The Indian Act established the federal government's authority over Indigenous peoples in Canada. It defined who was and was not an "Indian" and allowed officials to determine Indigenous identity and membership. The Act undermined traditional Indigenous governance and aimed to assimilate Indigenous people by imposing the government's control over their lands, finances, membership, and culture. It defined Indian status in a way that excluded many Indigenous women and their descendants from their communities. Many of the Act's discriminatory and assimilationist policies remain in effect today, making it a key tool in the ongoing legacy of colonialism in Canada.
2. Pop culture:
Mudblood
(according to Harry Potter)
• "It’s a disgusting thing to call someone. Dirty blood.” Ron Weasely
• Mudblood is a highly derogatory term for a
Muggle Born Witch or Wizard; that is, individuals
with no wizarding relatives. There does not appear
to be any difference in the magical power of
Muggle-borns compared to those who are pure
blood or half blood but those prejudiced against
Muggle-borns consider them to be of "lower
breeding" or worth, and undeserving of magic. The
term implies that the individual has "dirty blood"
and is considered extremely offensive. There are
apparently other, less commonly used terms with a
similar meaning, such as "creature of dirt" It is a
really offending term, for people can't help being
Muggle-born
3. COLORED’s only
plessy v. ferguson
• In 1892, Plessy a man of 1/8th African descent
bought a first-class ticket from New Orleans on the
East Louisiana Railway. Once he had boarded the
train, he informed the train conductor of his racial
lineage and took a seat in the whites-only car. He
was directed to leave that car and sit instead in the
"coloreds only" car. Plessy refused and was
immediately arrested. The Citizens Committee of
New Orleans fought the case all the way to the
Supreme Court. They lost in Plessy v.
Ferguson (1896), in which the Court ruled that
"separate but equal" facilities were constitutional.
The finding contributed to 58 more years of
legalized discrimination against black and colored
people in the United States
4. Review - red river
• 1869 Canada purchased Rupert's land from the Hudson's
Bay company – DID NOT consult inhabitants of the area
• The Metis feared their title and rights were being ignored
• A NATIONAL COMMITTEE was set up to stop the land
transfer until their rights and title land had been
recognized
• RED RIVER REBELLION
5. Metis Bill of Rights
• Louis Riel help to set up a provisional government at Red
River; why? To negotiate terms for entering into
confederation with Canada
• Metis bill of rights sent to Ottawa
• Demanded:
1. To elect their own legislature at Red River
2. To elect federal members of parliament
3. To have both French and English recognized as official
languages
4. To Maintain Metis culture and customs
6. Riel
• Canadian land surveyor came to red river and was trialed
and executed by Louis Riel’s government
• Prime Minister John A. Macdonald sent troops to assert
Canada’s control over the region
• Canadians in favor wanted Riel executed; he fled to the
USA
7. Manitoba Act 1870
• Metis Provisional government won federal approval of
the Manitoba Act in 1870 this led to the creation of the
province of Manitoba.
• The Manitoba act “recognized” Metis title to the land
within the province
• 1.4 billion acres was set aside for Metis Children
• However, in order to receive your land? You had to GIVE
UP your Indian status…
8. Half-breed
• Hybridity implicitly created the production of a new
racial subject in Canadian law – the ‘halfbreed’. Unlike
other colonial settlements, where the racial designation
Metis never became a legal category colonial
authorities in Canada created a new legal subject to
account for the sizeable mixed-race population. As we
will see, the ‘half-breed’ could make few legal claims to
land and resources.
• WHY do you think “metis” never became a legal
category….(refer to worksheet!)
9. Indian-ness vs.
whiteness
• In western Canada the colonial state’s obsession with
racial hybridity had the objective of protection of
whiteness and Indian-ness. To put it another way,
colonial rule was dependent upon maintaining both of
these categories pure.
10. How the world treated the
indigenous
• Colonial governments across the globe managed their
Native populations through violence, segregation and the
appropriation of land, as well as by way of assimilationist
policies.
• From violent dispossession and genocide in the Americas,
to forced evictions from cities to black townships in
South Africa, colonial rule was backed by racial violence,
terror, and coercion.
11. What is “Indian?”
• Between 1850 and 1869, the colonial and later Dominion
government revised their juridical definition of Indian-ness
almost every year. Result restrictive and exclusionary
category that was further revised under Canada’s Indian Act.
• Ie: Canada was trying to find NEW ways to keep First Nations
people from having the same rights, land occupation, treatment
etc. by constantly re-categorizing what it meant to be Indian
under law. The government said: well if your white you get x
amount of rights and privileges and if your considered Indian
under OUR definition you get x amount of rights and
privileges.
• But that definition? Was constantly changing….
12. The Indian act 1876
• Colonialism depended on more subtle processes of
governance they had exclusive access to what
could legally be considered an individual’s identity
under law!
• Canadian authorities tried to limit racial membership
through the category ‘Indian’ by repeatedly revising the
Indian Act and other federal and provincial legislation.
• The Indian Act defines who is and who is not recognized
as an "Indian."
13. 1) Anyone considered an Indian by
descent or by adoption is given
status as an Indian and entitled to all
rights therein.
• Through the Act’s construction of “Status Indian”. The
Indian Act determined the qualifications for being a
“Status Indian”, in order to control Aboriginal identity
and membership.
• Because apparently your identity = some special club
you have to apply to be in?
• Status Indians fell under the provisions of the Indian Act
and were recognized by the federal government in the
Indian Register. The right to be registered came from
membership in a band, which was a political
administrative unit recognized by the federal government.
• So the government decided just how “Indian” you were..
14. s. 31
• Remember: Manitoba Act the objective of s. 31 was to
extinguish the ‘Indian title’ of the Métis and put aside
1.4 million acres of federal Crown lands for “the benefit
of Half-Breed families.”
• Land in exchange for your identity. Fair trade right?
• Half-breed, Indian title, Status Indian….
15. • The Indian Act deprived Natives of their self-governing
powers, and directed them towards a path of assimilation.
• Indian Act efficiently controlled Indian communities and
insured that “Status Indians” strictly followed the rules of
the legislation which were implemented by
the Department of Indian Affairs.
• Denied Aboriginal people the authority to determine for
themselves the community in which they belonged. All
those reserve residents who did not fit the description of
an Indian would be considered trespassers and removed
from the land.
16. Lands are to be set
aside for groups of
Indians.
• What this REALLY means: the Indian Department was
to control the various elements of the reserve-land such as
resources and finance, and it was granted the authority to
institute various systems of development such as
“individualized land holding, education and resource and
financial management.”
17. The Superintendent-General, an agent of
the Canadian government, is to oversee
all aspects of the reserve, including
membership, finances, and law
enforcement.
.
• What that really means: The Indian Act revoked
traditional forms of government and substituted them
with an elective system under the control of the
local Indian agent. Hence, Chiefs and Councilors were to
serve at the pleasure of the Crown
18. Indians may have their status
revoked upon assimilation into
the mainstream culture.
• What this really means: Indigenous communities were
unable to manage their own affairs, and the government
aimed at “integrating” Indigenous cultures into the
Canadian mainstream. Being a powerful tool into the
hands of the government, the Indian Act gave federal civil
servants the authority to supervise Indigenous lands and
trust funds, control the personal and family lives of
the Native people, and withhold basic civil rights to many
of them
19. Words from Your first
Prime Minister! 1887
• Canada’s duty to..
“annihilate the tribal system and
assimilate the Indian peoples in all
respects to the inhabitants of the
dominion.” – John A. Macdonald
20. All descent is followed through the father. A
Status man who marries a non-Status
woman automatically confers his status
onto her, while a Status woman
automatically loses her status if she
marries a non-Status man
• Government administrators defined Indian-ness through
patrilineal descent. The effects of this juridical definition
have been devastating for First Nations communities.
• WHY? Most first nations communities are matrilineal:
descent – wealth, power, and inheritance were passed
down through the mother.
21. Racial classification
• Aboriginal women who married non-Aboriginal men
were forced to relinquish (let go of) their ties to their
communities, a process that significantly reduced the
number of ‘Indians’ who could live on reserves.
• Between 1876 and 1985, because of these gendered
provisions, approximately 25,000 Native peoples were
denied Indian status and were forced to leave their
communities.
• Racial classifications under the Indian Act have served as
another form of colonial governance – a strategy aimed at
destroying Aboriginal identity, land ownership, and
culture.
22. • “Status” could be lost or even given up as any
Aboriginal woman who would marry a non-Aboriginal
“shall cease to be an Indian within the meaning of this
act” and “any illegitimate child may be excluded from
membership”
• The Construction of “Indian Status” was implemented by
governmental institutions to deprive Aboriginals of the
power to determine their own destiny and to ease the path
towards their assimilation.
23. • Did I mention the INDIAN ACT is STILL IN PLACE
TODAY and Canada is the ONLY country in the world
with an INDIAN ACT.
• ie: they didn’t get rid of it….. Yes I’m serious…
