Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada : Current Trends and Issues

Building on the success of the first two editions, this volume briefly recaps the historical development and public acceptance of the concept of Aboriginal self-government, and then proceeds to examine its theoretical underpinnings, the state of Aboriginal self-government in Canada today, and the many practical issues surrounding implementation. Various self-government arrangements already in existence are examined including the establishment of Nunavut, the James Bay Agreement, and the Treaty Land Entitlement settlements. The 31 comprehensive essays address many interdisciplinary topics such as justice innovations, initiatives in health and education to grant greater Aboriginal control, Aboriginal-municipal government relations, Métis rights, and the intersection of women’s rights and self-government.

Yale Belanger is an assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of Lethbridge where he divides his time as the department’s history and politics specialist while also teaching in the First Nations Governance Program in the Management Department. He is the author of Gambling with the Future: The Evolution of Aboriginal Gaming in Canada (Purich Publishing, 2006).

Frances Abele teaches in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. She publishes in the areas of northern and Indigenous affairs, and has worked with Indigenous governments and organizations for the last three decades.

Yvon Allard is an independent Aboriginal health consultant in Ottawa. As a member of the Manitoba Métis community, he has served as an advisor on health issues to regional and national Métis organizations.

Colette Arcand is a fourth-year student majoring in Native Studies with a minor in Economics. Colette is a member of the Alexander First Nation in Alberta and a volunteer board member of the Friends of the Kipohtakaw Historical Foundation.

Catherine Bell is a professor of law at the University of Alberta specializing in Aboriginal legal issues, property law, community based legal research, and dispute resolution. She has published extensively on Métis and First Nation legal issues including two books on the Métis settlements: Alberta’s Métis Settlement Legislation: An Overview of Ownership and Management of Settlement Lands and Contemporary Métis Justice: The Settlement Way.

Brian Calliou is the program director for The Banff Centre’s Aboriginal Leadership and Management. Brian is a member of the Sucker Creek First Nation in north central Alberta and holds memberships with the Canadian Bar Association, the Indigenous Bar Association, and the Legal Archives Society of Alberta.

Angela Cameron is a Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria. Her areas of research and writing include: restorative justice, criminal law, intimate violence, reproductive technologies, property law, and feminist legal theory.

Larry Chartrand is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa. His area of scholarship is in the field of Aboriginal rights and in particular, Métis rights. He obtained his B.Ed. from the University of Alberta in 1986, his LL.B from York University in 1989, and his LL.M. from Queen’s University in 2001. He was Director of the Aboriginal Governance Program and Professor of Politics at the University of Winnipeg from 2004 - 2007.

Ken Coates is Professor of History and Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Waterloo. He specializes in the history of the Canadian North, Indigenous-newcomers relations and contemporary Aboriginal political issues. His most recent work is A Global History of Indigenous Peoples: Struggle and Survival.

Jo-Anne Fiske is Dean of Graduate Studies and professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Lethbridge. She has worked with Aboriginal and First Nations communities on social policy, health policy, human rights, and homelessness.

Augie Fleras is associate professor of sociology at the University of Waterloo. He is the author of numerous books, including Social Problems in Canada (Third Edition) and Unequal Relations (Third Edition; with Jean Elliott) and Recalling Aotearoa (with Paul Spoonley).

Jim Frideres is currently a professor of Sociology and the Director of the International Indigenous Studies program at the University of Calgary. He also holds the Chair of Ethnic Studies. He is the author of numerous articles and co-author with Rene Gadacz of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, now in its 8th edition.

Joe Garcea is a professor in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, where he teaches local government, public administration, and public policy analysis. His areas of expertise include municipal and intergovernmental relations. He co-authored with F. Laurie Barron Urban Indian Reserves: Forging New Relationships in Saskatchewan (Purich Publishing, 1999).

Ailsa Henderson is assistant professor in the Political Science at the University of Toronto. The author of Nunavut: Rethinking Political Culture (UBC Press, 2007), she has published two books and more than twenty-five journal articles or book chapters on sub-state political culture in federal and multi-national states, and is the principal investigator of the Nunavut Social Attitudes Survey.

James (Sa'ke'j) Youngblood Henderson is the research director of the Native Law Centre of Canada and teaches Aboriginal law at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan. He was awarded the Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel (2005) and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Law and Justice (2006).

John Hylton has served as a chief executive, university educator, senior public servant, and consultant. He has served many commissions and inquiries in all parts of Canada, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Ipperwash Inquiry. He is currently active working with organizations to improve strategy, leadership, governance and performance. John was the editor of the first two editions of Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada (Purich Publishing, 1994, 1999).

Robert Alexander Innes is a Member of Cowessess First Nation and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Native Studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

Josee Lavoie is an assistant professor in the Health Sciences Program at the University of Northern British Columbia who previously spent 10 years working for Indigenous controlled primary health care services in Nunavut and northern Saskatchewan.

Roger Maaka, Ngati Kahungunu, is head of the Department of Native Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. He sits on the Waitangi Tribunal enquiry into the Indigenous Flora and Fauna and Intellectual Property claim. His research interests include urbanization and Indigenous peoples, Native Studies as an academic discipline, post-treaty settlement development, the construction of contemporary indigenous identities, and indigeneity as a global social movement.

W.R. Morrison is Professor of History, University of Northern British Columbia. He works on aspects of northern Canada history and is currently working with Ken Coates on a survey history of major Canadian court cases.

Bradford W. Morse is Professor of Law, University of Ottawa. He was Research Director to the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba 1988-91; Chief of Staff to Minister of INAC 1993-96; legal advisor, consultant, and negotiator for many First Nations, national and regional Indigenous organizations, royal commissions, and governments in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand over the past 30 years.

Val Napoleon is a member of the Saulteau First Nation in northeastern British Columbia and is of Cree and Dunnezah heritage. She worked as a community activist and consultant in northwestern B.C. for over twenty-five years. Since 2005, Val has been an assistant professor with the University of Alberta teaching in the Faculties of Law and Native Studies.

David Newhouse is Onondaga from the Six Nations of the Grand River community near Brantford, Ontario. He is the first Principal of the Peter Gzowski College at Trent University and former Chair of the Department of Native Studies. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Native Studies and the Business Administration Program.

John O’Neil is Dean of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He has published more than 120 papers and reports on a variety of Aboriginal health issues, including self-government and health system development, cultural understandings of environmental health risks, and social determinants of health disparities.

Terrence Ross Pelletier is former Chief of Cowessess First Nation and served as the Treaty Land Entitlement Coordinator for Cowessess during the band’s TLE process. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Educational Administration at the University of Saskatchewan.

Michael Prince is Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy at the University of Victoria. Among his areas of research, he has collaborated with Frances Abele on numerous publications dealing with Aboriginal [Indigenous] government and Canadian federalism.

Jeff Reading is a professor in the Faculty of Human and Social Development and a faculty associate with the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria. He is Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and his research has brought attention to issues such as disease prevention, tobacco use and misuse, and diabetes among Aboriginal people in Canada.

Jean-Paul Restoule is assistant professor of Aboriginal Education in the Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Dokis First Nation.

Harold Robinson is a member of the Métis Settlements General Council located in Edmonton, Alberta.

Dahti Scott is currently studying at the University of Alberta where she is completing an undergraduate double major in Environmental Conservation Sciences and Native Studies. Dahti is a Tlicho Dene who grew up in the Northwest Territories.

Gabrielle Slowey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at York University (Toronto) where she teaches courses in Aboriginal Politics. Her research focuses on issues of self-government, land claims, and non-renewable resource development. Field sites include northern Alberta, Yukon, NWT, James Bay and New Zealand.