First Nations Self-Governance in Canada. History Essay.

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First Nations Self-Governance in Canada
The indigenous people of Canada comprise of the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis, known to be the original inhabitants of the land. The group has a rich history, which stretches to periods before the arrival of the Europeans into the country. Canada’s 2016 Census revealed that the indigenous population formed more than 1.6 million people, which was 4.9 percent of the country’s population (Statistics Canada). Although the individual communities have been threatened by several factors like the colonial forces and the rampant immigration, they have shaped the country’s development, and continued to grow and excel. The groups have continued to assert their influence through persistence in pursuing self-governance. While the federal government has been reluctant to grant them this wish, the members have not relented in their push. The result has been development of several models of self-governance that the group has tried to use to advance their economic and social interests.
The Aboriginal Groups
The First Nations are the predominant among the indigenous groups and occupy the southern part of the Arctic Circle. The Inuit occupy the Arctic area and are distinct. The Metis, who are also distinct, came into existence following an interaction between the First Nations and the European (Christie 51). These indigenous groups have practiced self-governance for many years even before the European and other settlers invaded the country. These forms of governance showed the economic, social and geographic diversity of these individuals, together with their cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. The entry of the colonial governments resulted into a reorganization in their system of governance. The foreigners formed treaties and alliances, and engaged in trade with the indigenous groups. Over the years, these relationships were broken by the laws that were later formed based on the patronizing nature of the colonial masters. Among the laws passed includes the Indian Act, which was drafted and passed in 1876 and continues to guide the governance of the First Nations in the country to date.
Self-Governance Concept
Indigenous or Aboriginal self-government refers to the proposals that advocated for more powers to the indigenous governments that governed the aboriginals. The proposals ranged from calls to give the Aboriginal governments executive powers synonymous with the local governments, to the demands by the indigenous governments to be recognized as being sovereign, with an ability to participate in nation-to-nation transactions. This concept of self-governance began in 1969, following a proposal by the White Paper on Indian Policy to abolish band governments, and transfer its duties to the provincial governments. The duty of the band government was to deliver social services on reserves through social service programs. Social programs included all government plans that were formulated to help citizens who were not covered by the government provisions. Such an arrangement would disadvantage the aboriginals and in response, they came together to form national political organizations that would spearhead the opposit...