Indian Act 1876
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tch?v=OXarTLbAIgQ
Definitions
o Inalienable
Rights:
guaranteed
entitlements
that
cannot
be
transferred from one person to
another
o Franchise: the right to vote
o Entrench: to protect and guarantee a
right or a freedom by ensuring that it
can
be
only
changed
by
an
amendment to the Constitution
Indian Act 1876
o STATUS INDIAN - A Status Indian is a person defined as an Indian
by the Indian Act and has been registered as an Indian by having
h/her name either on a Band list or a General list, and having
certain rights, restrictions and benefits under the Indian Act.
Sometimes referred to as a Treaty Indian. Roughly 360,000
Status Indians in 1987.
o ENFRANCHISED - Those Native people who were fortunate to be
standing in line when the Indian Agents came to count heads in
the late Nineteenth Century were enfranchised (recognized) as
Status Indians. Others who were away for various reasons were
never counted, and their descendants have paid the price ever
since.
Facts about the Indian Act
o Made by Parliament and not by Indian people.
o Because Parliament is supreme in Canada, it can therefore
change the Act without consultation with Indians.
o Indian peoples' weapons against revision without their input is
through provincial and national Indian organizations.
o The Act is basically not the source of substantive or basic Indian
rights; it merely tells how to administrate.
o The Act has, however, been used through the courts, to erode
substantive Indian rights.
o The Act has certain provisions which preserve Indian rights.
o There have been various other Federal Acts dealing with Indians
since the early 1800's.
o All these Acts down to the present one have been consistent in
their goals of assimilation, integration and eventual abolition of
reserves and of special rights for Indians."
Facts about the Indian Act
1876( 2)
Canada’s Indian Act is enacted which attempts to
consolidate many Indian laws and makes Indians
wards of the government.
They are placed in a different legal category from all other
Canadians; Act gives individual Natives the right to
seek Canadian citizenship by renouncing their rights
and privileges. In other words, assimilation into
mainstream Canadian society and the loss of culture
and all rights associated with a culture are the main
themes.
The Act governs all aspects of Native life including the
denial of the right to vote in an election.
Enfranchisement
Women who married non-Native men and any children
from that union lost their Status. These women were
allowed to apply for re-enfranchisement through the
passing of Bill C-31 in 1985 (an amendment to the
Indian Act). Bill C-31 gave all first generation children
of these marriages and Natives who were not counted
and who now wished to regain status, the right to reapply.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rPi1RG3m1Q
Men who married non-Native women could keep their
status, and their white wives, in turn were
automatically granted Indian Status.
CONSTITUTION ACT 1867
o Established the Parliamentary legislative
jurisdiction over "Indians and Lands
reserved for the Indians";
o Identified that 2 separate powers cover
status and civil rights on the one hand
and Indian lands on the other.
Pondering the Citation
INDIAN ACT 1876
"Instead of implementing the treaties and
offering much needed protection to
Indian rights the Indian Act subjugated to
colonial rule the very people whose rights
if was supposed to protect".
- Harold Cardinal
Reflection Journal, Due
Wednesday,7
o Read over the above-mentioned citation and
elaborate how you understand the concept of the
Indian act.
o Was it there to protect or subjugate the Indian
rights ?
o How did it affect the Indian minority in general?
o How does it make us ,Canadians ,look through the
eyes of the Native people?
POWER OF THE INDIAN
AGENTS
They had extraordinary administrative and
discretionary powers to enforce the
Indian Act and control every aspect of
Indian life.
o Agents displaced traditional Aboriginal leaders so as to institute a
new way of living consistent with the intentions of the
government. In order to ensure this, Clause 25 of the Act
established the government's guardianship over Indian lands.
o Often used the distribution of rations as a weapon to impose
federal authority on the Native population. Facing hunger and
destitution, Natives were forced to bow to the control of the
central government.
o Full Justice of the Peace powers: Arresting Officer; Prosecutor and
Judge. (Democracy at work!)
o Powers to determine who qualified as a Status Indian. They did
the original count that was so inaccurate and unfair that it
continues to reverberate to this day. Enforcing the "blood
quantum" - to qualify as an Indian, a person born after 1868 had
to have at least one quarter Indian blood for status recognition.
Interesting Historical Notes
1. The Indian Act formed much of the basis for
the introduction of oppressive apartheid
policies against Black people in South Africa
which lasted for decades.
2. In 1969, all Indian Agents were withdrawn
from reserves across Canada ending the
government's overt paternalistic presence on
First Nations lands.
Major Amendments to the
Indian Act
Over the years there have been many
amendments to the Indian Act, most of
which were enacted to further oppress
Indian people and remove basic rights
accorded every other Canadian.
1884 - Ceremonies Banned
Outlawed the Thirst Dance (Sun Dance); Potlatch (Chinook trading
language, meaning ‘to give’) in British Columbia. Potlatch is the
equivalent of title deeds and acts of succession.
"Just as the eldest child of a reigning monarch cannot succeed to the
British throne without sanction of the law, neither could the
succession of a chief be recognized [without proper ceremony]."
(Tom Molloy, The World Is Our Witness, pg. 25).
1911
Government Can Take What It
Wants, When It Want
Allowed portions of reserves to be
expropriated by municipalities for roads,
railways or other public purposes without
Native consultation.
1920
Enfranchisement Amendment
Gave Native Men the right to vote, and become
Canadian citizens, among other things if they
give up their Indian status.
(Translation: Dis-enfranchise the man, disenfranchise his wife and kids as well)
This amendment was in force between 19201922 and 1933-1951. It was very unpopular
and a complete failure as a result.
Education
"Day schools [established] in any Indian
reserve for the children of such reserve."
1960
o Canadian Status Indians gain the right to
vote in Federal Elections. (Note: This is in
the lifetime of many of Thunderbird's
gentle readers!)
o Ottawa begins to phase out Residential
Schools (the last one closes 1988)
1985
BILL C-31 - MAJOR AMENDMENT TO CONSTITUTION ACT
o Treats men and women equally;
o Treats children equally whether born in or out of wedlock and
whether they are natural or adopted;
o Prevents anyone from gaining or losing status through marriage.
In other words, Native women who have married non-Native men now
have the right to retain their Native status, and to pass their status
on to their children. This also gives them the right to return to their
reserves. Many meet with opposition from reserve band councils.
1969 WHITE PAPER ON
INDIAN POLICY
o Called for an end to any special status for
Native people.
o Its aim was to quickly culturally assimilate
Native people into mainstream Canadian
society.
o The Indian Act would be repealed.
o Government management on reserve lands
would be dismantled.
o All federal responsibilities for Native people
would end.
BACKLASH FROM THE NATIVE COMMUNITY
(and Canadian Society was quick and furious)
o Native leaders accused the government of cultural
genocide
o White Paper was quickly withdrawn by then Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau and Indian Affairs Minister
Jean Cretien.
o Native people issued their own response (1970) called
the "RED PAPER", calling for, among other things,
Indigenous land title, and self-government.
MEECH LAKE ACCORD JUNE, 1990
Holding an eagle feather for spiritual strength,
Cree, Elijah Harper, NCP member of the
Manitoba legislature, voted 'no' to a procedural
vote which required unanimity to extend
discussion of the Meech Lake Accord
recognizing Quebec as a ‘distinct society’.
Native leaders saw nothing in the Accord that
advanced their quest for self-government and
recognition as a distinct society.
CHARLOTTEOWN ACCORD - 1992
In the Charlottetown Accord constitutional
process, Indigenous and government
leaders held constitutional talks on a
proposal that recognized Indigenous
peoples'
inherent
right
to
selfgovernment.
Ultimately,
Canadians
rejected the accord in a national
referendum.