Indigenous Administrative Reform: Exploring Complexity in Local Ways

Several Indigenous communities and organizations are engaging in various resurgence initiatives, including those activities that restore their cultural administrative identity. The pathways to reforms are several but often follow a treaty relationship that recognizes Indigenous ways of knowing and doing. Over time, these relationships and recognitions deteriorated resulting in Indian Act approaches that deviated from longstanding traditions. Administrative reforms are instrumental to achieving complex policy aims, whether these are to encourage healing, pursue large projects, engage outside jurisdictions as equals, or promote internal processes that better align with traditional local practices. We highlight the reform activities of four communities and organizations that operate at different levels of governance to show the conditions that must be created for reform success, as well as identify endogenous and exogenous barriers to reforms. We conclude that it is in the best interests of governments to encourage administrative reform approaches because they ultimately strengthen local capabilities to advance reconciliation.