Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1987
Abstract
With improving prospects of achieving a greater measure of political autonomy for their governments, native Indian leaders in Canada are beginning to look seriously at reforming internal tribal/band political structures. Their objectives arc to establish band governments that meet the present social and economic needs of Indian peoples as well as reflect traditional political values. A "hand" is a legal entity specified in the Indian Act, a federal statute that has governed Indians in Canada since shortly after Confederation. In most instances the band corresponds to traditional tribal social and political organization, and these concepts are now often used interchangeably.
In attempting to reform band governments, Indian leaders face formidahle ohstacles. First, there is a virtual absence of research on the performance of current hand government systems in the political and administrative spheres. In particular, Indian leaders lack information on the efficiency and accountability of their leadership selection processes and on the operation of their band councils. Second, band councils arc derived from EuroCanadian political concepts and structures that have been imposed by the Indian Act. Traditional indigenous institutions and practices have been systematically suppressed hy a succession of Department of Indian Affairs administrations. Finally, reforms to current band councils and their electoral systems arc required to conform to the principles of the recently enacted Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which are based upon individualistic western liberal democratic values and, as such, conflict with much of traditional indigenous political ideology.
Our purpose in this paper is twofold. First, using data from band council elections and information from interviews with Indian leaders, we examine how the processes of leadership selection under the Indian Act elective system occur on the reserves of the Bloods and Peigans, two subtribes of the historical Blackfoot Nation.' (In Canada, lands allocated by treaty to Indians that fall under the Indian Act are called "reserves" in contrast to the American term "reservation.") In our analysis we compare band council elections on the two reserves with municipal council elections in three adjacent non-Indian towns, Pincher Creek, Fort Macleod, and Cardston, Alberta. The Indian Act elective system is based on the same ideological principles as the municipal electoral systems. Thus, the municipal council elections can serve as useful reference points in our attempt to understand how the Indian Act elective system functions within the Blood and Peigan political systems. Second, employing the results of this analysis we seek to determine what impact the Indian Act elective system, with its associated Euro-Canadian political values, has had on the traditional leadership selection practices among the Bloods and Peigans.
The Blood and Peigan bands are among the largest and most modern Indian communities in Canada; therefore, we do not claim that the specific characteristics exhibited in the operation of their leadership selection systems are typical of Indian bands across Canada. However, because nearly all Indian bands in Canada have elective systems for choosing band council members our analysis can serve as a reference point for future studies in this area.
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly 7:2 (Spring 1987). Copyright © 1987 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.