Tribal philosophies and the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms

ID:	HARP-221
Title:	Tribal philosophies and the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms
Source:	Ethnic & Racial Studies; Oct84, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p478, 16p
Parties:
Dispute Resolution Organ:
Year:	1984
Pages:	0
Author(s):
Keywords:	Canada, constitution, culture, human rights, civil and political rights, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, indigenous people, liberalism, minority rights, self-determination
Abstract:	The article presents information on the Constitution Act incorporating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of Canada which was passed by the Canadian government in 1982 and protested by native Indian tribals. The difference are over the western-liberal and Native American tribal philosophies of the individual and the state. In western-liberal tradition the dominant conception of society is that of an aggregate of individuals, each with their own self-interest. The state is a product of collective agreement, an emanation from the individual will, created to perform functions necessary for the common good. Individuals within the state place themselves under common political authority and agree to a common political obligation to the state. North American Indians had a very different conception of man and society. Society was conceived of as cosmocentric rather than homocentric. Their reference point was not individual but the whole which is the cosmic order. Their conception of the individual was one of subordination to the whole. Indian leaders have identified several potentially critical consequences should the charter apply to them. They perceive the charter as threat to their aboriginal rights. The generalized imposition of wester-liberal human rights legislation on Canada’s Indians need rethinking. With different historical experiences, different social structures, and different cultural patterns and ideas of human nature, Indians deserve a hearing of their claim that they have a different but not inferior approach to human dignity and freedom.
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