Like other indigenous peoples in Turtle Island (the name for North America in many indigenous languages), Pimicikamak was constituted under spiritual law. These were passed down orally through stories and reflected in ceremonies and traditions of the Pimicikamak people. They formed part of the culture that enabled it to survive as a people in a harsh environment.See: "Köppen climate classification", sub-arctic climate Dfc, Tom L. McKnight & Darrell Hess, "Climate Zones and Types: The Köppen System", in Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ (2000). Treaty 5, signed by the British Crown and by Tepastenam and two others on Pimicikamak's behalf in 1875, clearly were intended to and did amend this customary constitution. Pimicikamak is a body politic or corporate.Gillespie, C., Portrait of a People: A Study in Survival, Winnipeg: Big Fizz (2017), p. 97. In 1996, Pimicikamak enacted its First Written Law which began the adaptation of its constitution to modern circumstances.See: Galit A. Sarfaty, "International Norm Diffusion in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation: A Model of Legal Mediation", (2007) 48 Harvard International Law Journal 441, at p. 473."Based on ... inherent jurisdiction, the Cree ratified The First Written Law ... which laid the foundation for their adaptation of customary practices. ... It outlines the constitutional powers of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation..." Since the 1990s Pimicikamak has made other written laws with constitutional effect in the English language, including a citizenship law and an election law. These are based on consensus.Pimicikamak, The First Written Law, 1996, http://pimicikamak.ca/html%20pages/Laws/Pimicikamak/First%20Law.html. The government of Canada has doubted the validity of the First Written Law and written laws made pursuant to it but accepted the validity of one such law, The Pimicikamak Election Law, 1999, on other grounds.
