How Many Self-Government Agreements Are There?

We recently revealed the cover of Indigenous Corporate Training, Inc.’s Co-founder and President Bob Joseph’s new book, 21 Things™ You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act, and he has now completed the first presentation about it. The book won’t be available in bookstores until the fall, but pre-orders are open now.

The motivation for this new book came from a common theme - many of the hundreds of thousands of people who read the original 21 Things™ You May Not Know About The Indian Act or attended presentations about it asked similar questions. After engaging with the material, the first question was usually, "Can we get rid of the Indian Act?" followed by "What would that look like?" and "Would it work?"

These are timely questions, especially with 2026 marking 150 years since the Consolidated Indian Act of 1876.  Conversations about dismantling the Indian Act are already happening amongst our friends, family, and colleagues, and we anticipate that the main focus in these conversations will be on finding answers to these same questions.

We hope that readers will be able to join the conversation and share their knowledge by learning more about Indigenous self-government and the dismantling of the Indian Act through this new book.

During the first presentation of the new book, one of the initial questions we were met with was, "How many self-government agreements are there, and where are they?" We have compiled a list of the agreements we could find, with links below for your reference.

The Government of Canada cites that Canada has implemented 25 self-government agreements involving 43 Indigenous communities as of 2019.[1] These self-government agreements give Indigenous communities jurisdiction over a range of issues, including governance, education, and land management. We were unable to find a more up-to-date statistic, but there have been a number of self-government agreements since 2019, and even more agreements and negotiations are still in progress.

Alberta:

• Métis Nation Within Alberta Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Agreement (2023)

British Columbia:

• Westbank First Nation Self-Government Agreement (2005)
• Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement (2009)
• Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement (2011)
• Yale First Nation Final Agreement (2013)
• Tla'amin Final Agreement (2016)
• Nang K'uula • Nang K̲'úulaas Recognition Agreement (2023)

Manitoba:

• Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Self-Government Agreement (2014)

Northwest Territories:

• Inuvialuit Final Agreement/ Western Arctic Claim (1984)
• Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement (1992)
• Tłı̨chǫ Agreement (2005)
• Déline Final Self-Government Agreement (2016)

Ontario:

• The Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement (2022)

Quebec:

• Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement (2008)
• Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement (2012)

Yukon First Nations:

• Umbrella Final Agreement (1993)
• Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Self-Government Agreement (1993)
• Champagne and Aishihik First Nations Self-Government Agreement (1993)
• Teslin Tlingit Council Self-Government Agreement (1993)
• First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun Self-Government Agreement (1993)
• Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation Self-Government Agreement (1997)
• Selkirk First Nation Self-Government Agreement (1997)
• Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Self-Government Agreement (1998)
• Ta'an Kwach'an Council Self-Government Agreement (2002)
• Kluane First Nation Self-Government Agreement (2003)
• Kwanlin Dün First Nation Self-Government Agreement (2005)
• Carcross/Tagish First Nation Self-Government Agreement (2006)

[1] Government of Canada. Self-government.

Featured photo: The Haida Heritage Centre at Ḵay 'Llnagaay in Skidegate, British Columbia. Photo: Margaret Crandell.