On December 15, 1999, the people of Venezuela approved a new Constitution, which is the first Venezuelan constitution to entrench the rights of indigenous peoples. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the different theoretical issues raised by the problem of rights for indigenous peoples. It is argued that indigenous rights are collective rights based on the value of cultural membership. This implies both an investigation of the value of cultural membership and of the criticisms that the multicultural perspective has offered against that point of view. / Indigenous peoples have the moral right to preserve their cultures and traditions. It is submitted that indigenous peoples have a double moral standing to claim differential treatment based on cultural membership, because they constitute cultural minorities and they were conquered and did not lend their free acceptance to the new regime imposed upon them. Therefore, they constitute a national minority, with moral standing to claim self-government and cultural rights.

This thesis argues that the Ned'u'ten, an indigenous people, have the right to decolonize and self-determine their political and legal status at the international level. The Ned'u'ten are currently negotiating a new relationship with Canada and are considering various treaty models to achieve this goal. This thesis advocates principles for a peace treaty model that accomplishes both Ned'u'ten decolonization and self-determination. The first chapter of this thesis demonstrates that indigenous perspectives in legal culture are diverse and not homogeneous. My Ned'u'ten perspective on treaty-making contributes to these perspectives. The second chapter challenges the legitimacy of the Canadian state, over Ned'u'ten subjects and territories. This is accomplished through the rejection of dispossession doctrines that Canada has used to justify colonial and oppressive practices against the Ned'u'ten. Decolonization principles are prescribed in this chapter. The third chapter takes a historical view of the right to self-determination and shows how state practice, indigenous peoples' participation, and international scholars have attempted to articulate the scope and content of this right in the contemporary context of indigenous self-determination. A Ned'u'ten self-determination framework is proposed based on indigenous formulations of the right to self-determination. Self-determination principles are also prescribed in this chapter. The final chapter compares two cases where indigenous peoples in Canada are attempting to create a new relationship with the state: the James Bay Cree and "First Nations" in the British Columbia Treaty Commission Process. This comparison will show that the degree of participation that indigenous peoples have in implementing their rights to self-determination, will determine the parameters of any new relationship that indigenous peoples create with the state. Negotiating principles are prescribed for a Ned'u'ten-Canada relationship as well as a peace treaty process to accomplish this goal. It is my thesis that the Ned'u'ten and Canada can achieve a peaceful and balanced relationship through the peace treaty model I propose.

To date, the debate concerning the aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Quebec has focussed primarily on the assertion of the territorial integrity of Quebec on the one hand, and the assertion that those rights can prevent secession or force partition, on the other. / Understanding the historical and contemporary relationship between aboriginal peoples and the governments of Canada and Quebec is necessary if a rapprochement between these adversarial positions is to be achieved. / This paper explores the legal and historical basis of aboriginal rights, focussing on self-government and the fiduciary relationship between aboriginal peoples and the Crown. It discusses international law principles under which Quebec will seek recognition as an independent state and the relevance of aboriginal rights to that recognition. Finally, it urges that the current debate provides an opportunity to establish a new partnership between Quebec and aboriginal peoples, to their mutual benefit.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 284-303). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Bremen, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-107). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 7, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 532-658).

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Anthropology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 436-469).