Indigenous governance : Gouvernance autochtone : examen du statut et des possibilités de conciliation de l'engagement du Canada à l'égard des droits ancestraux et issus de traités

Yet, these constitutional orders provided the teachings, ‘supreme law’, political philosophies and jurisdictions that were operationalized within the political system.vi Examples of Indigenous constitutions include the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace,vii the Mi’kmaq teachings of the seven districts that comprise the Grand Council and the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families, clans [...] Each Indigenous constitutional order set forth a system of government, provided a defined and limited ability to make, interpret and enforce ‘law’ within a territory and set forth the rules of the ‘political game’ and the roles and responsibilities of all members of the nation. [...] Though Indigenous constitutional orders and Indigenous governments were recognized and protected in the original agreements and in the treaties between Indigenous nations and the newcomers, colonial authorities have continuously acted as though they had the (god given) right to acquire all Indigenous territories and to impose their own system of governance over both Indigenous nations and their la [...] In some cases, the institutions ceased to exist as governments and continued on as cultural, social and ceremonial institutions and as the institutions and laws (rights and responsibilities) became associated with the teachings of the ancestors. [...] Aside from the institutions of governance themselves, Indigenous constitutional orders and Indigenous ways of doing politics were not destroyed as the teachings of the ancestors still inform political life in every community and influence (if not define and confine) the way that politics and this the Indian Act band council system is operationalized (works) in the community.