, financial management, human resource management, administration, external relations), and explain some of the ways in which First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals and communities are meeting or seeking to meet these responsibilities (e.g., through the development of comprehensive community planning initiatives and local education mandates; by utilizing land claim settlements to provide revenue; through engagement in Western education to enhance the ability to negotiate with and influence federal and provincial governments and to infuse traditional Indigenous knowledge into educational and other institutions)
- What are the responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments in supporting Indigenous sovereignty and self-governance structures in Canada?
- What is involved in the sovereignty or self-governance consultation process? Who is involved in negotiations with the Canadian government for sovereignty or self-governance?
- What are some of the responsibilities of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit leaders in developing sovereignty or self-governance proposals for their communities?
- What is the role of Métis citizens in the governance structure of the Métis Nation of Ontario?
D3.2
describe strategies that various individuals and groups (e.g., Elijah Harper, Phil Fontaine, Shawn Atleo, Theresa Spence, Jim Sinclair, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the Assembly of First Nations, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the Métis Nation of Ontario, the Indigenous Peoples’ Assembly of Canada) have used to promote self-determination and reconciliation for Indigenous peoples in Canada, and assess the significance of these activities
- What injustices did Sam George seek to end following the Ipperwash crisis? What is legally significant about the outcome of his work?
- What was the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada?
- What issues did Harry Daniels and others pursue in the courts? Why was the 2013 ruling in Daniels v. Canada considered a landmark decision?
D3.3
analyse some of the calls to action in the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (e.g., with respect to child welfare, education, language and culture, health, justice), with particular reference to call to action number 45, to reaffirm the “nation-to-nation relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown”
- What is the significance of call to action number 45? How does it connect reconciliation, Indigenous sovereignty and self-governance, and nation-to-nation relationship building?
- Why is it important to address the legacy of residential schools and colonial oppression through a reconciliation process in Canada?
D3.4
explain the fiscal relationship between the federal government and Indigenous governments in Canada, including the “own-source revenue” policy, and the implications of this relationship for self-determination, sovereignty, and self-governance
- What is the fiscal relationship between First Nations governments and the government of Canada? Why would it be more beneficial, in terms of equalizing transfer formulas for funding, for First Nations governments to be defined as nation based rather than community based?
D3.5
describe ways in which Indigenous governments are developing local governance capacity as a means to provide effective and accountable government for their members, with particular reference to customary law or tradition (e.g., customary care agreements, traditional chiefs and clan/family structures, traditional opening and closing ceremonies at band council meetings, the participation of Elders and knowledge keepers, consensus voting)
- What are some Indigenous governance laws and customs that Indigenous governments are including in contemporary governance structures at the local level?
- What was the legal significance of the 1996 decision in Bone v. Sioux Valley Indian Band No. 290 Council with respect to inherent rights to practices, customs, and traditions?
