The PLEA: Reading Along with The Barren Grounds

The Council permits them to set out to release the Summer Birds, and upon successfully returning to Misewa the Council tells them they are welcome to visit again.

The meetings follow protocols unique to Misewa, and the Council is free to make their own decisions on how to govern Misewa. To think of this another way, Misewa’s Council was engaged in self-governance.

Like Misewa, the Indigenous Peoples of the land we now call Canada also have the right to self-government. While Courts in Canada have not ruled on this right, the federal government has recognized that Indigenous Peoples have an inherent right to self-government that is protected by the Constitution. This includes the right to govern their internal affairs, and the right to be part of other decision-making that affects their communities.

Indigenous communities have the ability to set a path of self-government in motion. The process begins when an Indigenous community engages the federal government in a negotiation to create something known as either a Self-Government Agreement or a Self-Government Treaty.

Self-Government Agreements and Self-Government Treaties set out how the Indigenous group will exercise their Inherent Right to self-government, including:

• the structure of the Indigenous government
• how the Indigenous government will be accountable to members of the community
• how the Indigenous government will be elected
• how laws will be made
• who will manage programs and deliver services in areas such as health, social services and education for the community.

Self-government does not mean that other Canadian laws (both federal and provincial) such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Criminal Code, or human rights codes no longer apply. When Indigenous laws are put into place, they will operate in tandem with federal and provincial laws. One exception is that Indigenous laws meant to protect language and culture will take priority. As well, the Indian Act as a whole will no longer apply.

To date, almost 30 Self-Government Agreements and Self-Government Treaties have been made, and over 50 more are currently under negotiation.

As Chief Darcy Bear of Whitecap Dakota First Nation said upon the signing of his nation’s Self-Government Treaty, “It’s about time as Indigenous people we make our own decisions….

It was an inherent right that the Creator gave us. We’re just taking that back.” *

Bringing self-government to Indigenous communities helps restore what we see in Misewa: unique peoples who govern themselves in their own unique ways.