Indigenous Self-Determination: From the Politics of Recognition to Restructuring Relations

My paper examines different definitions and meanings of self-determination. Beginning with an overview of standard political discourse of Indigenous self-determination, the paper then examines Indigenous women’s understandings of self-determination from three regions: Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia. For example, many indigenous women emphasize the way in which individual and collective self-determination are inextricably linked, yet this dimension is frequently overlooked in Indigenous political discourses. Further, Indigenous women frequently conceptualize self-determination as a means to restructure relations between Indigenous peoples and states as well as within Indigenous societies. Based on extensive interviews and drawing on the work of feminist legal theorist Jennifer Nedelsky (2011) and Indigenous political scientist Glen Coulthard (2014), the chapter argues that Indigenous women put forward a compelling concept of Indigenous self-determination by which the colonial politics of recognition is replaced by an understanding of restructuring relations.