Indian Act

In 1857, the British passed a law for the Canadian colonies called "An Act of Gradual Civilization."  It was suppose to promote the native people to give up their land, language, culture and rights in exchange for full British citizenship. So this basically meant that if a native man learned to read and signed a pledge to "live as a white man" he would be allowed to vote, own property and serve on a jury. 

Land

Over the next 20 years very few First Nations people took advantage of the act, most seen it as a way to strip them even further of their remaining and diminishing land base. In 1876 the Dominion of Canada took over responsibility for Native People in the North west ( NWT, Man, Sask and Alb).  The Indian Act of 1876 essentially made "Status Indians" wards of the Crown. It also judged the lives of First Nations people. It gave them restrictions equally important it  ranged from rules about how they would elect leaders to how their children would be educated and how their estates would be dealt with after death.

The act named the reserve land to crown represented by the Minister of Indian Affairs calling it "crown Land set aside for the use of a Band of Indians." In 1876 they changed the act so it would become illegal for Indians to sell or produce goods without permission from he local Indian Agent. This left the Indian Agent to be the ultimate power. The Indian Agent had to give the Indians a written consent form for the Indians leaving the reserve for any reason

Assimilation

Over the next 100 years the Act continued to amend a number of times. With each time it changed it became more clear that it was aimed at efficient methods of assimilating the Indians to the white society. An example of the would be the banning of the "Sun Dance" an important ritual of the Lakota and other Plains aboriginal cultures. On the west coast the "Pot Latch", an elaborate ceremony of feasting and gift giving was also banned. during the same period, still with an eye to forced assimilation, the Act authorized the forced removal of children to Residential Schools and stripped any Indian who obtained a University Education or Ordination of his rights under the Act.

So-called "Pass Laws" and bans on the Sun Dance and Pot Latch were repealed in the 1950's. Indian Act prohibition made it illegal for Status Indians to possess alcohol which was also repealed in 1970, Status Indians finally won the vote in 1961.

Chretien and the Politics of Self-Governance

The move to assimilation culminated with the "White Paper" of 1969. The proposal was presented by then Indian Affairs Minister Jean Chretien. It would have lead to the repeal of the Indian Act. However, it also would have led to the termination of treaties and any other special status granted First Nations people.

The defeat of the "White Paper" is seen by many as the most important political victory for Canada's First Nations, however it was a mixed blessing. While the Chretien legislation was eventually withdrawn, the Indian Act remained in place and with it maintaining restrictions on First Nations.

Since the failed White paper of 1969 there have been several important changes to the Indian Act. Most of the amendments have been introduced to bring the Act into line with the "Charter of Rights and Freedoms" and other aspects of the Canadian Constitution that was patriated in 1982.

C-95 and the feminization of the Indian Act

In 1985 the Act had been amended so Status Indian women who married non-Indians would no longer lose their status and named as Treaty Indians and that status also flowed to their children.

The amendment, Bill C-95 was supposed to end offensive discrimination against women but it caused some unforeseen problems. After the status rules were changed many Indian Bands doubled because of the reclamation of status by thousands of people. This increase in population put more pressure on budgets for housing education and health. Bill C-95 also underlined the lack of control over membership band organizations really have.

This lack of power stemmed from the Indian Act. Jurisdiction over "Citizenship" remains an issue of contention between First Nations and the federal government. While most of the ideas in the 1969 paper never came to fruition, the move to reduce the size and power of the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs went ahead - albeit in an ad-hoc way. Many of the powers once held by the department and the Indian Agent were quietly transferred to Band Chiefs and Band Councils. This move caused several internal problems that have never been addressed.

A Royal Commission

The next forceful movement for a change was the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People. This was the most sweeping look at the  Aboriginal Canadians in history. The results recommended what Native Leaders had been saying for decades - the Indian Act is outdated and needs replacement.

In June the Minister of Indian Affairs Robert Nault introduced a new piece of legislation called " the Governance Act." Among other things the act proposes new election rules for Indian Band leadership. It also seeks to establish strict guidelines for financial reporting by Chiefs and Councils to their members.

The proposed changes would also allow bands to take full title of their reserve land, meaning bands could use lands to back mortgages, lease or sell them. The proposals have not been well received by First Nation's leaders. Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Matthew Coon Come and Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Perry Bellgarde have been among the most vocal opponents of the proposed Governance Act.