Aboriginal Self-Government Analysis

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White Washed: The Canadian Government Solution Academics, politicians and First Nations leaders have proposed many models of Aboriginal self-government to structure governmental Aboriginal-Canadian relations. In addition to the third tier model, Abele and Prince (2006) describe three other models: the municipal model, the model of adapted federalism and the nation-to-nation model. Henders (2005) proposes two models of ecological self-government: the Five Point Peace Plan of the Dalai Lama and the vision of "landed citizenship" of John Borrow. Henders (2005) posits that individualistic conceptualizations of self-government actually undermine the ability of indigenous and minority communities to be self-governing because they fail to…show more content…
In addition, First Nations’ self-government, be it as an independent statehood or autonomy within an existing state, must also tackle the practical and ethical restrictions individualistic conceptualizations of the nation because of the multifaceted interdependence of human communities (Henders, 2005, P. 32). Or, in other words, an autonomous Aboriginal nation would encounter a geography, history, economics, and politics that require participation with Canada (Borrows, 2000). Regardless of the selection, one superlative model is implausible as the needs and philosophies of Aboriginal self-government differ greatly among band councils (Abele et al., 571. 2006). Ultimately, these differing needs and philosophies of band councils need to be represented in the appropriate model to effectively involve First Nations in Canadian democracy. For many First Nations communities, self-government reforms as practiced by the federal government are minimal changes promoted by Indian Affairs rather than self- determined (Abele & Prince, 2006). These reforms are white washes in the sense that they don’t recognize First Nation community’s inherent right to self-government and limit First 4 White Washed: The Canadian Government…show more content…
(Manderscheid, 2008, p.115). Furthermore, it does not acknowledge the sovereignty of Aboriginal Nations. Hence, instead of a true self-government approach in which the sovereign Aboriginal nations establish a relationship with the confederation, defined by treaty, the Canadian government is favoring approaches to self- government which force Aboriginal nations to "join" federalism and operate within the Canadian constitutional framework (Abele & Prince, 2006). While the municipal approach is an unsuitable format for self-government by First Nation, Manderscheid (2008) proposed that it may be the only possible option to attainment a workable form of self-government for First Nations' peoples. In Alberta, provincial legislature passed The Métis Settlements Act providing for the self-government of its Métis settlements (Manderscheid, 2008). Despite sharing the diverse communal characteristics that exist with First Nations' reserves, these Métis settlements have managed to achieve a sustainable form of self-government by creating a governmental framework that practically mirrors

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