Indian Act: Part Two Flashcards
Who were the Indian agents?
Indian agents were the Canadian government’s representatives on Indigenous reserves from the 1830s to the 1960s.
Often working in isolated locations, Indian agents implemented government policy and managed the day-to-day affairs of the Status Indians.
What did Indian agents do?
Indian agents exercised authority over Indigenous local government affairs.
They conducted band council elections and presided over band council meetings. Indian agents made decisions regarding band members’ access to relief, housing, property or loans.
How did Indian agents treat Indigenous peoples?
Indian agents treated Indigenous people as wards of the state and enforced oppressive federal policies such as the permit system that prevented the Indigenous from selling beef, grain, hay and timber without permission.
What were the 1951 Amendments to the Indian Act?
After World War II much societal introspection in Canada led to a reconsideration of some of the more restrictive and oppressive measures.
A series of proposed reforms were rejected by Indigenous peoples because they were not involved in the process. The government of Canada broke with tradition and in a joint Committee process, consulted with Indigenous communities for the very first time about changes to the Indian Act
It removed some of the most offensive, political, cultural and religious restrictions.
For example, band on ceremonies like the potlatch and sun dance were discontinued.
Communities were also able to bring about land claims against teh government.
What did the 1951 amendments mean to women?
The First Nations women, the 1951 amendments meant Elsie Marie Knott was able to become the first elected female Indigenous chief in Canada.
What did the 1951 amendments do about discrimination?
The amendments did not rid the Act of all discrimination. The Indian Act prohibited status people from possessing intoxicants or being intoxicated.
What did the 1951 amendment do to Indigenous children?
The 1951 amendments also gave provinces jurisdiction over Indigenous children’s welfare.
This led to the “Sixties Scoop”, a process by which provincial child welfare agencies chose to remove children from their homes rather than provide community resources and support.
What did the amendments do to status?
The amendments did not overturn the discriminatory Indian Status. In other words, simply having an Indigenous heritage was not enough, male lines of descent were still privileged.
A non-status woman who married a man with status would gain status.
A status woman who married a status man lost her status entirely if she was widowed or abandoned by her husband.
What changes were made to Indigenous peoples after the amendments?
Conservation Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s Bill of Rights stated Indigenous peoples could no longer be denied the right to vote.
In the 1960’s, portions of the Canada Elections Act were repealed to grant the federal vote to Status Indians without losing their status.
What was declared in 1969 that caused Indigenous peoples to retaliate?
In 1969, Liberal Prime Minister Trudeau declared his intention to entirely eliminate Indian Status and the Department of Indian Affairs.
The White Paper was responded to by the “Red Paper”, created by Harold Cardinal, president of the Indian Association of Alberta. Due to the fierce opposition, the Canadian government quickly withdrew the White Paper.
What were the biggest issues that occurred from gender in the Indian Act and how was it changed?
In 1973, the Supreme Court of Canada was criticized for a ruling that woman’s status connected to her husband did not discriminate, even though status men kept their status if they married out.
In 1985; Those who had lost status were reinstated as Status Indians and as band members and their children gained status, but did not gain band membership for two years. This interval was meant to give bands time to create their own membership codes.
The amendments to the Indian Act in 1985 caused the number of registered Indigenous to more than double from approximately 360,000 in 1985 to more than 778,000 in 2007.
In 2011, Parliament passed the Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act. This grants status to grandchildren of women who regained status.
What are current opinions of the Indian Act?
Presently some Indigenous are in favour of the abolition of the Indian Act, others fear that its removal would erode Indian Status.
Indigenous peoples believe that the powers of the Act will fade or disappear with the increasing move towards self-government and reconciliation contributing to a change in government-Indigenous relations.
