Aboriginal Women and Self-Government: Challenging Leviathan

Canada’s latest attempt at constitutional reform, the 1992 Charlottetown Accord process, saw aboriginal peoples involved in a high-profile debate. Representatives of four national aboriginal organizations were invited to participate in the first ministers’ conferences as the prime minister, the premiers, and the territorial leaders attempted to thrash out a constitutional package that would satisfy the province of Quebec. In the end, aboriginal leaders and first ministers reached agreement on constitutional amendments that would have, among other things, recognized aboriginal governments as an undefined ”third order of government” within the Canadian state. The Canadian electorate, however, rejected the package in an October 1992 referendum. Aboriginal communities that were enumerated separately (Indian reserves) likewise rejected the deal their national leadership had enthusiastically endorsed; moreover, the most prominent organization for aboriginal women was a key player on the “no” side of the debate. One of the important consequences of the Charlottetown process, therefore, became the advertisement to the general public of the numerous divisions within the Canadian aboriginal community. One of the most difficult questions for outside policy makers, partners, and other interested parties is how to respond to this factionalism