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Objective 1: Modern Treaties and Governance Innovation

OBJECTIVE: To support northern Aboriginal communities in sharing knowledge, collaborating and designing new laws, regulations or communication tools that flow from or contribute to the development of their modern treaties.

Modern treaties include:

• Comprehensive land claims;
• Self-government agreements;
• Treaty land entitlement; and
• Other legal agreements we use to recognize Aboriginal rights.

Modern treaties bring us new ways to govern which recognize Aboriginal rights. Examples include self-government within most Yukon First Nations and public government in Nunavut or Nunatsiavut, and combinations of the two systems, such as in the Tlicho region of the NWT.

New ways to govern also bring new structures - or new responsibilities to older structures. Examples include:

• New Aboriginal government structures;
• Regional health, social services, or education boards;
• Co-management or joint regulatory bodies;
• Regional political and treaty implementation bodies;
• Regional health, social services, or education boards;
• Regional land and water boards.

As we move from negotiating toward implementing modern treaties, there are both challenges and opportunities. Public and Aboriginal governments want to form policies and decision-making structures that reflect distinct cultural values. They want to create policies and structures that are reflective of community values, not those of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. The next generation needs to understand and participate in this process. Also, different jurisdictions want to learn from each other’s innovations and experiences.

Many factors affect how Northern governments can engage the public and share information:

• Half the Aboriginal population is under 25 years old;
• Many groups have limited human or financial resources. Few people have training or experience in policy-making and public government;
• Groups and individuals who have more skills and resources have many demands on their time;
• Travel among remote communities is very expensive;
• The human and financial resources don't yet exist to properly support all of the new institutions created under treaties. Some of these institutions remain on paper only.

The Foundation can support northern Aboriginal communities in sharing knowledge, collaborating and designing new laws, regulations or communication tools that flow from or contribute to the development of their modern treaties. We can help "seed" the many new ideas and innovations that are happening on the ground.

Please read our Application Information and call us.

Projects must get a portion of their funding from another source. At minimum, projects must have support from their community. Where appropriate, projects should also seek support from the territorial or federal government. Projects should build on or add to, but not replace, initiatives that are part of the federal government's fiduciary responsibilities to implement treaties.

To get a better sense of the Foundation's work in the North, read the following Highlights:

• Applying lessons from Indigenous governance in the Circumpolar Arctic

  The Arctic Governance Project, initiated by a number of private foundations in the US, Canada and Europe, is collecting the views of all interested parties regarding options for addressing the demand for stronger governance in the region (see www.arcticgovernance.org for more information). As part of this, the project is supporting a 4-pronged strategy to document Indigenous approaches to governance in the circumpolar Arctic at the local, regional and international level. Thus far, the plan involves four complementary studies described below which are designed to amplify the voices of Indigenous arctic people and inform the discussions about the future of the Arctic region.

• Seeking Honour and Respect in the Implementation of Land Claims

  The implementation of modern settled land claim agreements, such as those in the Yukon, parts of the NWT, the Nisga'a and all five Inuit regions of Canada, has proceeded according to the letter, not the spirit, of such agreements. Many policy and funding gaps are now evident, and a new coalition has formed to address this.

• Fort Providence Métis Council Launches Publication

  Fort Providence Métis Council launches book on relationship between the Dehcho Métis and Canada, with policy recommendations for moving forward constructively and respectfully.

• Toward a Tlicho Model of Governance

  The Tlicho are creating an organizational, policy and governance framework for their new Government based on values gleaned from the cosmology and history of the Tlicho people.

• Traditional Knowledge Policy Framework

  15 Yukon First Nations have come together in a ground-breaking collaboration to outline a framework that can be tailored by each self-governing Nation to protect, manage and educate citizens regarding traditional knowledge and heritage resources.

• Hearing Our Voices: Promoting Kaska Youth Leadership

  The Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society has helped inject traditional values and concepts into the constitution, including the important role of women in formal decision-making.

• Staking the Claim: Dreams, Democracy and Canadian Inuit

  Nunavut Sivuniksavut (NS), with its partner Entheos Films, is developing a scaleable education unit focused on teaching secondary school students in Nunavut and Canada about the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA).

• Creating a Deh Cho Constitution

  The Deh Cho First Nations in the Northwest Territories are building the foundation of their future government through a unique constitutional development process.

• Community Justice and Self Government

  How two Yukon First Nations are visioning and defining core tribal values as they prepare to craft policies governing the administration of justice.

• Mapping a Modern Treaty

  The Little Salmon/Carmacks Cultural Atlas is a creative attempt to communicate the details of their Final and Self Government Agreements.

You may also find it helpful to look at other publications and links relating to modern treaties and governance.