Indigenous Studies (INST) 430

Overview

Indigenous Studies 430: Indigenous Governance is designed to lead students through the concepts they will need in order to gain a full understanding of the complex issues Indigenous peoples face with respect to governance.

The course is divided into three broad sections. Part 1 introduces Indigenous conceptualizations of such things as land, leadership, citizenship, decision making and relationships with other nations. Part 2 provides a historical and contemporary discussion of the impact of the Indian Act on Indigenous nations and governance, including a discussion of Indigenous resistance and response. Part 3 surveys various responses to Indian Act governance, from the proposals of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), through discussions of self-government, self-administration, self-determination, and treaty federalism, to Indigenous visions of contemporary governance based on traditional values, knowledge and processes.

Outline

Part 1: Precolonial Understandings

• Unit 1: The Foundations of Indigenous Political Culture
• Unit 2: Indigenous Worldviews, Values, and Traditional Philosophies of Governance
• Unit 3: Indigenous Governance in Precolonial and Contemporary Times
• Unit 4: The Responsibilities of Women in Indigenous Governance

Part 2: Indian Act Governance

• Unit 5: Indigenous Nations and the State: Colonization, Colonialism and Indigenous Response
• Unit 6: The Indian Act

Part 3: Responses to the Indian Act

• Unit 7: Treaties and Treaty Federalism
• Unit 8: Federal Policy on Aboriginal Governance
• Unit 9: Indigenous Visions of Governance: Decolonizing and Anticolonial Strategies

Evaluation

Your final grade in Indigenous Studies 430 is based on the grades you achieve on seven tutor-marked assignments. To receive credit for INST 430, you must achieve a minimum overall course grade of “D” (50 percent). The weighting of assignments is as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.