The ladder of Indigenous governance

Despite being the traditional caretakers of lands and resources for millennia, Indigenous peoples have been left on the margins of corporate governance throughout modern history, routinely bearing the most adverse consequences of corporate actions. The passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples amplified the calls to give voice to Indigenous peoples in governance decisions affecting the usage of natural and economic resources. Corporations operating in the areas traditionally inhabited by Indigenous peoples have been facing increasing pressures to engage with their Indigenous stakeholders and to report on these engagements. However, few guidelines exist on how to incorporate Indigenous views into corporate governance and how to build a mutually beneficial, respectful and accountable relationship between corporations and Indigenous peoples. The aim of this study is to propose a practical tool that would help assess and categorize the extent of participation of Indigenous stakeholders in corporate governance. Building on Arnstein’s model of citizen participation, I develop the ladder of Indigenous governance, with nine levels of stakeholder engagement, from neglect to control, and provide examples of Indigenous engagement at each level, from non- or symbolic participation up to strong influence over corporate governance decisions. Examples of actual Indigenous engagements, described in this study, suggest that the instances of power sharing by corporations with Indigenous stakeholders remain scarce. In this vein, corporations can use the proposed ladder of Indigenous governance as a practical tool to critically review their relationship with Indigenous stakeholders and guide the direction of future engagements.