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:
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1 | 10% |
| Assignment 2 | 10% |
| Assignment 3 | 10% |
| Assignment 4 | 10% |
| Assignment 5 | 10% |
| Assignment 6 | 10% |
| Assignment 7 | 40% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Battiste, Marie., ed. Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2000.
Other Materials
The course materials include a study guide, a student manual, and a book of readings.