Self-determination, citizenship, and federalism

The paper Self-determination, Citizenship, and Federalism: Indigenous and Canadian Palimpsest* is an examination of the theoretical, policy, and legislative bases of colonialism towards First Nations and Metis, and of antidotes to that colonialism. [...] R. 313), a decision which invited Canadians to “seriously contemplate the possibility that Aboriginal peoples would be a permanent part of the political and legal landscape” (Borrows 2001, 18); the emergence of indigenous peoples as victims of human rights violations by Canada;10 the Constitutional recognition of Aboriginal peoples and their rights; and now, the framing of those rights by activist [...] The UNHRC found Canada to be in violation of Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which protects culture) and wrote: “Historical inequities, to which the State party refers, and certain more recent developments threaten the way of life and culture of the Lubicon Lake Band, and constitute a violation of article 27 so long as they continue.” United Nations Human Ri [...] Following Confederation in 1867, however, colonialism advanced in tandem with the implementation of the 1868 National Policy: Aboriginal peoples were impediments to the economic and social vision of the Founding Fathers and therefore, policy and legislation for removing the impediment emerged.11. [...] The 1983 constitutional amendment that gave constitutional 11 This included the making of the numbered treaties, the creation of reserves, the Indian Act and related policy regimes imposed by Indian Agents and enforced by the North-West Mounted Police and subsequently the RCMP, and the subjugation and dispersal of the Metis.