Section 35 (3) of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides for Aboriginal self-government, but it wasn’t until 1996 that self-government was accepted by the Government of Canada as an “inherent right”. In the intervening years the Government of Canada vacillated, first agreeing to negotiate self-government at land claims tables, then denying constitutional protection for self-government and refusing to accept modern treaty agreements in principle unless self-government provisions were excluded.

Following many years of intense political pressure and legal struggle, the Nisg̱a’a Agreement in 2000 became the first modern treaty to include self-government. All modern treaties since that time have included self-government provisions.