Peace, Order and Good Indigenous Self-Governance: Examining Differing Models of Indigenous Self-Government

Abstract

The current research regarding Indigenous self-government primarily is done through positioning Indigenous and non-Indigenous in direct contrast with each other and refuses to acknowledge the fact that both peoples currently live in Canada and neither person are leaving. To address this gap, the research investigates three models of proposed Indigenous self-government: Citizen Plus, Aboriginal Electoral Districts and treaty federalism. This is done by basing the research within a transformative worldview, which is rooted in an Indigenous research paradigm and enveloped in Ermine’s ethical space. To best understand the feelings of alienation and settler discomfort, this research made use of work done by Dene scholar Glenn Coulthard, and colonial researchers James Wolfe and Albert Memmi. Combined these researchers provide a framework for examining the implications of these models for both Canadians and Indigenous people. The research demonstrates the need for more research to be conducted about how Indigenous selfgovernment might be achieved and how Indigenous tools of recognition could prove beneficial in availing settler feelings of discomfort.