Yukon's self governing first nations.

• Author: Horne, Marian C.
• Position: Viewpoint essay

The federal government devolved responsibility formerly held by the Northern Affairs Program for public lands, water, forestry, mineral resources and environmental assessment to the Yukon Government on April 1, 2003 by way of the Devolution Transfer Agreement. Since then, self-government agreements have changed the face of governance in the Yukon and altered the relationship between the governments of First Nations, Yukon and Canada. Eleven of the fourteen First Nations in Yukon have settled their land claims. This article looks at recent developments in this area.

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Aboriginal peoples in Canada are defined in the Constitution Act, 1982 as Indians, Inuit and Metis. About 25% or 8,500 of Yukon's 34,000 citizens are of First Nation ancestry. (1) We, as First Nations have governed and followed our cultural beliefs and traditions since time immemorial. Traditional leadership roles and responsibilities have been the underlying laws of our societies. Citizens inherently knew their role and responsibilities within the community and respected the role and value of other citizens. Honor and reverence for everything, from the smallest blade of grass at our feet, to the birds in the skies, to the Creator of all living things was innate and as sure as our very existence. Many early missionaries misconstrued our reverence to other living things portrayed in objects such as totem poles as blasphemy. It was our way of affirming our spiritual connection to the land and Creator.

Up to the 1950s, government policies attempted to assimilate First Nations peoples into the larger nonaboriginal society. Primary decision-making power was the responsibility of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development or with the Department. Canada viewed us as children, as wards of the state and treated us as if we had no sophistication or capacity despite the fact that we had governed ourselves for countless generations.

Rather than try to describe what that did, let me ask the following: how many people would be able to own their own home if they were unable to secure a mortgage? How many would be able to start a new business without being able to borrow money? Where would Canada be today if only a few people owned their homes or if only the already-rich were able to start small businesses?

By divesting us of rights and responsibilities, Canada took away our ability to be full citizens. This had devastating consequences for our culture. In 1927, the Indian Act was amended to prevent anyone (aboriginal or otherwise) from soliciting funds for Indian legal claims without a special license from the Superintendent-General. This effectively prevented any First Nation from pursuing aboriginal land claims.

In the 1950s, we saw the beginning of transferring of Indian Affairs programs to bands, provinces and other federal agencies. The devolution of programs continues to the present day. First Nation's people have asserted our rights to self-government since initial contact with Europeans; the drive for self-government began during the 1970s and took on greater force which led to the self-government agreements of today.

The early misconceptions led to our way of life and laws being ignored or actually legally suppressed while the federal government attempted to impose a uniform set of vastly different Euro-Canadian political ideals on Aboriginal societies. We were forced into governance imposed with the European influence. Our governance structures, like our language, reflect our world view, our philosophy that was developed over countless generations. Our governance structures were developed as a way of defending and propagating our culture.

Our inability to exercise our old governance system forced us into change and adjustment within our nation. In spite of policies and laws put into place, the traditional values, identity, institutions and practices of the First Nations people endured. We must bear in mind First Nations people could not vote provincially until 1949, or federally until 1960, nor stand for election and could not pursue claims in court. We were totally under the control of the federal government.

We have had temporary setbacks as a society but we are regrouping, rebuilding and remain an identifiable, unique race. We also recognize there will be many challenges in developing governance methods to replace current structures within our communities.

We are adapting and evolving and we will continue to grow and change to ensure all decisions will be made in the best interests of our land, resources, culture, language and the future of our respective nations. Community education and citizen involvement is imperative in this change.

Self-government is seen as a way to regain control over the management of matters that directly affect First Nations and to preserve the unique cultural identities. Self-government is referred to as an "inherent" right, a pre-existing right rooted in First Nations peoples' long occupation and government of the land...