Indigenous self-government is government or direct control of a territory by Indigenous people, in accordance with their own decision-making process.

First Nations and Inuit governed themselves for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Then in 1876 the Indian Act came into effect, undermining traditional governance systems and imposing colonial governance models on First Nations (The Indian Act did not apply to Inuit).

In 1982, the passing of the Constitution Act (Section 35) guaranteed Indigenous people the inherent, constitutionally-protected right to self-government. It took almost two decades for the Government of Canada to fully recognize that right: some modern treaties signed before 2000 and all modern treaties signed since 2000 have included self-government.

There is no template for self-government; each group establishes their own unique self-government arrangement.

Self-government agreements affirm a third order of government in Canada which draws down jurisdiction and enables Indigenous modern treaty holders to levy taxes, and to take responsibility for delivering programs and services such as health, education, law enforcement, and child welfare, in accordance with their cultures and values.

Like any government, self-governing modern treaty organizations receive funding from federal and provincial/territorial departments to administer programs and services.

There are also two Indigenous public governments: Deline and Nunavut. These governments represent and work for all people in the region, not just Indigenous people. To learn more about modern treaty public governments, take our Modern Treaty Governments course.