Leadership - Teacher Zone

Changes in Aboriginal Leadership Processes

Prior to European contact, Aboriginal groups across Canada retained their own methods of selecting political leaders, education, traditional teachings, sharing of knowledge, health, and spiritual practices. The fur trade, immigration, settlement, the development of a national railway, and the decline of the buffalo, were all components that drove the federal government to secure treaties with Aboriginal Peoples. The numbered treaties affect a large number of Aboriginal People in Alberta and the West. The signing of treaties also led to other legislation such as the Indian Act, including multiple amendments, the White Paper, Bill C-31 and the Canadian Constitution. During the late 1960s, a grassroots political movement emerged that gave Aboriginal leaders a voice to speak out against the affects of the Indian Act, treaty promises, and the poor social conditions that were affecting many Aboriginal People. Many of the political organizations developed in this time still exist today. However they have continually restructured themselves politically to reflect the changing needs of Aboriginal People across the country. Sovereignty, or self-determination, remains a goal for many Aboriginal political groups. These groups have never stopped lobbying for the federal government to relinquish control in areas such as heath care, education, and social services. Bill C-31 and the Constitution Act are reflections, on a small scale, of what some political groups would like to achieve. Many Aboriginal political groups would like to see Aboriginal People in Canada have the benefits of full sovereignty or self-determination.