The Assembly of First Nations chiefs have long resisted calls to hand over exclusive voting power and allow a universal vote in choosing their national leader.
Central to their argument is that the AFN's system, where chiefs elect a national leader, is not all that different from federal politics - Canadians vote for an MP, they point out, not a prime minister.
"For the most part, chiefs are elected by their citizens," said B.C. Chief Doug Kelly, who co-chaired Shawn Atleo's successful campaign for national chief.
But an internal Indian Affairs document leaked to The Globe and Mail earlier this year shows it's not that simple.
The 2008 document notes "long-standing problems" with the current system. It states that 252 reserves, or first nations, elect their chiefs and council according to the Indian Act, which requires an election every two years and a secret-ballot vote. Off-reserve members can also vote by mail-in ballots.
However, the majority of first nations - 334 reserves - have adopted "band custom codes," each tailored to the community's specific preferences and traditions.
At Kingfisher Lake First Nation in Ontario, for example, elections are held by secret ballot every two years (although elders can force early elections). Off-reserve band members can vote only by phoning in, and there are no independent third parties to monitor the elections, mainly because the community is so remote, Chief James Manakwa said.
On the other side of the country, however, the Ditidaht First Nation on Vancouver Island holds an election every four years, with off-reserve members permitted to vote by mail-in ballot. An independent electoral officer is also hired to oversee every election.
Accepting ballots over the phone or through the mail raises separate concerns related to fraud. A man was convicted last month of buying mail-in ballots to influence the 2005 band election at Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan.
As the Indian Affairs document points out, some custom codes simply do not spell out the community's election rules.
"Some custom election codes are flawed (roughly 60 First Nations do not have written codes; some are potentially in breach of the Charter; etc.)," states the Indian Affairs document.
Many first nations operating under custom rules also restrict voting to on-reserve members, said Mike Mitchell, grand chief of Akwesasne.
This, despite the Supreme Court's 1999 Corbiere decision that ruled band policies preventing off-reserve voting were in violation of Canada's Charter of Rights. "A lot of the election laws now today - I know ours in Akwesasne - are restricted only to people that live in a community," Mr. Mitchell said. "There's mindsets that are made, and sometimes it's pretty deep."
Voters must cast their ballots in person at Xaxli'p First Nations near Lillooet, B.C. An estimated 500 band members live off the reserve, with most of them living in Kamloops or Vancouver.
"We're very traditional people," band Chief Darrell Bob explained. "Our people come to vote."
In some cases, communities don't elect their chiefs at all. A handful of reserves in the country retain a hereditary system, such as the Kapawe'no First Nation in Alberta or Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation in B.C., where the chief's position is passed down, usually from father to son.
Some have also adopted a mixed system - such as the Ahousaht First Nation, home of the AFN's newly elected National Chief, Shawn Atleo.
In Ahousaht, a hereditary chief works alongside an elected chief, a position currently held by John Frank. Mr. Frank explained that the hereditary chief mostly tends to matters of land, sea or resources, whereas the elected chief looks after day-to-day issues, such as housing.
At the recent AFN election, Mr. Frank voted on behalf of Ahousaht First Nation. He questions whether a universal vote is the right way to go.
"That is a really tough one, because when you go universal vote, there's no hope in hell that British Columbia would ever get a chief in the [AFN leadership]position," he said. "It just kind of opens a can of worms where we don't really want to go...."