3.1.2. Justice Is Indigenous Sovereignty

Indigenous sovereignty is Indigenous identity as nations, communities, and individuals, and the inherent power or natural right to define, perpetuate, and sustain these identities is a political, legal, and human right [5]. The natural expression of sovereignty is self-determination, which in Canada is often expressed as self-government [5]. In Canada, self-government at the community level, as well as the power to generate Indigenous law, an inherent Indigenous right, is protected by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognized in Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia [6]. It is also embedded in the Indian Act with election codes (s. 74 Indian Act). Although pre-existing, Indigenous rights were formally recognized in Canada's constitution in 1982 and subsequent court decisions (especially the Supreme Court of Canada) and legal scholarship have considerably advanced in the past few decades [7,8]. Although historically interpreted narrowly, increasingly case law has expanded Indigenous rights to include self-determination. The recognition of Indigenous peoplehood has been centered in the developing international law of selfdetermination; for Indigenous people self-determination has been choosing how they relate to the settler colonial state and economy. Linked to sovereignty, self-determination means Indigenous people are able to make their own decisions [9] and own governance.

Indigenous groups are rebuilding traditional systems of governance characterized by key roles for spirituality, community, and tradition which increase citizen participation and Nation building. The 1973 Calder court case recognized Indigenous titles and prompted the negotiation of modern treaties, including the Nisga'a Treaty of 2000 [10]. Currently there are 25 self-government agreements that grant law-making powers in key policy areas, with another 50 in the process of negotiation [11]. Generally, these agreements grant self-government for a territory that jurisdictionally gains autonomy [12]. In the UNDRIP, self-determination focuses on collective rights, social security, and the political and economic rights of Indigenous people, not just in respect to territorial succession [13].

The path for transformation through sovereignty and self-determination is neither clear nor easy. For example, a current conflict over a natural gas pipeline, the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, in British Columbia (B.C.) in Wet'suwet'en unceded territory is illustrative. The Wet'suwet'en were parties in the Delgamuukw decision recognizing unceded territories and Indigenous titles, issues which still have not been resolved with the federal government. Proposed to run from Dawson Creek, B.C. through Wet'suwet'en territory to Kitimat on the coast of B.C., 20 elected First Nation councils (pursuant to the *Indian Act*, R.S.C., 1985, c. I-5.) have signed benefit agreements, but traditional hereditary Chiefs and Indigenous groups across Canada have protested in demonstrations and blockades [14]. Matrilineal traditional Chiefs have since been stripped of their title (although this is in dispute) [14].
