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POLI 311: Indigenous Politics and Governments Report a Broken Link

The central issues of this course include the history and context of Indigenous government and political movements and the political goals of Indigenous peoples today, including the obstacles—governmental and societal—hindering the realization of these goals. Political Science 311 will help you recognize the efforts of Indigenous peoples to create and re-create their governing institutions, which is essential for understanding Indigenous politics. This course will also help you understand the policies of the various levels of government in Canada, particularly the federal government, concerning the circumstances, rights, and self-determination for Indigenous peoples.

Unit 1: Introduction to Indigenous Politics and Government

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. (2012). Terminology guide. Government of Canada. 
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. (2017). Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous voices fact sheet. 
Simpson, A. (2016). The state is a man: Theresa Spence, Loretta Saunders and the gender of settler sovereignty. Theory and Event, 19(4). 

Unit 2: Ideas About Indigenous Government in Canada

Haudenosaunee Confederacy. (2025). Confederacy's creation.  
Buckman, C. (2021). Including the Iroquois Great Law of Peace in introduction to political philosophy. Teaching Philosophy, 44(1), 1–10.
Indian Act, RSC 1985, c I-5. 
Government of Canada. (2025). Treaties, agreements and negotiations. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. 

Unit 3: Issues in Indigenous Government

Government of Canada. (2023). The Government of Canada’s approach to implementation of the inherent right and the negotiation of Aboriginal self-government.
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1996). Chapter 16. The principles of a renewed relationship. In Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Vol. 1. Looking back, looking forward (pp. 643–663).

Unit 4: Interests in Indigenous Self-Government

Altamirano-Jiménez, I. (2021). Indigenous women refusing the violence of resource extraction in Oaxaca. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 17(2), 215–223.
Lindau, J. D., & Cook, C. (2000). Chapter 1: One continent, contrasting styles: The Canadian experience in North American perspective. In C. Cook & J. D. Lindau (Eds.), Aboriginal rights and self-government: The Canadian and Mexican experience in North American Perspective (pp. 3–38). McGill-Queen’s University Press. 
Franks, C. E. S. (2000). Chapter 9: Indian policy: Canada and the United States compared. In C. Cook & J. D. Lindau (Eds.), Aboriginal rights and self-government: The Canadian and Mexican experience in North American Perspective (pp. 221–264). McGill-Queen’s University Press. 
Bartlett, R. H. (1999). Chapter 15: Native title in Australia: Denial, recognition, and dispossession. In P. Havemann (Ed.), Indigenous Peoples’ rights in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand (pp. 408–427). Oxford University Press.
Maaka, R., & Fleras, A. (2005). Chapter 3: Ngā Tangata Whenua: Māori in Aotearoa. In The politics of Indigeneity: Challenging the state in Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand (pp. 65–96). University of Otago Press.