Rebuilding Indigenous nations through constitutional development: a case study of the Métis in Canada

For the Métis Nation in Canada, self‐government remains the ‘essence of the struggle’ for which their political leader, Louis Riel, sacrificed his life in 1885. As one of Canada's founding peoples, the Métis have sought to reclaim their Indigenous right to self‐government by establishing democr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nations and nationalism 2017-10, Vol.23 (4), p.878-901
Main Authors: Dubois, Janique, Saunders, Kelly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American Indians
Case studies
Citizens
Constitutionalism
constitution‐building
Decision makers
Diplomatic recognition
Electronic government
Founding
Governance
Indigenous peoples
Legitimacy
Metis
Métis
Political leadership
Rights
self‐government
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Summary:For the Métis Nation in Canada, self‐government remains the ‘essence of the struggle’ for which their political leader, Louis Riel, sacrificed his life in 1885. As one of Canada's founding peoples, the Métis have sought to reclaim their Indigenous right to self‐government by establishing democratic governance bodies, enhancing their economic capacity and pursuing state recognition of their rights. In addition to these efforts, the Métis have been developing a national constitution, which is anticipated to form the basis of a government to government relationship between the Métis Nation and the Canadian state. Through a case study of the Métis, this article explores the role of contemporary constitution‐building in rebuilding Indigenous nations from within and reclaiming self‐government in settler societies. We conclude that the Métis Nation's pursuit of these goals through constitutionalism will depend on its ability to build legitimacy internally amongst its citizens and externally with state decision‐makers.
ISSN:1354-5078
1469-8129
DOI:10.1111/nana.12312