Indigenous Constitutionalism

• Main Author: Borrows, John
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2017
• Subjects: Canada; anishina*; inuit
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/law/9780190664817.003.0002; https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/41300/chapter/352051614

Abstract This chapter examines aspects of Canada’s constitution related to its Indigenous roots. It explores the different ways in which Indigenous peoples in Canada possessed constitutional structures prior to European arrival. Indigenous constitutionalism has provided standards through which Indigenous societies have resisted or engaged with the broader Canadian state. Traditions of Indigenous constitutionalism are varied and diverse because they developed in diverse ecological spaces over vast epochs of time. This vast range of Indigenous constitutional practices has contributed to Canada’s broader constitutional order in many ways. Inuit, Métis, Mikmaq, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Cree, Secwepmec, and Gitksan constitutional traditions are reviewed to illustrate these themes.