Studied by 4 peopleTags & Description
What year was the Royal Proclamation created? What was its goal?
It established a legal framework for Indian Department officials. It also went far to establish the legal regime that British leaders would later use to lay claim to all of North America.
What was the goal of Civilizing Policies?
To turn Native people away from "savagery" and "barbarism", and promote their (slow) progress towards civilization and a "civilized" society.
What year did the Crown enact the Crown Lands Protection Act? What was the purpose of this act?
This act was an important step towards the formal codification of the guardian/ward relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples.
What year was the Bagot Commission created?
1844
In response to the Bagot Commission, 2 acts were created. What were they?
What did these acts essentially do?
An act for the better protection of the lands and property of the Indians in Lower Canada.
An act for the protection of the Indians in Upper Canada from imposition, and the property occupied/enjoyed by them from trespass and injury.
These acts essentially decided who and who wasn't Indian (for "administrative" purposes - the real purpose was left unstated).
What is the Gradual Civilization Act?
A word also known by the 2 acts created after the Bagot Commission. Essentially, being Indian was no longer an option. It sought to enfranchise Indigenous people within the colonial state.
Enfranchisement
"Official societal entry reflected by the right to vote".
In what year was the Civilization and Enfranchisement Act passed?
1859
What happened the year following the Civilization and Enfranchisement Act?
Authority over Indians and Indian lands was formally transferred to the colonial legislature. What followed was the formal creation of Canada through the British North American Act.
Which act led to the formal creation of Canada?
The British North American Act.
In 1839 (before Canada), how did distant Europeans take control of Canada?
From overseas
What year was the Act for the Gradual Enfranchisement of Indians and the Better Management of Indian Affairs created? What did this legislation do?
This assumed that assimilation was inevitable and it introduced the concept of nonhereditary, municipal-style government to the reserves.
Before Canada existed, what did the term "provinces" refer to?
They refer to the provinces of upper and lower Canada
Where did Canada shift the control of Indian affairs in 1873?
To the newly established Department of the Interior
What does the term "interior" (Canada) refer to?
Aby lands not understood as upper or lower Canada (Quebec and Ontario area).
What year was the Indian act created? What did it do?
"It consolidated and amended all previous statutes related to Indigenous peoples and their government-delegated rights". Also provided for the administration of 3 key areas. It essentially was meant to eliminate Indigenous peoples as a concept in Canadian law.
What 3 key areas did the Indian act provide administration for?
Allocation of reserve lands.
Definition of Indian status. 3)The granting of enforcement authority to the federal government.
What act closely fits the saying "cradle to the grave legislation"? Why is this?
The Indian act. This is because the Indian act controls nearly every aspect of Indigenous life.
What/who was the enforcement of the Indian act usually relegated to?
An Indian agent.
Who were Indian agents?
Government officials assigned to each reserve as the government representative in charge of administering the Indian Act policies.
What does the saying, "kill the Indian, save the child" refer to?
Residential schools/boarding schools
What year begun extreme focus on who was/wasn't Indian? How was this done?
There was a mathematical formula to "find out" who could have status - ideally, the least amount of people possible would (so that less benefits and government aid could be provide).
What's the "lowest control" form of government
Municipal style
Are there still Indian Agents?
There aren't, but there are still people with similar roles. Ex. people who regulate who can get surgeries (medicine chest).
What two things did the Indian act create distinction between?
"Status" and "non-status" First Nations
What does it mean if you're a "status Indian"?
You're registered as Indian with the federal government. You're eligible for minimal government services.
What does it mean if you're a "non-status Indian"?
You're not registered as Indian, and you're not eligible for government services.
How did someone lose their Indian status? What did this result in?
Denouncing their Indigenous heritage.
Obtaining an education.
Demonstrating strong moral character. These resulted in the stripping of the right to live on the reserve.
Who was it illegal to be during the era of the Indian act?
Cris, Haida, Inuit.
What was typically the consequence if someone practiced a sundance/thirst dance once it was deemed illegal?
Jail time
What regulation was put in place to prevent people from gathering for ceremony, potlach, sundance, etc.?
No more than 4 people were to gather.
In reference to incarcerations, how is there still bias against Indigenous people today? What does this bias stem from?
Indigenous people make up about 9.4% of the population, but account for 30% of imprisonments - 50% for Indigenous women. This bias stems from labelling Indigenous people as criminals when they "rebelled" against potlach bans and other bans.
A woman's Indian status was contingent on _______.
Men
What would happen to a woman and child if their husband/father lost Indian status?
The woman and child would lose status as well.
What year did bill C-31 arise? What did this bill implicate?
This was a declaration by the Supreme Court of Canada that the Parliament had power to determine who was/wasn't Indian.
Who rejected the idea of bill C-31 and launched a complaint to the UN?
Sandra Lovelace (Maliseet)
What 3 changes did bill C-31 make when amending the Indian Act?
Reinstatement of Registered Indian Status.
Introduction of new rules governing entitlement to Indian registration for all children born after April 16, 1985.
The new right of First Nations to develop and apply their own rules governing membership.
When did the Indian Act end?
1985
In the registration classes, what did 6(1), 6(2), and 0 represent?
6(1): Individuals with two registered parents. 6(2): Individuals with one registered parent. 0: No status.
What does "Indian affairs" mean?
It's a colonial governmental phrase used to describe the branch of government that "interacts" with Indigenous peoples.
What's the primary role of the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA)?
To civilize and enfranchise Indigenous peoples
What/who did Indian Agents work under?
The department's mandates.
Instead of having direct relationships with traditional governance, what does the DIA interact with?
Band councils
What are band councils?
A form of government forced upon First Nations on reserves (follows Western governance structure).
An act created in _______(year) applied the Indian Act to band councils
1884
Why were Indian affairs constantly restructured from 1880-1936?
As a cost-cutting measure.
What act was the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) developed through?
The Government Organization Act
The DIAND contained 4 directorates:
Policy and planning
Administration
Development
Education
What year was the Economic Development Branch created? What were its intentions?
Intended to "help Native peoples achieve economic self-sufficiency"
What did the Economic Development Branch cause an era of? What was the name of this branch switched to, and when?
It caused an era of "devolution". The department name was changed to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) in the 2010s.
What happened to INAC in 2019?
It dissolved yet again
What did Justin Trudeau create in the place of INAC when it dissolved in 2019?
Department of Indigenous services.
Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
The Department of Indigenous Services (Indigenous Services Canada) has _______ minister(s). Who is/are they?
1 minister, Patty Hadju.
Who is Indigenous Services Canada primarily ran by?
Christiane Fox (the department executive).
What is Indigenous Services Canada mainly in charge of?
Delivering services to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities (health, education, water, social programs, funding, etc.)
What does "devolution" mean?
"Set up to fail"
What is the Oliver Act?
The movement of entire reserves. Resulted in status loss (lost land and physical segregation).
In 1927, what was criminalized under the Indian act?
Hiring a lawyer
What did section 91(24) of the British North American Act do?
It made Canada responsible for Indigenous peoples and the lands reserved to them
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