The Political Entanglements of Recognition: Aboriginal Title, Crown Sovereignty, and Indigenous Self Determination

Abstract

Since the Supreme Court of Canada's Calder (1973) decision, Canada has been forced to recognize that Aboriginal title exists. As a result, Canada has indirectly recognized that Indigenous peoples were self-governing prior to British occupation, however, there has yet to be a comprehensive and adequate articulation of the ongoing sovereignty of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island have questioned to what degree Canada "owns" their lands, and have done so in a myriad of ways. Primarily, I centre my critical analysis on Canada’s land claims policy regime and its relationship to the Supreme Court of Canada's jurisprudence regarding Aboriginal title. I ask: a) what does it mean for Canada to "give" land back to Indigenous Nations that it does not hold title to in the first place, and b) by what strategies has Canada come to claim sovereignty and radical title over Indigenous lands? These questions may only be answered by uncovering the political rationalities and objectives that Canada has enacted and sought since the establishment of the colony under British colonialism. I argue that the project of settler-colonialism, as a form of governmentality, is an unfinished project that constantly seeks the erasure of Indigenous peoples and polities in favour of white-settler society.