The Indian Act is a part of Canadian legislation that is intended to elucidate how the federal government handles its responsibilities to the Aboriginal population of Canada. The Indian Act was created to civilize, protect and assimilate the Aboriginal people; however, in the past the Canadian government perceived Aboriginal people as wards, and thought that the Native communities and governments were unqualified of running their affairs (Coates, 2008). In the past the Indian Act was also utilized as an instrument to limit rights of the Aboriginal population. It banned Aboriginal people from practicing their cultural practices, denied them the right to vote, controlled who was permitted to travel from reserve settings, and decided where …show more content…
Former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was against the distinctive status for any group of people, and desired to eliminate Aboriginal people as a separate group (Coates, 2008). He also wished to have them involved into the broader Canadian political society. He proposed to incorporate Aboriginal people into the Canadian society, thus eliminating any special status and treatment to the Aboriginal people (Coates, 2008). Furthermore, in 1969, the Government of Canada produced a policy paper generally recognized as the White Paper. This paper called for abolishing the Indian Act. It aimed to end the federal responsibility for First Nations and termination of special status. (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, 2013). The White Paper also aimed at freeing the Indians and giving them opportunities to develop their cultures similar to other Canadians. The White Paper; however, drastically gained negative consequences from the First Nations, which made the government, withdraw it (AANDC, 2013). In addition, in 2002, the federal government again attempted to repeal the Indian act by suggesting the First Nations Governance Act (Bill
We can therefore deem that the Indian Act was specifically put in place to discriminate against the Aboriginal people of Canada. Although the Canadian government has tried to change the Indian Act and has been amended several times since its’ creation in 1876 it still continues to have significant effect on Aboriginal people in
MacDonald’s treatment of Aboriginals hurt the growth of Canada and set a standard of maltreatment toward Aboriginals that is continued today. While he was labelled as a friend and admired by Aboriginals, MacDonald’s actions reveal his true feelings and demonstrate his lack of regard for their wellbeing and rights. One can see that his mistreatment extends not just to those in Canada, but also those who are emigrating from other countries and regions, such as Asia. MacDonald was especially racist toward Asians, creating legislation that excluded the Chinese and Mongolian, marking them to be unfit for political office and representation. He felt that this exclusion was necessary to establish European dominance across Canada and
He present this by discussing the illegality of the treaties pertaining to the Indian Act being passed, the government not fulfilling their treaty promises, the government starving the aboriginals, and by oppressing them and stealing their land. The interpretation of the situation by Harring does differ James Daschuk’s. Harring explicitly states that the aboriginals were starved on purpose “local Indian Affairs authorities were given direct orders to starve able-bodied Indian men and issued inadequate rations for Indian women and children” (Harring 120), when Daschuk only provides information pertaining to the famine, and not that it was done on purpose. Harring was the most convincing as he blatantly blames the government for the harm caused on the aboriginals and sets the stage for how maltreated the aboriginals were by the government. Conclusively, James Daschuk provides two fairly convincing chapters, pertaining to the aboriginal people in Western Canada and on the plains, who were ravaged with disease, fighting, famine and an immense loss of land.
In the 1930s the federal government had put in place a set of policies know as the Indian New Deal. Natives of the Northwest Coast were encouraged to adopt governmental forms and constitutions to establish relations. The government had the final say in how tribes were coordinated, they controlled who sat in chairs of power and how things would be running. Following the 1950s federal policies towards the Indian people continue to vacillate. During the last past two decades of the twentieth century the tribes of Washington have been still making attempts to have the terms of the 1850 honored by the state and federal governments mostly in regards to fishing rights, to bring economic stability to the Native community through the utilization of
This paper will give an overview of the act and how it impacted the Indigenous community into becoming
Tony Ruan Tobias Kenny NBE301 June 10, 2023 The Canadian Government's Injustice through the legal system against Indigenous communities In the ongoing struggle for justice and equality, the broken promises and discriminatory actions of the Canadian government against Indigenous peoples reveal a dark truth - a pattern of betrayal that perpetuates systemic injustice and displaces FNMI (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Initiatives) communities from their rightful place in society. The Canadian government has consistently demonstrated a pattern of signing legal contracts with Aboriginal peoples, only to undermine the agreements later, disregard their terms, or impose restrictive measures.
Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada,” -Deputy Minister of Indian Affairs (1920), Duncan Campbell Scott (The goal of
The question of whether the government protected the collective rights of Aboriginal peoples in its creation of the Indian Act and the Resident school system has sparked many debates. While some people may feel that Canadians did the right thing creating the Residential School system, we strongly believe that the Indian Act didn’t protect any rights. In fact, the act violated many rights we value today. They abused the First Nations by taking away their right to vote, forcing them to give up their legal identities and treaty rights, not consulting the First Nations on agreements that concerned them and by introducing the Residential School system.. Firstly, until 1960 the First Nations had to give up their legal identities and treaty rights
The conflict between the Americans and the Natives for the Native’s lands caused the government to created an Act to move the Natives. This compromise was the Indian Removal Act, “An Act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories and for their removals west of the river Mississippi” (United). The Act was passed on May 30, 1830 (Removal), and moved the Natives’ across the country from Georgia to Oklahoma (adamelhamouden). The Removal Act was for all Indians, but there were many other treaties that the government used to move the Natives. The Cherokees used the Treaty of New Echota.
The creation of the Indian act put many restrictions on aboriginal peoples. A few include: declared the pot latch ban and other traditional ceremonies illegal, denied first nations the right to vote, restricted first nations from leaving their reserve without permission, etc. the Indian act imposed government control over all first nations. Its main purpose was to control natives and assimilate them into Canadian culture. With the Indian act in place the government can control almost every aspect of their life including: Indian status, land, resources, wills, education, band administration and so on.
According to Anzovino and Boutilier (2014), “the legislative definition of Aboriginal peoples includes all persons of “Indian” blood who were known to belong to a specific band, living on specific land, with their descendants [and] all persons intermarried with any such “Indians” who resided among them” as well as all children and persons adopted in infancy (p. 90). These persons are immensely proud of their good character, race, beliefs, values and morals. However, they are receiving abuse and a lack of promised assistance from the government. How can Canada act so neglectful and inattentive to those that live north of the suburban area? Are we not all equal and deserve the same rights, especially basic living conditions in order to survive?
Overall, this negotiation process reflected the complicated and dynamic relationships between the Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada, and the ongoing challenges of reconciling the desires and interests of Indigenous peoples. The result of Treaty 6 is considered by many, including myself, to be unfair to Indigenous peoples. From the Indigenous perspective, Treaty 6 was not fair as it resulted in the loss of their traditional lands and way of life, as well as the loss of their culture and sovereignty. The Treaty was imposed on the Indigenous peoples without adequate consultation or compensation, and its provisions were often not honoured by the Crown. They also experienced many other negative impacts as a result of the Treaty, including the displacement from their traditional lands, the reduction of their hunting and fishing rights, and the erosion of their communities.
The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ended the allocation of lands to individual Native Americans, encouraged them to preserve their culture, and to develop their own governments. It allowed tribes become sovereign nations. This act created a cultural resurgence but halted economic progress for the tribes. The political structure of the tribes were also unstable and
Critical Summary #3: First Nations Perspectives In Chapter eight of Byron Williston’s Environmental Ethics for Canadians First Nation’s perspectives are explored. The case study titled “Language, Land and the Residential Schools” begins by speaking of a public apology from former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He apologizes for the treatment of “Indians” in “Indian Residential Schools”. He highlights the initial agenda of these schools as he says that the “school system [was] to remove and isolate [Aboriginal] children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them[…]” (Williston 244).
The colonization of Indigenous peoples has dramatically affected their health, and health-seeking behaviours, in a myriad of ways. The Indian Act of 1876 was, in essence, created to control the Indigenous population. The Indian Act laid out laws and regulations that tightly regulated the lives of natives economically, ideologically, and politically. This included a wealth of ways in which their identities were stripped away, and in which they were taken advantage of by the Government of Canada. This has resulted in a reduced quality of life for Canada 's indigenous population, as well as adverse health problems, and prejudicial perceptions that we still see the impact of today.