Lecture terms

Question 1

R v. Powley (2003)

Answer 1

A Supreme Court case that recognized Métis people as having Aboriginal rights under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Question 2

Daniels v. Canada (2016)

Answer 2

A landmark case confirming that Métis and non-status Indians are recognized as “Indians” under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867.

Question 3

Walking the Red Road

Answer 3

A metaphor for living a spiritually grounded, balanced, and respectful Indigenous life.

Question 4

Circular Knowledge

Answer 4

An Indigenous worldview where knowledge is cyclical, interconnected, and relational rather than linear and hierarchical.

Question 5

Seven Sacred Grandfather Teachings

Answer 5

Core Anishinaabe teachings: Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility, and Truth.

Question 6

The Medicine Circle/Wheel

Answer 6

A sacred symbol representing balance and wholeness. Includes four directions, seasons, elements, and aspects of life (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual).

Question 8

Traditional Governance

Answer 8

Indigenous systems of leadership and decision-making based on community values, consensus, and kinship, not imposed Western models.

Question 9

The Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace

Answer 9

A foundational governance structure of the Iroquois Confederacy emphasizing peace, power, and righteousness.

Question 10

Doctrine of Discovery

Answer 10

A colonial legal concept used to justify European claims over Indigenous lands by declaring them “discovered” and unoccupied by Christians.

Question 11

Salt-Water Thesis

Answer 11

The idea that colonialism only applies to territories separated by oceans from the colonizing state—used to deny settler colonialism in Canada.

Question 12

Terra Nullius

Answer 12

A Latin term meaning “land belonging to no one,” used to justify colonial occupation of Indigenous territories.

Question 13

Settler Colonialism

Answer 13

An ongoing structure where settlers come to stay and establish control, displacing Indigenous peoples and systems.

Question 14

Contemporary Colonialism

Answer 14

Ongoing forms of domination, such as systemic racism and state control over Indigenous communities, even after formal colonization ended.

Question 15

Wampum Belts

Answer 15

Beaded belts used by Indigenous peoples (especially Haudenosaunee) to record agreements, treaties, and laws.

Question 16

The Royal Proclamation of 1763

Answer 16

A British law recognizing Indigenous land rights and setting conditions for land cessions. Considered a foundational document in Aboriginal law.

Question 17

The Numbered Treaties

Answer 17

Eleven treaties signed between 1871–1921 across Canada that often involved land surrender in exchange for certain rights or benefits.

Question 18

Indian Agents

Answer 18

Government officials appointed to manage reserves, enforce the Indian Act, and control Indigenous lives.

Question 19

The Pass System

Answer 19

A colonial policy where Indigenous people needed a government-issued pass to leave their reserve—used to control movement and suppress resistance.

Question 20

The Indian Act

Answer 20

Federal law that governs all aspects of Indigenous life in Canada, including status, land, and governance—widely criticized as colonial and paternalistic.

Question 21

Potlatch

Answer 21

A ceremonial gift-giving feast among Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples, banned by the Canadian government from 1885–1951.

Question 22

The White Paper

Answer 22

Proposed to eliminate the Indian Act and assimilate Indigenous peoples—widely opposed by Indigenous leaders.

Question 23

The Davin Report

Answer 23

Recommended the creation of residential schools in Canada, modeled after U.S. industrial schools.

Question 24

Criminalization of Indigenous People

Answer 24

The overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the justice system due to colonial policies, poverty, systemic racism, and displacement.

Question 25

Risk Factors

Answer 25

Conditions that increase the likelihood of criminal behavior, such as poverty, trauma, family disruption, and lack of education—often shaped by colonialism for Indigenous peoples.

Question 26

Attawapiskat

Answer 26

A Cree community in Ontario that brought national attention to Indigenous housing and suicide crises.

Question 27

Child Welfare

Answer 27

Indigenous children are vastly overrepresented in child welfare systems—a continuation of colonial child removal (like residential schools and the Sixties Scoop).

Question 28

Cycle of Crime

Answer 28

The intergenerational patterns of incarceration and criminalization, often fueled by trauma and systemic disadvantage.

Question 29

Highway of Tears

Answer 29

A stretch of Highway 16 in BC where many Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered, highlighting the crisis of MMIWG.

Question 30

National Public Inquiry into MMIWG

Answer 30

A federal inquiry into the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls. Concluded the crisis constitutes genocide.

Question 31

Red Dress

Answer 31

A powerful symbol and art movement used to honor and remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Question 32

The Sparrow Decision

Answer 32

Established that Indigenous fishing rights under section 35 are constitutionally protected, but can be regulated with justification.

Question 32

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Section 35

Answer 32

Recognizes and affirms existing Aboriginal and treaty rights in Canada.

Question 33

The Van der Peet Test

Answer 33

A legal test to determine if an Indigenous practice is protected as an Aboriginal right under section 35 by proving it's integral to the culture before contact.

Question 34

The Delgamuukw Decision

Answer 34

Confirmed that Indigenous oral histories are valid legal evidence and clarified Aboriginal title as a right to the land itself.

Question 35

The Oka Crisis

Answer 35

A 78-day standoff between Mohawk protestors and police/military over a land dispute in Quebec. Highlighted land rights and police violence.

Question 36

Bill C-45

Answer 36

Part of Harper’s Omnibus Bill that changed environmental protections and sparked the Idle No More movement.