A/HRC/15/35 decision-making and to recognize women’s potential for leadership. The rising literacy and awareness levels of indigenous women provide scope for greater involvement in seeking participation in governance, including their commitment as keepers of traditional knowledge. Furthermore, most governments are now more sensitive to the representation of women in decision-making spheres and there is now greater awareness of their involvement at the national level. It is also recognized that, since learning takes place in cultural and ceremonial events where women continue to play a crucial role, women should play a decision-making role in such spheres.40 F. Transformation and challenges of indigenous governance 62. For indigenous peoples, “transformation” often means the revolution of traditional ways of life and the gradual acceptance of the intrusion of external and foreign factors, be it during colonization, later during nation-State building and continuing today, resulting in the replacement of traditional institutions and the development of “new” institutions in order to fit the new spectrum of legislative and administrative bodies established in post-colonial times. Various factors and influences have brought about numerous challenges in guaranteeing indigenous decision-making processes and institutions, particularly affecting leadership and representation, respect for decisions made, effective participation and grievance/conflict resolution mechanisms. 63. Indigenous communities continue to maintain and adapt decision-making processes and institutions in dynamic ways, as evidenced by the involvement of wider sectors of the community, such as women and youth leaders. It should be noted, however, that while changes, such as the incorporation of voting standards, are sometimes voluntary, in many instances they are not by choice but due to external influences, including the State and other factors. Nevertheless, indigenous peoples continue to adapt their processes to find workable solutions. For example, today, by and large, electoral systems for selecting traditional leadership and for internal decision-making have replaced traditional processes of decisionmaking, a practice which was once considered culturally foreign to many indigenous peoples. In many ways, voting shortcuts and individualizes decision-making processes; it can often be more limited than traditional procedures in terms of addressing dissent and the concerns of minority voices within a community, and therefore may not encourage cohesion within a community. However, many indigenous communities have managed to integrate key elements and principles of traditional decision-making systems into modern electoral systems, thus maintaining important aspects of internal decision-making processes within more contemporary electoral structures.41 64. Nevertheless, there are still many traditional decision-making systems that are intact and active, and operate in parallel to hybrid governance systems in indigenous communities. The self-governing Topokafa people of central Sulawesi still maintain their traditional governance structure and religion distinct from the centralized Indonesian structure.42 The Hopi traditional system in the mesas of Northern Arizona, the traditional form of consensus decision-making among the Pueblos tribes in New Mexico and the Haudenosaune traditional longhouse in the United States of America and Canada are other examples.43 There are also various other communities which, mainly owing to their 40 41 42 43 16 Submission by AIPP. Submissions by Willie Littlechild and Andrea Carmen (North America), AIPP and JOAS (Malaysia). Submission by Abdon Nababan (Indonesia). Submission by Wilton Littlechild and Andrea Carmen (North America).