The project, in summary

The Indigenous Peoples and Governance project addresses the basis and conditions for autonomous governance of Indigenous peoples in the contemporary Canadian context. This research breaks from the colonialism upon which historic relations between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous societies have been based in the West and looks at the possible forms of Indigenous governance that can respond to the principle of autonomy, as it is recognized in both Canadian and international law.

The research team intends to establish the characteristics of new forms of autonomous governance and the types of interactions these forms of governance favour in their relations with other governance structures. The project is based on a dialogue between two different analytical perspectives. Within the first perspective, the team proposes a critical analysis of existing Canadian political and legal frameworks relating to Indigenous issues and explores the constraints, challenges and potential solutions that can be found within political institutions, while taking into account current Canadian law.

In the second perspective, our work takes its starting point from Indigenous perspectives on the nature of law, forms of social and political life, and conditions of governance – such references being examined in their specific meaning without any a priori reference to the Canadian political and legal contexts.

The team is composed of 39 Indigenous and Non-Indigenous researchers (33 co-researchers and six collaborators), from 21 different universities. The project is coordinated by a multidisciplinary steering committee.

It allows for the very first gathering of prominent Canadian researchers working in almost all of the disciplines related to the study of Indigenous issues. This level of diversity and quality of expertise is required for the systematic analysis of the conditions for Indigenous governance and allows to explorate relational, jurisdictional and paradigmatic dimensions of Indigenous autonomous government.

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