The Two-Row Wampum: Has this metaphor for co-existence run its course?

• Author: Mercer, Tim

In this article--an abridged and revised version of a longer academic research paper--the author illuminates elements of the Northwest Territories' (NWT)consensus-style Legislative Assembly. He discusses how it is situated within both the political cultural traditions of the Indigenous peoples of NWT (the Dene, Metis and Inuvialuit people) and also the Canadian political culture that has developed out of the Westminster parliamentary system. He contends the Northwest Territories' consensus style of government is uniquely structured to meet the needs of its residents. While noting his analysis should not be construed to suggest that this system can or should be exported wholesale to either Indigenous governments or Canada's parliaments, he suggests it does demonstrate that with shared purpose and political creativity, new ways can be found to define a third shared normative space, sparkling like jewels in the waters of the Two-Row Wampum.

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The Gus-Wen-Tah, or "Two-Row Wampum," was first negotiated between Dutch settlers and the nations of the Haudenosaunee confederacy. It served as a model for subsequent treaties with the British, including the one executed at Niagara in 1764, following the Royal Proclamation of 1763. (1) The purple rows of the wampum symbolize the two distinct people, each traveling in their own vessels and not attempting to steer or impede the other. The three white rows symbolize the shared river and peace, respect and friendship. (2)

The Two-Row Wampum represents an understanding of the first and subsequent treaties on the part of Indigenous people that is starkly different from their modern interpretation by non-indigenous Canada. It does not represent a surrender of sovereignty to the Crown, the extinguishment of land title or an agreement to abide by the laws of another nation. It envisions two separate and independent people on a shared journey, each respecting the sovereignty and independence of the other and a shared commitment to peace, friendship and non-interference.

Canada's relationship with Indigenous people two and a half centuries later, and the painful history that has led to it, bears little resemblance to this foundational metaphor. As Indigenous and non-indigenous people grapple with genuine attempts to forge a post-colonial relationship, they face a fundamental dilemma: Does the path to decolonization and self-government lie in making space within the existing institutions of Canadian government for Indigenous people (berths in the settlers' ship) or do such shared institutions fundamentally contradict the nation-to-nation relationship envisioned in the Two-Row Wampum and the inherent right to self-government?

This article offers a possible interpretation of the Two-Row Wampum metaphor that respects the individuality of each of the purple rows in the wampum belt, but changes the focus to the river of interconnected white beads that they both travel over. Consensus-style government in the Northwest Territories has adapted the Westminster parliamentary system to reflect and encompass some common aspects of Indigenous political cultures. Moreover, this form of public government accepts Indigenous self-government and strives to work alongside it to serve a population that may have representation in both. The NWT example demonstrates that Indigenous self-government and shared public institutions are not mutually exclusive; that they can co-exist, adapt and thrive. Far from perfect, the institutions of public government in the Northwest Territories nevertheless demonstrate that a more holistic interpretation of the Two-Row Wampum is both possible and instructive. It may also be inevitable.

The Northwest Territories' Consensus-style Legislative Assembly

It is often said that the Northwest Territories is the quarry from which most of Canada was mined. The former Hudson's Bay Company territories of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory were left out of Confederation in 1867 because of the Red River Rebellion but were ceded to Canada in 1870, coincidental with settlement of the rebellion and the creation of the Province of Manitoba. Its political boundaries once included present-day Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, vast portions of Ontario and Quebec, Yukon and Nunavut. As such, its Legislative Assembly is among the oldest parliamentary institutions in Canada.

Frederick Haultain served as premier of the Northwest Territories from 1897, when it achieved full responsible government, until 1905 when the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created. Haultain was a leading figure in the movement to create a single north-western province that would operate without political parties which, in his opinion, were anathema to the effective operation of responsible government. While it is a stretch to credit Haultain with the form of consensus government practiced in the NWT today, his outlook demonstrates a natural unease with adversarial politics on the part of political cultures not steeped in that tradition.

After 1905, the Territories' Legislature was abolished and replaced by an appointed Commissioner and Council consisting exclusively of federal civil servants based in Ottawa. The Council was largely dormant until 1921, when oil was discovered at Norman Wells, and a sense of urgency to negotiate treaties with the Indigenous people of the Mackenzie Valley emerged. In the years that followed, representative and responsible government returned to the Northwest Territories in small increments, commencing with the addition of three elected Members from the Mackenzie District in 1951. The Commissioner and the territorial administration relocated from Ottawa to Yellowknife in 1967. Following this, the size and power of the elected Council increased steadily until, in 1975, its 15 Members consisted entirely of elected northerners. Notably, this was the first time in Canadian history that a legislative body consisted of a majority of Indigenous members. This has continued, without interruption, to the present day. It was not until 1987 that the chairmanship of the Executive Council, or Cabinet, was transferred from the Commissioner, still a federal civil servant, to an elected Member chosen by his or her legislative colleagues. Party politics did not take hold under such a hybrid of appointed and elected Members. Although candidates affiliated with political parties...