324:) and a district council which had been elected in a general elections for a period in which they had a total majority in a single constituency in a district with no elected seats and a single district council elected in the district in the constituency for a constituency in the constituency where they are located in a constituency in which the majority of voters were band chiefs, elders, and other worthy community leaders. The district council was charged with performing all the duties of any independent and free government by enacting laws, justice, apportioning fishing and hunting grounds, making war, suing for peace, etc.
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The Grand
Council was created following the collapse of French power in America (1761). Prior to this period, there was no permanent or regular centralized structure and no overall authority. Occasionally, the leading men in some or all of the 14-15 bands would meet in council. Each band had its own
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notes many individual Mi'kmaq indeed signed
Treaties. However, the signators represented only their districts only, and Mi'kmaq protocol was that each district was Sovereign and could sign agreements between nations and would return home to present the agreements to the Mi'kmaq Grand Council, the
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band but had support from a dozen local councils in New
Brunswick, further highlighted the jurisdictional disputes. Grand Council authority was cited by both native and non-native advocates. Accordingly, some local district councils were clearly seen to defer to Grand Council authority over both
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According to
Canadian law, which conflicts to some degree with treaty, international, and Confederacy law, the formal authority to govern has been largely transferred by the Indian Act to the elected Chiefs and Councils defined in that Act. Such a transfer has never been recognized by the Grand
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There are now approximately 35 reserves scattered across Nova Scotia, all allotted to and administered by thirteen First Nation Mi'kmaq communities established since 1958–1959. Each community has its own leadership known as the Band
Council, with an elected chief and several Councilors. The
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Both the RCAP and the
Supreme Court explicitly call for and justify a continuing role for Grand Council jurisdiction over certain cultural, social, environmental or other matters that would reasonably fall within the treaty laws. Interpretation and advocacy under the
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The Grand
Council's powers and its role are in some dispute, but clearly, the "elected Chiefs and Councils" do not represent all persons defined in the Indian Act or all lands and waters specified in the treaties. That is the jurisdiction claimed by the present
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in 1876, requiring elected governments. After the Indian Act, the Grand
Council adopted a more spiritual function. The Grand Council was made up of representatives from the seven district councils in
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The hereditary chiefs of the traditional Grand
Council continue to have a role, but the legal authority to govern has been largely transferred by the Indian Act to the elected chiefs and councils.
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The local chief looked after the affairs of the village community and presided over the "Council of Elders", the governing body of the village. It was made up of family heads or representatives.
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The Mi'kmaq territory was divided into seven traditional "districts," each of which had its own independent government and boundaries. The independent governments had a district chief (
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The events in Rexton resulted in widespread sympathy demonstrations across North
America, again bolstering the claim of the Grand Council to have formal authority.
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provincial and federal and to rely on its treaty rights and UN DRIP to defend their common position calling for a moratorium on "fracking" in New Brunswick.
294:(Cape Breton Island). This title was hereditary and usually was passed down to the Grand Chief's eldest son. The Grand Council met on a small island in the
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Stephen Patterson. Indian-White Relations in Nova S61: A Study in Political Interaction. in Buckner, P.A, Campbell, Gail and Frank, David.
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traditional Grand Council continues to exist and issues rare rulings such as the eviction of SWN Resources from traditional territories
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Council of Women, and finally to all citizens. If consensus occurred, the newly-signed treaty would be ratified district by district.
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The Grand Chief was a title given to one of the district chiefs, who was usually from the Mi'kmaq district of
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The Acadiensis Reader: Vol. 1., 3rd Edition. Atlantic Canada Before Confederation.
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The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of
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recorded the Mi'kmaq Grand Council meetings by stories and the creation of
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Today it is within the boundaries of the reserve called Chapel Island or
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described as a "heavy-handed response" (or attack) by RCMP on
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and "non-status Indians" were Indians in the sense of the Act
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62:Learn how and when to remove this message
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412:on protesters against fracturing near
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461:Changing Role of Grand Council
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405:On October 17, 2013, what the
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530:Categories
455:References
418:Elsipogtog
237:Indian Act
176:Saqama'sgw
148:keepers)
107:Leadership
44:footnoting
274:chief or
241:Mi'kma'ki
168:chiefs)
541:Councils
438:See also
308:Potlotek
245:Keptinaq
202:Unama'ki
166:District
40:citation
386:In the
321:sagamaw
302:called
292:Unamáki
280:saqamaq
276:saqamaw
233:Mi'kmaq
157:Sagamaw
304:Mniku.
278:. The
211:Canada
146:Wampum
138:Putu's
481:Notes
378:Métis
256:putús
249:putús
198:Mniku
372:The
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