AFOA-JAM 18-web_FINAL

LEADERSHIP &
GOVERNANCE
Transformational Change through
Education and Capacity Building
Serving the People: Cree Women & Ceremonial Leadership
Directing First Nations Corporations
Using a Framework of Standards to Help Achieve Objectives

JAM The Journal of Aboriginal Management
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Issue 18 (February 2016)
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The Journal of Aboriginal Management (JAM)
is a resource document that assists our members
in stimulating ideas and discussions within
their communities and beyond. This edition, on
Leadership and Governance – Transformational
Change through Education and Capacity Building,
is written at a time of renewed hope and optimism
within our communities.
To take advantage of present and future opportunities, our communities need
strong leadership and good governance practices to perform at a higher level. Those
communities who have addressed these important areas recognize that fundamental
capacity areas also need to be addressed to move the community forward on its
journey. Every organization has capacity issues at one time or another. Whether this
happens because of staff turnover or starting a new initiative, managers need to identify
the gaps in their staff’s knowledge and skill level and ensure they are addressed.
Equally important to achieving our goals are the relationships we will build with
corporate Canada, all levels of government, educational institutions, charities, non-
profits, and amongst ourselves. After all, relationship building is part of leadership and
governance.
Terry Goodtrack
M.A (P.Admin) B.Admin, CPA, CGA, CAFM, CAPA
President & CEO, AFOA Canada
LEADERSHIP &
GOVERNANCE

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Table of Contents
2 Leadership and Governance: An editorial Wayne K. Spear
4 What is First Nations Governance? Daniel Brant
8 Serving the People: Cree Women and Ceremonial Leadership
Janice A. Makokis & Patricia A. Makokis
12 Above Board: Improving First Nations Governance Dr. Mike DeGagné
16 Leadership & Governance Marshall M. Murdock
18 Leadership & Governance: Developing Our Future Leaders Adam Gould
22 Planning Forward, Acting Now: Leadership Challenges for First Nations
Governments Ken Coates
26 Strong Leadership and Governance is All About Balance JP Gladu
28 Directing First Nations Corporations Dr. Roslyn Kunin
30 Governance and Aboriginal Trusts Georgina Villeneuve
32 PotashCorp invests in the futures of Aboriginal youth and communities
Leanne Bellegarde
34 Successful Business Partnerships and Projects: The Role of AEDCs, Community,
Good Governance, and Strong Leadership Alicia T. Dubois
36 The Evolution of First Nations’ Governance Structures
Lisa Ethans & Guillaume Vadeboncoeur
40 Has First Nation Accountability Gone M.A.D.? Russell A. Evans
44 COSO’s Internal Control Framework: Using a Framework of Standards to
Help Achieve Objectives Helen Bobiwash
52 Supporting your vision. Investing in your strengths. NACCA. Francine Whiteduck
56 First Nations Market Housing Fund Deborah Taylor
58 Estate Planning for First Nations People in Canada Domenic Natale

2
Leadership and Governance
An editorial
Wayne K. Spear, Editor, The Journal of Aboriginal Management
Socrates: Just think what would happen if pilots were to be chosen according to
their property, and a poor man were refused permission to steer, even
though he were a better pilot?
Adeimantus: You mean that they would shipwreck?
Socrates: Yes; and is not this true of the government of anything?
– Plato, The Republic: Book VIII, “The evils of oligarchy.”
In her article, “Governance and Aboriginal Trusts,” Georgina Villeneuve reminds us that the English
word governance derives from an Ancient Greek verb, kubernáo (to steer), via the Latin gubernare.
Whether we speak of governance or leadership – and in this issue of JAM we do both – metaphors
guide us. Governors steer the ship of state, on a course set by far-seeing leaders. This issue is about the
distinctly human act of journeying, from vision to arrival. The Old English root of leadership, lædan
(to travel), underscores the idea that governance and leadership are about getting somewhere.
Perhaps the best distinction of leadership from governance can be found in Stephen Covey’s The
7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success;
leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” Successful leaders,
says Peter Drucker, ask “What needs to be done?” The authors of Made to Stick, Chip and Dan
Heath, call the resulting mission the “Commander’s Intent” – the clearly described goal that serves
as destination. A leader with this clarity of vision is better able to discern and attract the right
people – the effective managers to whom they delegate. On this topic of observing distinctions,
Mike DeGagné argues that knowing and respecting the differences between Board leadership
and day-to-day executive management is essential to healthy organizations. “In my view,” he
writes, “governance can be improved by taking practical steps in three areas: conflict-of-interest,
Board training, and community consultation.” Dr. Roslyn Kunin rounds out the picture with her
detailed article on the basic principles of good Board governance, entitled “Directing First Nations
Corporations.”
There are universal lessons to be drawn from history’s most effective leaders and experiments in
governance. There are also considerations unique to Indigenous leaders and communities. Janice
and Patricia Makokis highlight cultural teachings and traditions that guide effective Nehiyaw leaders,
focusing on the importance of women in leadership. Ken Coates examines the socio-economic,
political, and technological context of Indigenous governments, concluding that they bear “the
most difficult, intense, and challenging administrative responsibilities in Canada.” Lisa Ethans and
Guillaume Vadeboncoeur, of Deloitte, add that “the external environment in which First Nations are
operating has changed significantly over the last two decades, and the pace of change continues to
accelerate.” Meanwhile, they consider some of the common themes of internal governance change,
with reference to specific Aboriginal communities.
Governance – whether of households, trusts, corporations, band offices, tribes, businesses, markets,
or nations – subsists in the informal and formal norms, traditions, rules, and laws that together
establish and sustain a decision-making process. “Fundamentally,” writes J.P. Gladu, leadership and
governance “is about power, relationships, and accountability.” Russell A. Evans takes us further
into the business of accountability, in his article “Has First Nation Accountability Gone M.A.D.?”
Indigenous or not, we must all confront the essential human task of marshalling and allocating scarce
resources, in the work of meeting our individual and collective needs and goals. Call it steering the
ship or, to use the Haudenosaunee metaphor, building the longhouse. Governance is at bottom the
skill of managing well-crafted systems.

3
Although we tend not to think of them this way, our Aboriginal teachings and traditions are indeed
systems. A ceremony is a system. Indeed, nature itself is a system – a composite of interconnected and
interdependent parts. In a low-functioning organization, we manage personalities and behaviour,
while in a high-functioning organization we manage our system. And the system gives us all we need
to set out on, and complete, our journey. This insight explains why McDonald’s has been able to run
a multi-billion-dollar business staffed largely by inexperienced teenagers, yielding consistent results
throughout the world and across decades. As Ray Kroc well understood, a good and well-managed
system provides all that is required by the members of a team, organization, business, or community:
why we exist, what we do, how we do it, our role, and our values – in short, what The E-Myth Revisited
author Micheal Gerber terms “the rules of the game.”
If governance is a skill, leadership is often seen as an art. The art of leadership is, for both good and
bad, often an occasion for poetic flights of imagination. The leader is conceived as necessarily heroic,
charismatic, or a genius – even as a saviour in whom all must place their hopes. The best examples
of this model can be seen in the inspirational entrepreneurs who envision solutions to stubborn
problems and in the politicians who lead nations from war and Depression to peace and prosperity.
On the other side of the ledger, we find history’s autocrats and dictators. Indigenous cultures,
which have traditionally crafted collectivist and egalitarian systems of governance, have been less
susceptible to tyranny than have Europe’s hierarchical societies. But, as we see in several JAM articles,
colonization has eroded traditional Indigenous practices. Do current-day Aboriginal governments
and leaders differ all that much, in their “indigeneity,” from Canada’s municipal, provincial, or federal
counterparts? Some of our authors weigh in on this question, too.
We know that governance by its very nature is not a one-size-fits-all commodity. “First Nations
governance,” writes Daniel J. Brant, “is a non-monolithic creature of many perspectives. Some
advocate a total return to traditional governments, while others want to chart a path of inclusion
in the Canadian body politic.” Membertou’s article “Leadership & Governance: Developing Our
Future Leaders” comes down firmly on the side of opting “to make additional strides toward self-
government and to step further away from the Indian Act.” As always, Membertou First Nation
shares with us their bold new ideas. Marshall Murdock helpfully reminds us that “the question now is
how do we establish good governance and develop quality leaders? When we think of a First Nation
community that has seen great success and leads by example, we ask ourselves, how did they get
there?”
As I have tried to show, the articles included in this issue of JAM offer practical answers to this
question. From well-crafted Boards to ancient cultural teachings, Indigenous people have proven
leadership and governance principles at their service. In addition to the articles I’ve already
mentioned, we have Helen Bobiwash’s contribution, subtitled “Using a Framework of Standards to
Help Achieve Objectives.” This contribution considers the relationship of third-party accreditation
and quality governance systems. Francine Whiteduck, CEO of the National Aboriginal Capital
Corporations Association (NACCA), describes the role of Aboriginal Financial Institutions in
supporting the development of stronger, local governance systems within the AFI network. “AFIs
are now recognized as the experts in risk-assessment across Aboriginal communities,” she writes,
“focusing on capacity building of clients through all stages of business development.” Scotiabank’s
National Director of Aboriginal Financial Services, Alicia T. Dubois, examines the contribution
of strong community leadership and good governance to Aboriginal Economic Development
Corporation success. I hope you enjoy this issue, and I look forward to seeing your governance and
leadership successes.
Wayne K. Spear was born
at Buffalo, New York and grew
up in Fort Erie, Ontario. He
completed graduate studies in
English Literature at Queen’s
University and worked for over
two decades in Aboriginal
health and education. From
1999-2012 he employed at the
Aboriginal Healing Foundation,
where he was the Director of
Communications. He is the
author of two books released in
2014, Full Circle: the Aboriginal
Healing Foundation and the
unfinished work of hope,
healing and reconciliation and
Residential Schools: With the
Words and Images of Survivors.
Today he lives in Toronto, where
he appears regularly on CTV
News and writes for the National
Post and Huffington Post.
THE JOURNAL OF ABORIGINAL MANAGEMENT

4
What is First Nations
Governance?
Daniel Brant, CAFM, CAO, Tyendinaga First Nation
Many think that governance is simply fulfilling the role of a governing body by electing
a First Nations Chief and Council. But, as we will explore in this article, governance
– and in particular First Nations governance – is a highly complex area that simple
concepts cannot adequately address. There are so many views as to what an elected
governing body is supposed to do, and for the most part these views have been clouded
by the legislated, policy driven, financially enforced system foisted on the Indigenous
governing structures that were operating prior to the colonization of the Americas.
So where does the confusion come from, and why has this not been clarified, given that the foisting
was undertaken centuries ago? Is colonization the root of dysfunction and the cause of socio-
economic disparity among First Nations peoples? Is colonization the reason the federal and provincial
governments feel compelled and justified to continue to advocate the Westminster style of democracy?
At the heart of colonization is a particular relationship to the land. Generally speaking, Indigenous
peoples see the land as an integral part of their humanity, whereas the colonizers see, and saw it, as a
commodity ripe for exploitation. This concept, of nature as commodity, was inherent in the “empty
land” philosophy in evidence when the Europeans arrived and formally termed the Americas “terra
nullius.” Policy makers, and even the Supreme Court, now disavow the role of this heinous policy in
dismantling Indigenous governments. Scholars such as John Borrows disagree. He has weighed in on
this issue in a yet to be published paper:
The Supreme Court of Canada purported to deny a key aspect of this creed in the recent case of
Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia.1
It wrote that “[t]he doctrine of terra nullius (that no one
owned the land prior to European assertion of sovereignty) never applied in Canada.”2
If only this
declaration were deeply true. Despite the potentially narrow accuracy of this assertion Canadian
law still has terra nullius written all over it. The same paragraph which purportedly denied terra
nullius contains the following statement: “At the time of assertion of European sovereignty, the
Crown acquired radical or underlying title to all the land in the province.”3
If land was owned by
Indigenous peoples prior to the assertion of European sovereignty, one wonders how the Crown
acquired title in that same land without a version of terra nullius being deployed. Some kind of
legal vacuum must be imagined to create the Crown’s radical title (Borrows, 2015).
This also speaks to a flaw in the policy of recognition of inherent right. But does this answer the
question why a new style of governing structure is so compelling that it takes centuries to adapt? It
goes without saying that Aboriginal people have held on to their cultural values through centuries of
adversity, mainly because they are the only thing that could not be taken away. Dr. Stephen Cornell,
well know for his participation in the Harvard Study, states that “Colonialism had – and continues
to have – intentionally transformative effects on many of those peoples, seizing Indigenous lands,
dispersing or consolidating populations, bypassing and undermining social and political organization,
attacking cultural practices, prohibiting languages, and so on. Claiming or revitalizing an Indigenous
Nationhood has to confront the embedded legacies of these practices” (Cornell, 2015).
Indigenous governing bodies are certainly not new. The Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee,
was initially a confederacy of five nations formed in the year 1091AD (Johansen, 1995), although
some European scholars claim that European influence was evident in its structure and formation.
The Blackfoot Confederacy also has roots going back between 3000-5000 years.4
Most other
Indigenous pre-contact nations had political and social structures that ensured their continuance as
a people. The “House” structure of the Indigenous peoples of the West Coast was, and continues to
be, highly sophisticated, with social mores built into cultural practices and ceremony. Many of these
practices and ceremonies are used today and are part of the cultural fabric of not only the West Coast
Indigenous peoples but Indigenous peoples across the Americas.

5
The federal government overtly discouraged participation in ceremonies and cultural practices,
using police action and incarceration. However, during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, Indian people
were meeting to discuss their rights (Cuthand, 1977). Only following the War did the Canadian
government start to hear the voices of First Nations leaders. John Leslie writes, “In the immediate
post-war era, the fundamental message of national Indian leaders – the likes of Andrew Paull [BC],
John Tootoosis [Sask.], Rev. Peter Kelly [BC], John Gambler [Man.], William Scow [BC], Joe Dion
[Alb.], and George Manuel [BC] – to politicians and Indian Affairs Branch officials was that Indian
people wanted to retain their “Indianness” and not assimilate into the dominant society” (Leslie,
2004). While discussions were taking place, a stronger movement was percolating as a result of a
federal policy paper introduced by the then Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chretien, a Minister of the
Trudeau government (Weaver, 1977).
The First Nations political movement crystallized following the release of the federal government’s
1969 “White Paper.” The immediate response focused on Indian rights and was led by a 23-year-old
Cree from Alberta, Harold Cardinal. Cardinal authored The Unjust Society, a stinging rebuke of the
White Paper, which had been put forward as a major change in relations between Indian peoples and
the Canadian public. The Indian response was a total rejection of the government’s proposed policy,
considered to be yet another attempt at assimilation. The primary issue of rights as a precursor to self-
government was put forward. The rejection of assimilation was also the major factor in Indian people
not obtaining the right to vote until 1960. Although First Nations people were offered the right to vote
as early as 1885, they would have had to agree to relinquish their status and to become enfranchised,
resulting in them not being allowed to live on their homeland or reserve (Elections Canada, 2015). First
Nation peoples universally rejected the notion of assimilation, as is the case today.
At the same time in the United States, Native American tribes were using the term “sovereignty.”
Young lawyers such as Kirke Kickingbird5
were actively involved in the crusade to promote Indigenous
rights and sovereignty among tribes in the United States. In both Canada and the US, a revival of
“Indianness” was taking place. The American Indian Movement (AIM) took the spotlight with
a more aggressive plan of action. Following an international focus on the eviction of Indians from
Alcatraz, in 1971, AIM put forward a proposal of twenty items for presentation to the President of
the United States (Chapman, 2010). One of the items demanded a formal recognition of Indian
Nations as sovereign political entities. President Nixon dismissed the proposal, but its philosophy was
strongly supported by Indian nations in both Canada and the United States and probably should be
considered the rebirth of the right to govern.
Self-government as a policy consideration became vogue in the mid 1970s, as the Department of
Indian and Northern Affairs began considering the issue of governance and started examining the
issue as “local government.” However, concepts of self-government formulated by Indian Affairs in
the mid 1970s were seen only as administering federal programs (Cassidy, 1990). The Department of
the Secretary of State (DSS) was involved in Aboriginal programming as well as Indian Affairs, and the
staff in DSS were quite aware of the necessity of supporting a change in policy. Jim Lanigan (Belanger,
2004) described this as a transition “from wards of the state to participating Canadians.”
The wards of the state concept had been deeply embedded through the various measures of
colonization. However, the basic concept still being promoted by Canada was that local governments
must be structured by principles embodied in the Westminster style of governance. This insistence,
whether intentional or unintentional, has been promulgated in other areas of colonization.
McHugh (2011) states that “Increasingly settler-state legalism demands that [tribal] leaders must
govern by Western principles of transparency and accountability geared more towards displaying
those attributes to the outer world than necessarily being an outgrowth of the tribes’ own political
agenda.” Cornell (2015) further states, “to the extent that central governments have either tolerated
or encouraged the organizational efforts of Indigenous peoples, they have wanted to determine its
form, often imposing their own organizational models, moral codes, and assumptions about what
Daniel Brant is a member
of the Mohawks of the Bay of
Quinte, where he grew up and
went to school on the Tyendinaga
Mohawk Territory in southern
Ontario. His undergraduate work
was in the field of Architecture
at Ryerson University. He holds
two Master’s degrees – one in
Engineering from the University
of Waterloo and the other in
Public Administration from
Queen’s University. He is currently
working on his Phd from Nipissing
University in North Bay. He has
held senior positions with the AFN
as CEO and with NACCA as CEO.
His work experience also includes
being on staff with four federal
Ministers of Indian Affairs. He
was the founder of First Nations
Management, a consulting
company where he worked for
near twenty years. Among those
years, he was an associate with
Coopers & Lybrand. He has served
on a number of Boards, including
both federal and provincial
Order-in-Council appointments,
Gignul Housing in Ottawa, and
First Nations Technical Institute at
Tyendinaga. He is currently the
CAO at his home at Tyendinaga,
the 9th largest First Nation in
Canada.
1
Tsilhqot’in Nation v British
Columbia [2014] SCC44
2
ibid. at para. 69.
3
ibid.
4
Website
5
Kickingbird now practices
law in Oklahoma with the law
firm HOBBS, STRAUS, DEAN &
WALKER, LLP

6
“good” governance should look like.” Throughout the history and development of First Nations
governance, this indeed has been the case.
The Penner Report (1984) was a seminal turning point, as it was the first formal government
document that acknowledged the existence and necessity of First Nations governments within a
pluralist Canada. As summarized by Belanger & Newhouse (2004), the Penner Report articulated
three major areas of departure from mainstream thinking of the day:
1 The report envisaged Indian government as a “distinct order” of government within Canada with
a set of negotiated jurisdictions and fiscal arrangements
2 The report recommended the right of Indian Self Government should be constitutionally
entrenched with enabling legislation to recognize Indian Government
3 The report defined areas of authority for Indian governments as education, child welfare, health
care, membership, social and cultural development, land and resource use, revenue raising,
economic and commercial development, justice and law enforcement, and intergovernmental
relations.
Canada’s response was positive, but to date none of the major recommendations has come to
fruition. The response was indeed reminiscent of the President of the United States some forty-five
years ago.
So What Does Good Governance Look Like?
First Nations Governance, as stated at the outset of this article, is a non-monolithic creature of many
perspectives. Some advocate a total return to traditional governments, while others want to chart a
path of inclusion in the Canadian body politic. Obviously, these perspectives involve totally different
views of the responsibilities of governing. Borrows advocates constitutional solutions and the
necessity of more Aboriginal law supporting stronger Aboriginal governance within the Canadian
legal system (Borrows, 2010). Other scholars such as Taiaiake Alfred implore First Nations people
to return to their traditional ways of governing (Alfred, 2009). The Institute of Governance has
developed a recipe of elements that constitute good governance, as has the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal peoples (RCAP).
The decision on how to govern must be taken by First Nations themselves if there is serious determination
to implement self-government. Stephen Cornell states, “Acting as a Nation involves more than
organization; it is about accepting responsibility for strategy and its outcomes and for delivering
the goods: law, justice, economy, resource stewardship, cultural revitalization, productive
intergovernmental relationships, the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, and so forth”
(Cornell, 2015). Many First Nations leaders fear that if they take the bold step to rebuild their nation
according to traditional values, the government will cut off their funds. The fact that First Nations are
institutions within the framework of Canada, constitutionally protected under Section 35(1) of the
Constitution Act, makes this fear highly unlikely. However, it is still seen as a risk to most leaders. The
decision remains in the hands of the political leaders. Do we want to be “Wards of the State,” or do
we want to become viable, self-directing and self-sufficient First Nations, in every respect of the word,
contributing to our homeland with the gifts the Creator charged us with?
what is first nations governance?
Many First
Nations leaders
fear that if they
take the bold step
to rebuild their
nation according
to traditional
values, the
government will
cut off their funds.
The fact that
First Nations are
institutions within
the framework
of Canada,
constitutionally
protected under
Section 35(1) of
the Constitution
Act, makes this fear
highly unlikely.

8
Serving the People
Cree Women and
Ceremonial Leadership
Patricia A. Makokis, EdD, and Janice A. Makokis, BA., MA., LLB
Indigenous women1
have always been in some form of leadership role within their
community and nation, whether it’s in elected leadership positions (such as Chief or
Councillor), education, or leading their family in raising up the future generations.
The manner in which Indigenous women lead is unique and deserves more exploration.
It’s especially important to examine the dynamics in spaces that don’t have high
representation of women, such as business, banking, engineering, and science. This paper
will outline some of the unique leadership qualities of nehiyaw ikswewak (Cree women),
some of the challenges they experience, and how exercising leadership is inextricably
linked to the laws of Cree people – laws contained in our ceremonial teachings. We
argue that Indigenous women, and specifically Cree women (since the authors are both
from the Nehiyaw Nation), find their strength, resilience, creativity, foresight, and
guidance in their leadership, through their cultural values and teachings.
Sharing Cree Women’s Leadership Practice
The authors attended the first Aboriginal Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) Conference,
hosted by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) and held in Saskatoon in November
2015. The Conference brought people together to discuss the emerging trend of AEDCs within
the Canadian business landscape. Specifically, we gathered “to discuss the importance of business
fundamentals as well as community engagement, two necessary pillars that support economic
growth and sustainability.”2
The conference attendees had varied backgrounds and provided an
excellent opportunity for networking and learning to take place.
Whether or not by coincidence, one of the authors (Dr. Pat Makokis) was asked to fill in for another
speaker last minute, since the original speaker could not make the panel they were scheduled to
participate in. Dr. Makokis ended up participating in the panel “Understanding Community Goals.”
The following story, written from the perspective of Dr. Makokis, highlights some of the events of the
CCAB conference which gave rise to this article.
A Narrative on Leadership from the CCAB
When I arrived at the session I agreed to participate in, I realized that I was the only woman on the
panel. The other panel participants included the CEO of Frog Lake Energy and the Executive VP of Real
Estate of Walton Global Investments. They were given the questions for this panel in advance, which
gave them more time to reflect and to develop responses for the panel discussion. Since the panel
was about “community,” I was not too worried about not being prepared, since I live and breathe
community everyday. I live on a First Nation, and my entire professional life has been spent serving the
Indigenous community with the vision of making change for our people. Once the panel began, the
questions started coming, some of which included How do Indigenous men and women lead? What
are the challenges for Indigenous women in leadership roles in a male dominated world? and so on.
As I sat on the panel and looked into the audience, noting that many of the conference attendees were
non-Indigenous, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to give an Indigenous perspective
on leadership grounded in Indigenous knowledge. It was an opportune time to share some of the
teachings that I have learned from Elders over the years. I found myself thinking about the “secret
hidden history” of Indigenous peoples’ experiences, the true history not written in books. Or, if it is
written, it’s all too likely from the colonial perspective of non-Indigenous authors and historians.

9
I mentioned the important work that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission3
(TRC) had done and
how we need to consider thinking about the TRC Calls to Action4
in the work we all do in our various
fields. We need people to understand the colonial history and its impact on Indigenous Peoples’
lives. This colonial history is the reality we see rolling out as socio-economic issues in Indigenous
communities right now. As someone who lives on a reserve, I see this reality and the challenges our
people have in overcoming generations of soul wounds inflicted by the colonial experience.
Even though the residential school era is over, and we are in a “truth and reconciliation” phase, there
is still much work to do in healing from the historic trauma and intergenerational impacts5
that linger
in Indigenous communities. The social issues we see today are a direct result of the colonial legacy
left by the residential schools. So when the question was asked about the differences in the way
Indigenous men and women lead, and in the challenges they face, I thought about the imposition of
foreign systems of governance on our nations.
The Indian Act structure of governance is a foreign structure developed to control, restrict, and
transition6
Indigenous peoples away from our traditional forms of leadership and governance.
I discussed how traditional structures and leadership processes had the men as the speakers but the
decision making was never done unilaterally, since the men consulted the women on everything7
–
especially major decisions impacting the nation and the future generations of the people. The men
consulted the women. I spoke about how the current Indian Act election system creates winners
and losers. The losers no longer support those who have the most votes. It becomes a game and
a popularity contest. The focus on the people, issues, and the future are lost in this. This in itself is
another form of oppression and lateral violence, as it pits us against each other, rather than
honouring the gifts of those who lead.
In our traditional governance structures, everyone had, and has, gifts to contribute to the greater
good. The priority was always to serve the nation and to think about the children and the future
generations. Today, we sometimes see men and women pitted against each other, instead of men
recognizing women’s roles in ceremony (governance) and working together with the women. Have
we forgotten the importance of traditional leadership roles, where men and women each have
something to contribute to the nation? Have we bought into the “positional power leadership roles”
that come from the Western system of governance?
Our own ceremonies ground us in who we are and how we should be working together or governing
ourselves. Our ceremonies are beautiful and intricately detailed. They have to be this way, because the
details are the preparation work. They need to occur in order for the ceremony to take place. Everyone
has a role, and the men and women must be equally important for the ceremony to function. The
level of detail required in the preparations before a ceremony even begins demonstrates leadership in
action and the sophistication of our governance system(s).
I spoke about my family’s experience in the “fast ceremony”8
that we participate in every year. There
is so much detail in a participant’s preparations for a fast ceremony. Just before the fasters go out to
their lodges (which are located out on the land and in the sacred fasting ground area), we see the
minute, intricate, detailed preparations that the oskapewis (helpers) and lead female and male Elder
embark on to ensure that the ceremony runs properly. If the ceremony does not run properly things
can go wrong, impacting a person’s life into the future.
This is the check and balance that is built into our system of leadership and governance. We see
the men and women working together, and everyone knows they play an important part of the
ceremony in order for it to function. The men and women fulfill their roles in leading the fasters to
their fasting area, where they will spend several days out on the land, reconnecting to kikawinaw
askiy (Mother Earth).
Patricia Makokis has a
Bachelor of Education from the
University of Alberta, a Master
of Arts (Leadership) from San
Diego State University, and a
Doctor of Education (Leadership)
from the University of San Diego,
California. She has worked
in Indigenous post secondary
education, teaching leadership
classes for years. Most recently
she has been working in the field
of oil and gas. She currently
teaches in the Faculty of Extension
at the University of Alberta.
In our traditional
governance
structures,
everyone had,
and has, gifts to
contribute to the
greater good.
The priority was
always to serve the
nation and to think
about the children
and the future
generations.

10
Another element
that requires
attention is the
inclusion and
acknowledgement
of Indigenous
knowledge and
spirituality in
all aspects of
governing –
especially in the
political, economic,
environment,
government
relations,
management,
governance, and
leadership sectors.
What leadership lessons can we learn from Indigenous cultural and ceremonial practices? In sharing
some of these teachings and stories with conference participants, the Elders who I have had the
privilege of working with (George Bretton and Mike Steinhauer) kept telling me to say “let us live the
life the Creator meant for us to live.” Both of these Elders have left us now, but their legacy remains
and I recall their teachings often, especially their messages for us to collectively remember that we
need our men and our women leading together. After I shared some of these stories and teachings
on Indigenous leadership and the role of women, many participants came up to me afterward to
tell me that they had not heard anyone talk about leadership in this way. It was then that I was asked
to contribute an article for AFOA Canada’s upcoming journal so I could share some small part of
Indigenous leadership that is informed by our cultural and ceremonial teachings.
Leading Through Ceremony and Overcoming the Indian Act
We cannot talk about Indigenous leadership and governance without briefly discussing the effect
that the Indian Act has on Indigenous communities. The Indian Act is the blueprint for changing
the traditional leadership and governance practices of Indigenous peoples into what we see today –
communities that struggle with socio-economic, leadership, and governance issues. As Indigenous
sociologist Cora Voyageur writes, “The social, economic, and political regulation of Canada’s First
Nations was codified in the Indian Act. Rooted in colonialism and paternalism, the Indian Act was
created by the government of Canada to fulfill three functions: to define who was and was not an
Indian, to civilize the Indian, and to manage the Indian people and their lands.”9
Today, we see that leaders and communities are struggling to come out of a post Indian Act system
and wanting to develop governance practices that reflect what their ancestors governed by. Efforts
are being made by communities to move away from the Indian Act through the implementation of
other forms of governance and accountability mechanisms, such as Elders’ and People’s Councils that
work alongside the elected Indian Act Chief and Council.
We argue that for governance and leadership to truly represent a traditional model reflective of pre-
contact practices, they need to include Indigenous women. The inclusion of women in leadership
and governance is important not only in addressing gender representation but for generational
change to occur, as well as for the effects of colonialism and historic trauma to be undone. Practicing
leadership through ceremony allows for a more egalitarian and holistic model that removes ego and
hierarchy and promotes a “seven generations approach to leadership”10
in which actions are based
on a vision reaching far into the future.
Another element that requires attention is the inclusion and acknowledgement of Indigenous
knowledge and spirituality in all aspects of governing – especially in the political, economic, environ
ment, government relations, management, governance, and leadership sectors. This is reaffirmed
by Julien, Zinni, and Wright in their article, “Keeper of the Drums: Female Aboriginal Leadership and
the Salience of Gender,” where they write that “Aboriginal leaders regardless of gender are driven by
spirituality and a long-term egalitarian perspective with a focus on the good of the community.”11
Makokis further affirms the importance of spirituality in leadership in her book, Leadership Teachings
from Cree Elders, stating, “Traditional teachings founded upon First Nations spiritual beliefs influenced
how ancestral communities were organized on a day-to-day basis. A sense of harmony and accord
within the community are attributable to egalitarianism and participatory democracy.”12
There is no
question that ceremony, spirituality, and the teachings that flow from these practices play a critical
role in the success of leaders and communities who practice seven generation leadership. They have
remained grounded in who they are and where they come from, and they use this strong connection
to their identities to plan into the future for their people in whatever leadership position they occupy.
Cree Women and Ceremonial Leadership

Janice Makokis has a Bachelor
of Native Studies degree (Native
Studies / Political Science) from
the University of Alberta, a Master
of Arts (Indigenous Governance)
from the University of Victoria,
and a Bachelor of Laws degree
from the University of Ottawa.
She currently does political
and policy advisory work for
Indigenous Nations and teaches
in the Faculty of Extension at the
University of Alberta.
Janice and Patricia are part of
the curriculum development
and instructional team in the
recently developed Aboriginal
Community Industry Relations
(ACIR) certificate in the Faculty
of Extension at the University of
Alberta. Janice and Patricia reside
on the Saddle Lake Cree Nation
in Alberta.
11
Our research for this paper confirmed that spiritual and ceremonial leadership scholarship exists, but
to a limited degree, since the topic has not been mainstreamed yet. In exercising self-determination,
it is imperative that Indigenous people understand the role of spirituality and ceremony. As Makokis
(2008) argues, “Ceremony is where we connect to our ancestors, their teachings and the way of life
they left for us to practice. Ceremony demands understanding traditional knowledge as the tool we
utilize to discover who we are and the place where we practice self-determination, governance and
our natural laws.”13
This paper is meant to initiate a discussion on the topic and to highlight the value
that spirituality and ceremony can have if they are included in leadership and governance initiatives
within a community, an organization, or an individual work practice.
It is our hope that in writing this article others will see the significant contributions that ceremonial
leadership and governance add to the success of an individual, community, or organization.The authors
recognize the importance of Indigenous knowledge and spirituality in facilitating transformational change
within people. This is evident in the feedback we hear from our students. Currently, we are involved in
a unique program called Aboriginal Community Industry Relations14
at the University of Alberta. This
certificate program aims to facilitate better relations between Indigenous Peoples, government, and
industry. The program and courses privilege Elders teachings and Indigenous knowledge and use the land
as pedagogy in order to teach students about topics related to culture and history, Indigenous laws, lands
and resources, and community and economic development.
We would like to conclude by saying this paper is meant to be an introduction into the topic of
ceremonial leadership and governance. It is meant to leave people with key ideas and literature that
could be used in their work environment if they wish to utilize some of the principles we have discussed.
1
The authors have chosen to use
the word ‘Indigenous’ instead
of ‘Aboriginal’ to be consistent
with the use of the term in the
international fora and the term is
also found in the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
The United Nations Permanent
Forum on Indigenous Issues
put out a document discussing
the term “Indigenous” and
can be found here: www.
un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/
documents/5session_factsheet1.
pdf
2
Canadian Council for Aboriginal
Business, Past Events: www.ccab.
com/aedccsask
3
Truth and Reconciliation
Commission website: www.trc.
ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.
php?p=3
4
Ibid: www.trc.ca/websites/
trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/
Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
5
In their article on Aboriginal
People and historic trauma the
authors, Aguiar and Halseth,
connect the link HT has on
successive generations and how
this manifests itself through
the current social challenges
Aboriginal people experience,
“In the case of many Aboriginal
people, past historic traumas
have created conditions of
disadvantage (ie. lower levels of
income and education, poorer
quality of housing, reduced access
to resources, erosion of cultural
identity and pride in self, among
others), which result in social
problems that perpetuate traumas
for subsequent generations”.
Aguiar, William and Halseth,
Regine (2015), “Aboriginal
Peoples and Historic Trauma:
The Process of Intergenerational
Transmission” from the
National Collaborating
Centre for Aboriginal Health:
www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/
Publications/Lists/Publications/
Attachments/142/2015_04_28_
AguiarHalseth_RPT_
IntergenTraumaHistory_EN_Web.
pdf
6
Coates, Ken (2008), “The Indian
Act and the Future of Aboriginal
Governance in Canada” from the
National Centre for First Nations
Governance: www.fngovernance.
org/ncfng_research/coates.pdf
7
In “Understanding Treaty 6: An
Indigenous Perspective” Sharon
Venne discusses the authority
of women in the treaty making
process and links their role to the
power they had in traditional
Cree governance structures. In
her words “One of the strongest
teachings of the traditional elders
concerns the women. When
the elders speak about the role
of women at the treaty, they talk
about the spiritual connection
of the women to the land and to
treaty-making. The Creator gave
women the power to create. The
man is the helper to the women,
not the other way around.
Women are linked to Mother
Earth by their ability to bring forth
life. The women sit beside the
Creator as a recognition of their
role and position” (191).
Venne, Sharon, (1997).
Understanding Treaty 6: An
Indigenous Perspective. In
Aboriginal and Treaty Rights in
Canada: Essays on Law, Equity
and Respect for Difference editor
Michael Asch, (UBC Press:
Vancouver).
8
A fast ceremony may vary from
Nation to Nation or Elder to Elder
but generally a person enters into a
‘fast’ where they do not drink water
or eat food for an extended period
of time. Each person who commits
to fasting will fast anywhere from
1-4 plus days. On the last day,
you come out of the ceremony
and come back to the camp to
join the camp again. To prohibit
any cultural misinterpretation, the
authors recommend approaching
an Elder or knowledge keeper with
tobacco/ protocol who knows
about this ceremony to seek
information
9
Voyageaur, Cora (2011).
Female First Nations Chiefs and
the Colonial Legacy of Canada.
American Indian Culture and
Research Journal, 35: 3.
10
Julien, Mark, Zinni, Deborah,
Wright, Barry (2008). Keeper of
the Drums: Female Aboriginal
Leadership and the Salience of
Gender. Advancing Women in
Leadership, 28
11
Ibid.
12
Makokis, Leona (2009).
Leadership Teachings from Cree
Elders: A Grounded Theory Study.
Germany: Lambert Academic
Publishing, at 33.
13
Makokis, Janice (2008).
Nehiyaw Iskwew nehiyaw
iskwew kiskinowâtasinahikewina
– paminisowin namôya
tipeyimisowin: Learning Self-
DeterminationThrough the
Sacred. Canadian Woman Studies;
Winter/Spring 2008; 26, 3/4;
GenderWatch (GW) at 42.
14
University of Alberta, Faculty
of Extension, Aboriginal
Community Industry Relations
Certificate, Retrieved on January
11, 2016 from: www.extension.
ualberta.ca/study/community-
engagement-studies/acir/
Footnotes

12
Above Board
Improving First Nations Governance
Mike DeGagné, PhD, CAPA, President and Vice-Chancellor, Nipissing University
Improving First Nations governance is said to be one of the principle challenges facing
our communities. However, it’s important to note that this is not a new issue. Twenty-
five years ago I began working with the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Program (NNADAP), and at the time the program was in its infancy. One way to help
the program thrive was to hire three specialists in addictions who would visit each
NNADAP site and act as a resource for the new centres. They offered advice to these
start-ups, and gave the NNADAP administrators feedback on what might be improved.
I recall meeting with these three consultants and asking them to describe the one difficulty experienced
by NNADAP programs that they would fix if they could – their top priority. They all answered
“governance.”
Addictions programs had selected community members to govern according to their capacities to
manage and treat addiction. In other words, they chose people with management skills who were
interested in the opportunity to take a “hands-on” approach. Yet with many Boards of Directors, the
first thing we tell new Directors is to “stay out of the kitchen” and make sure that they aren’t doing
the work of management. Some say a Board Director is a highly skilled person we carefully select from
our community who we then ask to do nothing. Many Directors balk at this and insist on taking an
active role in running the enterprise, creating conflict with managers paid to do the job.
The challenge with governance, then, is to select skilled and committed people to provide oversight
to managers of our programs and services, without inserting themselves into the day-to-day work of
the organization. Ensuring governance is done right, whether it’s with a national organization or a
small local program, is difficult. In my view, governance can be improved by taking practical steps in
three areas: conflict-of-interest, Board training, and community consultation.
Conflict of Interest
When I think of a model Board of Directors, I use my experience with the Board of the Aboriginal
Healing Foundation (AHF). I was fortunate to have worked with this Board for seventeen years, and
it was an excellent example of good corporate governance balanced by a unique understanding
of Aboriginal communities. The Board had seventeen members representing all regions of Canada
and Aboriginal professionals and citizens, selected to make difficult choices about funding and
community support.
Did the Board have moments of conflict and disagreement? Certainly it did. You can hardly expect
the careful distribution of $600M to be free of differences of opinion. The Board dealt with these
conflicts through an atmosphere of mutual respect, and an understanding that reasonable people
can disagree and still work together.
But most important to the success of this Board of Directors was the understanding that the eyes of
the Aboriginal community and other Canadians were watching the decisions made, and that these
decisions had to be free of any perception that the Board was serving its individual or collective needs
first. Decisions had to be fair to the many communities that had taken the time to apply for funding.
Any perceived or real conflict of interest had to be declared, and Board Directors had to absent
themselves from any involvement in decisions in which they might gain personally or professionally.
This didn’t just mean refraining from voting: it also meant declaring any possible conflict as soon as it
was apparent and taking no part in discussions and Board deliberations.
Too often in governance, training and advice on how to address conflict of interest does not work
well within Aboriginal communities. I once sat on a Board of Governors of a large health facility where
Board policy dictated that if we were related to anyone who worked in the facility we would have
to resign. That worked well in an urban environment, where it was unlikely that a relative would be

13
working in the same organization. But what about a small First Nations community where it’s likely
that as a Board Director you are in some way connected with virtually everyone who works at the
program or uses the service?
We need to concentrate more on managing conflict than simply declaring it. Good Board of Directors
policy should be clear on steps to take when mitigating conflict. Declare conflict, withdraw from
deliberations and decision-making, and ensure that minutes or meeting notes adequately reflect the
actions you’ve taken. If you are involved in hiring for your program or organization, ensure that you
declare any perceived or real conflict and remove yourself from the hiring process. Play no part in setting
the terms and conditions of employment, such as compensation. And it can’t be said enough: develop
a system for keeping good minutes and notes. As a Board Director, you are representing a public trust,
and records kept are your best means of demonstrating that you have honoured that trust.
Board Training
Do you remember your first day of work at your current job? For many of us, our first week of work
involved sitting in front of an imposing binder of policy and program descriptions in the hope that
the reading material would help in understanding the dynamics of the job we were about to begin.
Most of this reading is no help at all, principally because it is done in the absence of context. Since
you have little or no framework in which to situate your reading, it doesn’t convey meaning to you.
Training and work-related education shouldn’t be about acquiring knowledge; they should be about
establishing context. What are the relationships between these policies and people in the workplace?
How does this puzzle fit together? Fortunately, time on the job provides the context we need, and we
profit from understanding the environment and the formal and informal networks within our work.
Most Board Directors are prepared for their role on Boards in much the same inadequate way as
we once prepared for our new jobs. The “Board Binder” is provided to each member, and half a
day is set aside to describe to the Directors what’s in the binder. The Board Director has taken on
this governance role, first to contribute their skills and background to advance the objectives of
the organization, and second to learn more about the organization. Yet little meaningful context is
provided to help the Board Director understand their role and comprehend the complexities of the
programs which they are now expected to govern and oversee.
Board training is a process that is best guided by the Directors themselves. Instead of a steady stream
of disconnected knowledge, we need to allow new Board Directors to ask questions of senior staff
and allow them to make the connections between the programs and services the organization offers.
Board Directors are most often volunteers and receive little compensation for the time they devote to
an organization, so they cannot be expected to spend the time to develop an in-depth knowledge of
day-to-day operations. They should leave Board training with a clear understanding of what it means
to govern (not manage), with a sense of the broad objectives for the organization they oversee, with
a clear understanding of the expectations of themselves as an individual Board Director, and with
knowledge and acceptance of the codes of conduct and conflict of interest guidelines that the Board
of Directors has established. Knowledge of the intricacies of the organization will develop with time,
and it’s important that “Board Education” be an agenda item at each Board meeting. The Board
Binder should be put on the reference shelf.
Another essential element of “Board training” is the training that should be provided to the staff of
an organization on how best to work with the Board collectively and with individual Board members.
In small organizations, staff may well know Board Directors personally and interact with them
informally, but in larger organizations Board Directors are seldom seen and yet are rightly perceived
to have a great deal of authority and influence. Staff may feel that they are required to respond to the
requests of individual Board Directors, or that Board Directors have the management authority to
make changes in the organization, perhaps even personnel changes.
Mike DeGagné is the seventh
President and Vice-Chancellor of
Nipissing University. Originally
from Fort Frances, Ontario,
his career includes work with
the federal government in
management of Aboriginal
programs, and as a negotiator
of comprehensive claims.
DeGagné is the former Executive
Director of the Aboriginal
Healing Foundation, a national
organization which addressed
the legacy of Indian Residential
Schools.
He has served on numerous
Boards of Directors in the health
and university sectors including
as Chairman of Ottawa’s
Queensway-Carleton Hospital,
and Chairman of the Child
Welfare League of Canada.
He has a PhD in Education
focusing on Aboriginal post-
secondary success from Michigan
State University, and Masters
degrees in Administration and
Law. He lectures nationally and
internationally in the areas of
Indigenous governance and
reconciliation. He is a recipient
of the Order of Canada and the
Order of Ontario as well as the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
We need to
concentrate more
on managing
conflict than
simply declaring it

14
Boards of
Directors represent
citizen oversight
of community
programs and
services. In
governing there
are two critical
skills that we call
upon our Boards
to demonstrate:
the ability to
ask questions
of management,
and the capacity
to listen and be
a conduit for
community input.
Some staff may view Board Directors or the Board collectively as a forum to air personal grievances
and complaints when they cannot get the response from senior staff that they’d like. In small
communities, where it is likely that personal connections exist between Board Directors and staff, this
is a common misconception that serves to seriously undermine the authority of management and to
drag Board members into the weeds of the organization’s business.
Staff need to know the role Board Directors play in overseeing an organization or program, and
how oversight differs from management. It is also essential for them to understand that a Board of
Directors governs with one voice, that a Board acts collectively, and that individual requests from
Board Directors should flow through senior staff. The Board has one employee, the CEO, and it is the
CEO’s responsibility to manage all other staff.
Community Consultation
It’s fair to say that Aboriginal people and communities are in a state of continual consultation. I once
heard the typical Aboriginal family described as “Dad, Mom, two kids, and an anthropologist.”
Long before the duty to consult, we lived lives scrutinized by researchers, governments, and
evaluators, all with a view to discerning our needs and finding ways to address community problems
and challenges. The notion that governance in our communities hinges on our capacity to have
meaningful forums for community input may be tough for some to accept.
Dwayne Nashkawa, Chief Executive Officer of Nipissing First Nation, puts this dilemma this way:
Leadership and management in First Nations find governance challenges and opportunities in
many forms. Often these challenges vary depending on circumstance and exist along a continuum,
not just specific situations. For example, the requirement to engage and consult the membership is
situational but also depends on the circumstance. Some members want to be consulted regularly
while others in the same community complain of consultation fatigue and just want leadership to
get on with decision making.
In developing the Aboriginal Healing Foundation into a receptive and responsive organization we
made many mistakes, the gravest of which was not listening to the needs of communities as well
as we could have in our first year. As a result, we were heavily criticized for developing application
and funding processes which were onerous and out of touch with the community’s capacity to act.
Our response was to begin a series of community consultations. We held about thirty of them over
the course of several years. The events were balanced between presenting our work to the public
and simply listening. But the most critical part of this process was when we changed the way we
conducted our business in response to what we heard. We avoided the tendency to defend what we
were doing, and we showed that we took consultation to heart.
Boards of Directors represent citizen oversight of community programs and services. In governing
there are two critical skills that we call upon our Boards to demonstrate: the ability to ask questions of
management, and the capacity to listen and be a conduit for community input.
Conclusion
Throughout the Aboriginal community I encounter my former colleagues from the Aboriginal
Healing Foundation. Many of us agree that in addition to supporting Survivors of the residential
school system, the AHF represented the opportunity to learn how an organization could be operated
in a way that responded to the specific needs of Aboriginal people and communities and that put
sound governance principles into practice.
Good governance is critical to our communities if we are to seize even greater responsibility for the
systems, programs, and services that govern our lives. We can accomplish this through leading,
learning, and listening, and making the Boards that provide oversight to many of our organizations
even more effective.
Improving First Nations Governance

15
The CAPA program is
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16
Leadership & Governance
Marshall M. Murdock, WEP, BA, Vice President, Business Development, Marketing and
Relationship Manager, Aon Aboriginal Services Group, Canada
Leadership and governance play a key role in all demographics and societies. Leadership
is not found but is developed and conditioned. An absence of visionary leadership and
quality governance results in disarray amongst people and the economy, affecting how
a society functions. History has proven that good leadership provides stability and
vision, delivering results in challenging situations.
We have seen the evolution and improvement of leadership first-hand in our communities. Indigenous
Canada today has many leaders who have accomplished great things for our communities. In some
cases this has extended to great things for our country. The achievement of these victories has been, for
many, a long and challenging process. In some instances, it has taken decades and even centuries to win
the battle. In the indigenous communities of Canada, leadership has always been pivotal in ensuring
that the end result moves us forward.
In order to achieve success and victory, we need to be mindful that challenges come with a great cost to
health, family, and one’s personal journey. Heroes and leaders are often forgotten. The contribution they
have made to the improvement of our communities can go unnoticed. Often, leaders receive minimal
recognition, credit, or honour for the excellent work they have accomplished in their communities.
They are continually working behind the scenes, tirelessly fighting the good fight. Hats off to these
unrecognized heroes: they are the front-line workers, spending their time in the trenches.
Today, our indigenous economies are among the fastest-growing emerging economies in Canada.
Twenty years ago, corporate Canada was stating that the indigenous communities of Canada will
be a force to be reckoned with in the next twenty years. In 1975, Dr. Billy Graham stated that “the
indigenous peoples of this country are like a sleeping giant, but my friends, the sleeping giant is waking
up.” Yes, indeed, indigenous peoples are truly awakening to the realities of the 21st century, taking
their rightful place in society and quickly becoming contributors to every aspect of the societal fabric –
whether it be politics, education, business, or social development.
Today, in the indigenous communities of Canada, leaders are stepping up to the plate to take on the
challenge of leading their communities into the 21st century. We are witnessing a monumental shift,
in which leaders are formally educated and armed with accreditations and designations such as PhDs,
MBAs, CAs, and so on. They are determined to overcome the challenges we face in the 21st century.
This movement enables our communities to create positive changes and opportunities at a rapid pace.
Indigenous people are also beginning to recognize the increasing importance of education, which is
ultimately our ticket out of poverty. In the interim, we need to ensure our leaders are aware of issues
at the grassroots, because experience tells me this is where the action is. Our communities have had,
and continue to have, many challenges to share with the world, as well as major improvements and
accomplishments. We have great leaders who have come and gone, but they are not forgotten. This
article wouldn’t do them proper justice by merely listing them as heroes. Their success is the reason we
have come so far. It motivates our young leaders to build something better. To continue this movement,
leaders must be able to take the best of all society’s cultures and create a safer and more secure place to
establish our futures. Indigenous citizens are taking their rightful place in society. We now see young
indigenous leaders entering the workforce and learning the art of managing change and re-inventing
themselves in their workplace environments.
As a society we are no longer bound by separation, lack of communication, or insufficient transportation.
Instead, we are quickly becoming a world blended into one universal society. Technology is generating
colossal changes. We now have instant access to information, and the manner in which we communicate,
conduct our day-to-day activities, and learn is largely influenced by technology and its capabilities.
At Aon, we are striving to find the best and brightest indigenous candidates to represent our organization.
Indigenous youth are at the crossroads of some very exciting 21st-century career opportunities. Aon is an
international corporation with over 66,000 employees and 500 offices in 120 countries. Aon’s mission as
a multinational corporation is to continuously provide innovative risk advice and insurance solutions that
enhance our clients’ ability to achieve their objectives by leveraging our local, national, and global talent
and capabilities. In Canada, we serve 292 First Nation communities with 32 Aboriginal Services Group staff
members coast-to-coast. Aon has been working with indigenous communities for over thirty years, and we
continue to grow the indigenous business segment of which I am proud to be a part as an indigenous person.

17
There is excellent leadership and governance in many communities, and we are truly encouraged by the
governance of these communities. However, we can’t stop there. We are constantly pushing to raise the
bar when it comes to leadership and governance. I believe these situations will also change in due time,
as we enter a new phase where politics and economics are observed on a global scale. The landscape is
changing: business affairs have completely transformed, and as a result of this immense change, we are
now operating as a global economy. Strong leadership and governance are crucial to our success and
growth in all of our indigenous communities, as we take our rightful place in society as citizens of this
country we call Canada.
Good leaders lead by example. Good governance demands transparency and accountability. Good
leaders believe in what they preach. This is not fiction, it is fact. The question now is how do we establish
good governance and develop quality leaders? When we think of a First Nation community that has
seen great success and leads by example, we ask ourselves, how did they get there? What did it take to
achieve success?
Examples of best practices amongst the leaders in these communities include:
» A transparent and accountable leadership style
» Adopting consistent financial management principles
» Developing and implementing strategic plans with the priorities of the community in mind
» Remembering that key financial decisions are made on behalf of shareholders/community
members, and understanding the repercussions of these decisions
» Never losing sight of the big picture and core objectives
» Understanding the importance of hiring qualified talent for specific roles
» Governing your corporation with comprehensive procedures, guidelines, and policies
» Holding oneself accountable to shareholders and community members
We have made huge strides in governance and leadership within indigenous communities. When
reflecting on our triumphs, the reality sinks in that we can set the bar higher for ourselves. This is truly
only the beginning.
Marshall Murdock joined
Aon in May, 2008, bringing
several years of experience in
building and growing Aboriginal
practices with major Canadian
financial services institutions
in Canada. He has always
maintained strong connections
and networks within First
Nations nationally. Marshall
provides a unique understanding
and sensitivity to the cultural
and socio-economic needs of
Aboriginal Canada. Marshall’s
key roles with Aon Risk Services
are business development,
marketing, and managing
relationships with the Aboriginal
communities and clients in
Canada.

18
Leadership & Governance
Developing Our Future Leaders
Adam Gould, Manager, Communications & Government Relations, Membertou
You may have heard of, read about, or been a visual witness to Membertou’s
development throughout the past decade-and-a-half. News is always being made, and
Membertou is always doing or creating something new.
We have a trade and convention centre, a market, restaurants, a hotel, one of the most environ
mentally friendly and energy efficient “green” schools in Canada, strip malls, local business owners,
and an entertainment centre. The Membertou Sport & Wellness Centre was previously featured in
the Journal of Aboriginal Management (February 2015).
In terms of infrastructure and economics, Membertou’s government and corporate bodies are a
leading force in First Nations best business practices. However, there are other pressing areas where
leadership is always needed. Responsible governance is a duty that comes with any economic success.
“Welcoming the World!” has evolved from a catchy marketing slogan to a standard practice for
Membertou, living up to its own expectations and words by seeking out new partnerships in the
greater business community while maintaining focus on its home-based resources. Accountability is
certainly a main element of progress and success, and Membertou continues to be accountable in its
governance and leadership.
As Membertou grows as a community and a business, the needs of business, governance, administration,
and community members increase. In recent years, Membertou has opted to make additional strides
toward self-government and to step further away from the Indian Act. Such actions have led to new
guidelines and codes, new departments, and fresh ideas.
One of the newer developments in Membertou’s governance is the Governance Committee, mandated
to develop laws and codes for consideration by the citizens of Membertou. Its membership includes
a combination of community members and employees. As part of the committee’s mandate, it
must engage the community in all work that is done. The committee regularly hosts community
engagement sessions with emphases on elder, women, and youth involvement. Sessions with
community members at-large are also held over a communal dinner.
Governance has worked thoroughly in the development of several areas: 1) Membership Code,
2) Matrimonial Property Law, 3) Land Code, and, recently, 4) A Custom Election Code for Membertou.
These laws and codes will eventually be ratified by community members in Membertou and are being
led by Governance Coordinator Cheryl Knockwood.
Membertou’s financial management system operates under Membertou’s Financial Administration
Law. Since receiving Financial Performance Certification in 2012, Membertou has been working
to improve, and to implement improvements to, the financial management system. The Policy
Review Committee, led by Policy Coordinator Jennifer Martin, is composed of members of the
Senior Management team who were responsible for overseeing the Financial Management System
certification process and regularly reporting progress to Chief and Council. In July 2015, Membertou
became the first First Nation to obtain their Financial Management System Certification from the First
Nations Financial Management Board.
Youth Chief & Council
Youth involvement has become a standing priority in Membertou, as directed by Chief and Council.
In 2012, the first Membertou Youth Chief and Council (YCC) was created as a means of mentoring
and integrating the community’s younger generation into roles of leadership and responsibility. Its
objective is to be a voice for the youth by discussing and addressing issues and concerns that impact
the youth in the community. Ages range from fourteen to eighteen.
The current YCC is composed of ten high school students ranging from ages fourteen to eighteen
in grades nine through twelve. Membertou’s Youth Chief is Julian Marshall, eighteen, son of David
and Terri-Lynn Marshall. At the beginning of September, the new chief is elected by his or her peers.

19
Adam Gould is the
Manager of Communications
and Government Relations
with Membertou. Adam’s
educational background includes
earning a Masters of Arts in
Intercultural and International
Communications (2011),
Bachelor of Public Relations,
(2008) and Bachelor of Arts
(2003). Having grown up in
Membertou as a community
member, he has seen his
community’s transformation
throughout the years and
anticipates even greater things
to happen in the future.
Every Membertou student has a vote in the youth elections. This year, Chief Julian is joined by four
fellow returning and five new members. Incumbent members have the option to return to council
the following school year without application. New members apply.

20
Their participation
in and outside of
the community
teaches them how
to manage time,
balance schedules,
be team members in
various settings,
and discipline.
Developing Our Future Leaders
Upon election of the Youth Chief and council selections, each member signs an agreement, complete
with a code of conduct, to which members must adhere. The code states that members will demonstrate
respect, honesty, and trust; will actively participate in all meetings and in community-based events,
informing teammates if unable to attend; will promote and practice a drug-free and alcohol-free lifestyle;
will be a solid role model for younger community members; and will be a high school student in good
standing with excellent attendance, following school rules and passing all classes.
Though still a newer initiative, the YCC has been very active since implementation. So far this year,
they have hosted summer and Christmas socials for fellow youth and a Halloween party for elementary
students, and they have volunteered for a roundtable discussion featuring Sydney-Victoria’s federal
election candidates. In previous years, the YCC has participated in national summits and youth
conferences, volunteered with grassroots community events, met with Membertou’s Chief and Council
for mentoring, and participated in education, career fairs, and professional development workshops.
On top of their responsibilities as youth leaders and role models for Membertou, many members
are also involved in school-based activities and sporting teams outside of school. Their participation
in and outside of the community teaches them how to manage time, balance schedules, be team
members in various settings, and discipline.
In the future, these youngsters have potential to become the leaders of our community, and more.
The experiences and lessons that they learn as teens and young adults will certainly help to mould
their future path.

22
Planning Forward, Acting Now
Leadership Challenges for First
Nations Governments
Ken Coates, Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation,
Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan
All governments face complex and diverse issues, some in the form of “wicked” or
seemingly intractable problems and others more simple to understand but difficult
to address. First Nations governments are no different – except that they operate in
a completely different legal and political reality. Non-Indigenous governments do
not have to deal with the Indian Act, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, the
complicated nuances of Aboriginal politics and inter-community relations, and the
troubled legacy of colonialism and paternalism. Indigenous governance involves the
most difficult, intense, and challenging administrative responsibilities in Canada. And if
the challenges of the past forty years were not enough, First Nations governments face
an ever more complicated future shaped by court decisions, government-to-government
negotiations, collaborations with the private sector, technological change, and new
demographic realities.
This is, in part, the reality facing First Nations political and administrative leaders. They have, in
the vast majority of cases, good reason to feel overwhelmed. Their governments typically have
too many things to do, too little time to do them, and too few people to handle the work. If the
cultural complexities of working with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada were not enough,
First Nations communities typically suffer a capacity deficit, in that few members have the skills and
experience needed to handle essential work. And they work across an administrative divide, with
public governments and corporations that have severe capacity deficits of their own. Non-Aboriginal
organizations have too few people with deep understanding of Indigenous communities and their
governments. Being an elected or appointed First Nations official in this context is far from an easy
task, and the challenges continue to mount.
There are, in this political and legal environment, few opportunities for a “time out” and few occasions
when Indigenous governments can regroup, clarify current programs, and focus on a small and
manageable group of administrative duties. Consider some of the major changes in the last
twenty years alone: Supreme Court decisions on Indigenous resource and harvesting rights, the
Kelowna Accord of 2005 (which promised greatly enhanced funding for Aboriginal governments –
abandoned in 2006 when the federal government changed), the re-entry of provincial governments
into Aboriginal programming, the completion of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, the Idle No More Movement (which focused a share of its criticism on Aboriginal
leaders), and the rapid expansion of Aboriginal Economic Development Corporations.
The list goes on. The country has seen the signing of over 400 Aboriginal impact and benefit agreements
with mining companies, a surge in Aboriginal attendance at college and university, the Canadian
resource booms and bust, the Government of Canada’s apology for residential schools and the
subsequent work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, major conflicts at Caledonia in Ontario
and Rexton in New Brunswick, an unprecedented expansion of Indigenous-owned and -operated
businesses, and the election of the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, whose administration offers
bold promises of a new nation-to-nation relationship and substantial increases in funding.
Add to this hundreds of specific claims cases, court challenges over resource and governance rights,
negotiations with local, provincial/territorial and federal governments, and active reconciliation
efforts by non-Indigenous peoples, and it is easy to understand why First Nations governments are
stretched, tested, tired, short of resources, and often overwhelmed by external pressures. If that were
not enough – and it is certainly more than enough for any government, let alone the often small and
administratively isolated First Nations councils and staff – most First Nations struggle with numerous

23
social, cultural, and economic issues, ranging from staggering teenage suicide rates, high levels of
HIV infection, wide-spread unemployment, and the even more pernicious effects of Indigenous
language loss. Put simply, no other politicians, administrators, or governments in Canada face so
many different challenges, and of such interwoven complexity, on a regular basis.
The future shows few signs of offering respite. Technological changes carry promises of major
improvements in services for First Nations communities and the risk of substantial threats to
employment, external markets and social influences, the local effects of globalization, and the
cyclical turmoil of the resource sector. If migration off reserve continues at the current pace,
reserve populations will decline sharply and the challenge of serving distant urban members will
accelerate. In many parts of the country, reserves struggle to find local economic opportunity and
find their reserve communities with large youth and elderly populations but without many of the
skilled, educated, and trained members needed to manage modern administrative systems. A
growing generation gap is straining relations between the elders and younger people, just as the
digital divide between First Nations and most other North American communities strips Indigenous
people of many of the benefits of modern digital technologies. First Nations governments that are
still struggling to secure safe drinking water and decent road access also find themselves working to
capitalize on tele-medicine services and to prepare young people for the digital economy.
In this context, the achievements of dozens of First Nations across the country become all the more
impressive. There are communities, from Nova Scotia and Labrador to Saskatchewan and the Yukon,
that have established viable and impressive companies. Many of the 250+ Aboriginal Economic
Development Corporations have annual revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with even
larger sums in investible assets. While many First Nations struggle with underfunded elementary
and secondary schools, a growing number of Aboriginal students are attending – and graduating
from – colleges, polytechnics, and universities. The negotiation of modern treaties, typically the result
of several decades of unrelenting work, provided a legal foundation for self-government, regional
engagement, and real Indigenous participation in regional decision-making.
There are innovative First Nation approaches to reserve home ownership, effective resistance to selected
government programs (such as the First Nations Financial Transparency Act), and coordinated
approaches to resource development that have stopped major projects or resulted in impressive
partnerships with leading corporations. Language loss is being addressed through youth language
programs. The over-incarceration of Aboriginal men and women has been offset, in part, by culture-
based prison support programs. With Aboriginal singers, writers, film-markers, traditional dancers,
athletes, and others performing and succeeding at the highest possible levels, there are abundant
signs that First Nations are rising to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
One major change has been the emergence of an unexpected governance challenge for First
Nations: managing prosperity. The combination of political and legal processes has created real
and substantial wealth under Indigenous control. The money comes from modern land claims
settlements, court ordered payments for historic injustices and government actions, collaboration
agreements with resource companies, income from the development of reserve lands, the successful
operation of community-owned companies, resource revenue sharing allocations from provincial or
territorial governments, the community share of regional gaming revenues, and income from First
Nations investments. To a degree that was both unheard of and almost unimaginable forty years
ago, First Nations people have secured major financial resources and met the political challenges of
utilizing the money.
This money, in turn, creates almost instant decision items for the First Nations governments.
Should the money be allocated to individuals or families, as some high-income First Nations have
done? Should the funds be invested in Aboriginal or other businesses and, if so, should the focus
be on supporting local businesses or on securing the highest possible return for the community?
Perhaps the communities should balance immediate payouts and long-term investments. A growing
number of First Nations are investigating sovereign wealth funds – endowed funds that are carefully
invested to secure the government’s long-term future, as Norway has famously done with its oil and
gas revenues (and as Alberta, infamously, failed to do). These are painful and difficult decisions. Few
Ken Coates is the Canada
Research Chair in Regional
Innovation and Director of the
International Centre for Northern
Governance and Development
in the Johnson-Shoyama
Graduate School of Public Policy,
University of Saskatchewan. He
is also a Senior Fellow with the
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
and is co-Director of their major
project on Aboriginal people and
the Natural Resource Economy.
Ken has written extensively on
Indigenous issues in Canada,
including two recent books, #Idle
No More and the Remaking of
Canada (University of Regina
Press) and From Treaty Peoples to
Treaty Nation:
A Roadmap for all Canadians
(UBC Press).
… there are
abundant signs
that First Nations
are rising to the
challenges and
opportunities of
the 21st century…
First Nations
people have secured
major financial
resources and
met the political
challenges of
utilizing the money.

24
Many of the best
First Nation
leaders would
earn more money
and live with much
less pressure if
they moved away
from Aboriginal
communities. That
they do not, and
that they devote
so much time and
energy as elected
officials or
administrators,
is one of the First
Nations’ greatest
assets.
First Nation communities currently have sufficient personal wealth and employment opportunities,
meaning that many members are in urgent need of income, improved housing, and better local
services. It is typically difficult to convince the people to defer spending, however beneficial to the
community this may be in the long-run.
Economic development is an ever-present dilemma for First Nations. Fortuitously located communities
(typically those near cities, recreational sites, or natural resources) have been able to capitalize on
nearby opportunities. Many First Nations, however, live in isolated areas with few prospects for
direct engagement in the market economy. These communities face much greater difficulty forming
viable businesses and creating lasting employment. Mix in an under-educated workforce, the
absence of investment capital, and non-indigenous resistance to Aboriginal economic development,
and the creation of stable, well-paid work becomes a major problem. Moving beyond geographic
luck and beyond opportunities associated with Aboriginal rights (such as the duty to consult and
accommodate) requires creativity, determination, and real business acumen conditioned by the
desire to maximize community rather than personal benefits.
In both of these areas, First Nations have demonstrated impressive creativity. Aboriginal Development
Corporations collectively own hundreds of businesses and manage several billions of dollars in
investible assets. Some First Nations have used their resources to blend payments to members with
long-term community investments. Others, including those that run casinos, have emphasized job
creation, training, and employment stability over short-term profits. In silently impressive ways, First
Nations have bought up urban businesses and real estate, adding job opportunities for members
while earning significant profits, some of which has been re-invested in cultural, language, and
traditional knowledge programs. With assets ranging from urban hotels and office buildings to
airlines, retail stores, mining service and supply companies, transportation firms, and the like, First
Nations governments have demonstrated sustained leadership in economic development, many
with a careful eye to their long-term financial responsibilities.
The fast-changing world of digital technologies holds substantial potential for significant improvements
in Indigenous quality of life – if communities can come on board and (a bigger “if”) if reserves can
gain appropriate access to high-speed Internet services. In the latter case, numerous First Nations
communities are poorly served and have slow, expensive, and unreliable Internet systems. Major
national and First Nations investments are required to bring Indigenous Internet connections up
to the global standards. That, of course, is only half the job. Members need access to appropriate
technologies (smart phones, tablets, and computers), and young people require training and on-
site technical services. Only then will First Nations be able to capitalize in full on advances in tele-
medicine, cutting-edge educational tools, digitally-mediated work, and the many other digital
systems that are now available.
One of the greatest First Nations challenges – although technology can be a real help here – concerns
relations with off-reserve members. Since the 1950s, there has been a steady migration of First
Nations people (part of a global phenomena, incidentally) to urban areas. Some First Nations
governments have gone to great lengths to ensure that off-reserve members remain connected
politically, socially, and economically with the reserve and their government. Others have struggled
to maintain effective connections. Given the demographics of the urban First Nation population
(which includes many women and their children, and large numbers with advanced education), it is
important that reserve-based governments find the mechanisms and policies needed to ensure long-
term engagement from all of their members.
In this fast-changing, complex, and multi-cultural political and administrative environment, effective
leadership is more important than ever. For generations, First Nations have been extremely well-
served by talented and determined leaders, many of whom put aside personal opportunity and
income in order to serve their communities. This holds to the present day. Many of the best First
Nation leaders would earn more money and live with much less pressure if they moved away from
Aboriginal communities. That they do not, and that they devote so much time and energy as elected
officials or administrators, is one of the First Nations’ greatest assets.
Leadership Challenges for First Nations Governments

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