Nevertheless, part by part, this system is being dismantled. Since the 1980's, band councils have taken on increasing responsibility for distributing DIA funding. At the same time, measures are taken to increase the economic base of reserve-communities. Old forms of assimilation now stand in the way of increased social integration. Under the BC Treaty Process, self- government, land and resources are being negotiated.
Many bands now have special agreements in place covering taxation, resources, services and policing.
In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court recognized this right in its Delgamuukw decision. It also recognized Indigenous peoples as having an 'economic interest' in land and resources. Over 30 years after proposing the complete dismantling of the DIA and the Indian Act, a new strategy has been developed to achieve the same ends, based on economics. At the local level, an Indigenous economic elite, comprised of businessmen, politicians and lawyers, largely within the band council system, are the main supporters of self-government. It is through them that it is being put in place.