Women’s participation in decision making - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 208

- sometimes recognized collectively as Elders committees - are involved in
decision-making through mandated consultation and through regular indi-
vidual consultation with leaders and decision-makers. Leaders chosen to head
specific organizations or to speak on specific issues are bound to the authority
of assemblies and ongoing consultation and consensus building among Elders
and respected leaders with communities and regions represented.
Women's participation within Indigenous political institutions is far more
prevalent than in colonially based political institutions. The emphasis on
consensus within an entire community rather than a majority-rule approach,
the necessity for ongoing consultation and consensus building throughout
a leader's mandate and the recognition of individuals as uniquely qualified
for asserting authority and legitimacy in certain situations based upon the
specific knowledge held by these individuals ensures that women participate
as vocally as men. This is not to justify the exclusion of Indigenous women
from colonially based institutions . 7 R ather it provides a basis for recognizing
the dual nature of political institutional decision-making within Indigenous
communities, as described in greater detail below.
Characteristics and institutions of colonial
political systems
Land claim and self-government negotiations in the NWT and Nunavut have
resulted in dramatic changes in governance institutions and practices since
the 1980s. While the 1980s and 1990s marked a period of optimism about
the power of negotiated agreements for Northern decolonization, recent expe-
riences in agreement implementation have resulted in renewed attention to
the necessity for increased economic and political independence - rather than
inter-dependence - as an essential outcome for land claim and self-govern-
ment agreements.
Colonial political systems are ones that are legally created or recognized by
non-Indigenous institutions (federal and territorial legislation, for example),
and based on non-Indigenous institutional practices and designs. Generally,
these are institutions with a leadership elected in first-past-the-post elections
by majority vote at regular intervals in which consensus and consensus build-
ing is replaced by delegated authority to make decisions, and are characterized
by specific legal responsibilities to correspond with regional, territorial and
national non-Indigenous political institutions. Perhaps most importantly,
these institutions are recognized as 'legitimate' according to the values and
practices of non-Indigenous institutions and, as a result, receive ongoing
funding and political recognition for discharging responsibilities.
Examples of such institutions include both 'public governments' - those
that represent all citizens of a particular geographic area - and 'aboriginal
governments' - those institutions representing Indigenous peoples' rights
and interests vis-à-vis the state, which are recognized through land claim,