Indigenous Governance

Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of a geographic space that was subsequently taken from them by outside peoples either by conquest, occupation, settlement, or some combination of all three. Indigenous peoples most commonly refers to those peoples subjugated since the late fifteenth century by European powers and their colonies. Indigenous governance refers to the myriad ways in which these peoples continue to formulate, organize, and actualize their self-governance in formal and informal settings.

Such governance practices can be organized into three broad categories:

1. Practices that take place independent of, or prior to, the colonization by an external political entity. Indigenous peoples had already existing forms of political community before their domination and exclusion by foreign peoples. In many cases, these forms of governance continue and constitute an important part of the political lives of indigenous peoples. These forms of governance may include traditional pre-contact self-governance institutions; diplomatic practices in relation to other indigenous peoples; internal differentiation and collective organization of, for example, clans, families, bands, or tribes; and ceremonial activities.

2. Practices that take place in coordination with, or formally sanctioned by, the colonial power. In many cases, indigenous peoples have accommodated themselves to, and integrated themselves into, the political structures of the colonial power, either by force or choice, or both. The governance of indigenous peoples has historically been channeled into structures that typically continue to be controlled by the colonial power, formally and informally. Examples of such governance practices may include band-councils, quasi-judicial adjudicative panels, formal legal challenges, participation within the governing institutions of the colonial power (e.g., sitting in elective office of a legislative body of a colonial power), and treaty negotiations.

3. Practices that are specifically developed and exercised in opposition to colonial power. Indigenous peoples have always resisted colonialism and have practiced political governance to counteract the negative effects of exploitation and domination. These forms of resistance governance may include the organization and coordination of movements toward de-colonization, antiracist activism, and warrior societies.

Indigenous governance practices often take on more than one of these dimensions simultaneously, such as working within structures formally sanctioned by the colonial power but also simultaneously modifying and resisting them. Furthermore, because indigenous governance is a set of practices that is [Page 443]always changing with the needs of indigenous peoples and with the colonial setting itself, it cannot be formalized as consisting of any particular one of these relationships, institutions, or goals.