In the introduction to this collection of papers from a 2001 conference in Brisbane, Australia, the editor asks, “can indigenous peoples' experiences of colonisation reshape our constitutional language?” (xv). The contributions to the book reflect the breadth of indigenous experiences as well as the range of ways that many nation-states will have to revisit their constitutions in order to satisfy the goal of decolonization/self-determination. Indeed, the book requires us to rethink what we consider to be a constitution in the context of unresolved and highly unsatisfactory indigenous-settler relations. More than a document or series of political institutions, the book explores the many ways that colonial societies have been and remain constituted by non-indigenous assumptions and ideologies and considers whether and how these impair claims for indigenous self-determination.
The book's first half has a focus on Australia and several chapters examine the embedded colonialism of contemporary policy and institutions. John Bradley and Kathryn Seton describe the reproduction of injustice in the statutory land rights regime in the Northern Territory of Australia. Chris Cunneen's excellent account of indigenous interactions with the police and criminal justice system in Australia shows that positive outcomes are correlated with indigenous peoples' access to and participation in broader social and communal institutions. Michael Mansell laments the underlying insecurity that Australians feel, which prevents the federal government from moving towards indigenous self-government, as it has done for the inhabitants of Norfolk Island.
The second part of the book broadens the empirical ground further to include a timely focus on developments in the Pacific, where the understanding of indigenous-settler relations is often quite different to that of the settler-states of Australia or Canada. Joshua Cooper historicizes the continuing struggle of Kanaka Maoli/Native Hawaiians from the islands' annexation in the late nineteenth century and describes battles with government authorities over housing, language rights, tourism and the presence of the US military.
Three chapters report on developments in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Andrew Erueti critically assesses the means by which indigenous institutions and traditions of governance and law are respected in the dominant legal system, particularly since changes made to the Maori Land Act in the 1990s, and argues that the system creates tensions between different hapu or communal groups and larger collectives, known as iwi, that are comprised of the smaller groups. Catherine Iorns Magallanes examines the New Zealand electoral system's provision for a Maori electoral roll and dedicated seats (established in the mid-nineteenth century) in the broader context of indigenous self-determination. She concludes that although the system functions reasonably well, its rationale and principle is now obscure. John Buick-Constable attempts to reconstruct Maori-Pakeha relations according to a norm of contractualism between indigenous and settler sovereignties.
Peter Russell wonders whether contemporary Canada is as “good as it gets” (170) or whether a deeper indigenous self-determination may emerge from what he calls Canada's “emerging multi-nationalism” (175). He notes that since the long period of constitutional haggling from the 1970s to the 1990s, indigenous leaders have lost interest in collective and national reform efforts, preferring to focus on nation-to-nation negotiations over specific and comprehensive claims. Moreover, he sees a widespread if unaggregated non-indigenous opposition to the few results of these new negotiations, such as the Nisga'a treaty. Russell now advocates a “Burkean” approach of gradual reforms taking place in many settings and including “interim” agreements, rather than seeking sweeping national reforms that would only likely exacerbate differences.
However, the lack of a substantial introduction and conclusion hampers the effectiveness of the book. The breadth of the materials collected here may be thought of as representing an overview of the myriad legacies of colonialism. But few contributors have taken on the general questions made possible by a comparative collection such as this. Russell comes closest in the conclusion to his chapter, where he considers indigenous self-determination to be at the stage of the decolonization movement circa 1960, when the balance of momentum shifted significantly, allowing colonized peoples to initiate proposals for decolonization and independence. Proposals that emerge from non-indigenous or settler peoples, he insists, are unlikely to appeal to indigenous peoples as the way to move forward.
What does comparative analysis of the multiple circumstances offer to our understanding? How are we to take up these insights in the particular locations where we find ourselves confronting the continuing injustices of colonization? Readers will need to draw their own conclusions on this point. However, the book's main contribution is in inviting us to expand our understanding of what constitutions are and how we are to conceive of the fundamental challenges we face in reforming and perhaps decolonizing them.
