Law and Race Commons^™

An Anishinaabe Tradition: Anishinaabe Constitutions In Ontario, Leaelle N. Derynck

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Constitutionalism is an Anishinaabe legal tradition. This thesis explores modern Anishinaabe constitutions in Ontario, as they connect to traditional constitutionalism while meeting the unique governing needs of contemporary Anishinaabe First Nations communities. I address the scholarly and legal context in which these constitutional documents have been produced and shed an empirical light on these understudied legal instruments. Two questions shape this thesis: 1) what are the defining characteristics of Anishinaabe constitutions in Ontario; and, 2) what is their function within Anishinaabe communities? To answer these questions, I review both ratified and draft Anishinaabe constitutional documents of member communities of the …