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self-determination
DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)
n. — Aboriginal, especially First Nations
a right and practice of Aboriginal peoples to determine their own political, economic, social and territorial future.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — Defined in Article (3) of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, self-determination is a right possessed by indigenous peoples to autonomously determine their own political status, as well as "freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development" (see AFN: 15). The term's international currency is reflected in Chart 1. The right to self-determination is based on the principle that Aboriginal peoples had signed treaties and made agreements concerning land and resources as autonomous nations on an equal footing with colonial powers (see the 2014 quotation); thus, this right is seen as being reaffirmed, not granted. As listed in the Charter of the Assembly of First Nations, self-determination is given by the/a "Creator" alongside the right to self-government (see AFN "Charter of the Assembly of First Nations"). Dalton (2006: 12) notes that although self-determination is the common international legal term (see also Chart 1), the term "self-government" is more frequent in Canada, as it is the most common "expression of the right to self-determination". The latter assessment is confirmed in Chart 2, where the US and Canada are neck and neck.
Quotations
1920
Lieut. F. O. Loft, Toronto, a Mohawk, who has been 32 years in the Ontario Civil Service, and who represented the League of Indians of Canada, pleased for the right of self-determination, which he and others had fought for in Europe, to be applied to this bill, so that each Indian would be consulted before being enfranchised.
1960
Self-determination in many matters is by law open to them if they desire it. The stumbling block to the bringing into force of these provisions is almost always the claim that they are an infringement of rights. It is about time the courts made some decision as to what these rights are.
1977
In particular, the Tapirisat's paper calls for the "right of the Inuit to self-determination" and asks for full ownership of land and the subsurface rights. The "self-determination" claims, implying the creation of a self-governing Inuit territory over all the Arctic and part of the NWT, runs afoul of the Government's northern policy statement issued last summer; it ruled out any territories in Canada based on race.
1989
The Canadian Bar Association wants an amendment to the Constitution to entrench the right of native peoples to run their own affairs, within limits. At its annual convention on the weekend, it recommended that Canada's aboriginal peoples be guaranteed the right to autonomous self-determination on "peculiarly aboriginal matters" that do not impair the fundamental rights of other Canadians.
1992
A plea that Canada endorse aboriginal self-determination and recognize natives as one of the country's founding nations has come from an unlikely source: a federal task force on professional training in the arts.
1997
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said yesterday that the international court might end up deciding whether or not the Crees had the right to self-determination or to remain part of Canada in the event that Quebec became independent.
2004
The Canadian government recognized the right to self-determination for the world's indigenous peoples during United Nations talks yesterday in Geneva. The move, made during a meeting to draft a final UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, was hailed a major breakthrough by native leaders in Canada. "By accepting the indigenous peoples' rights to self-determination without any qualification, I believe that Canada is taking a leading role in the process," said Armand McKenzie, a spokesman for the delegation of native organizations of Canada, who was at the meeting.
2014
The arguments for recognizing that Aboriginal peoples are nations spring from the past and present. They were nations when they forged military and trade alliances with European nations. They were nations when they signed treaties to share their lands and resources. And they are nations today - in their coherence, their distinctiveness and their understanding of themselves. In international law, which Canada respects, all peoples have a right to self-determination. Self-determination includes governance, so Indigenous peoples are entitled to choose their own forms of government, within existing states.
References
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 6 May 2014
