Reflections on Indigenous Nationhood in Four Countries

This paper reflects on three aspects of the current political situation of Indigenous peoples in the so-called CANZUS countries (Canada, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and the United States). It suggests first that there is a shift underway in all four countries—albeit to different degrees—from a politics centered on what governments do to a politics centered on what Indigenous nations do; second, it argues that a major feature of this change is an emphasis on localized Indigenous nationhood and it identifies some of the features of that claimed nationhood; third, it identifies three processes associated with this change that offer one way of analyzing, comparatively, Indigenous assertions of political power in these countries.

Stephen Cornell is Professor of Sociology and of Public Administration & Policy and Director of the Udall Center at the University of Arizona.