Week 10 Flashcards
Original Inhabitants
Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of the portion of the North American landmass known as Canada.
“Indigenous” and “Aboriginal” are collective terms that include:
-the First Nations,
-Inuit, and
-Métis peoples.
“Indigenous peoples” is the preferred term.
Diverse in terms of culture, language, & geography
First Nations
The First Nations include culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse groups of people—e.g the Cree, Dene, and Mi’kmaq peoples.
-The Indian Act of 1876 sought strictly to define who would be considered an Indian so as to exert government authority over Indigenous peoples.
-The main purpose of the Act was to control and regulate Indian lives.
-The Act fragmented the Indigenous population into distinct groups with different rights, restrictions, and obligations.
-The term “Indian” is still used in a legal context and usually defines a person as being either a Status or non-Status Indian.
Status Indians
are persons of Indigenous ancestry who are registered as Indians according to the Indian Act.
Non-Status Indians
are not, or have lost the right to be, registered as Indians as defined by the Act, but identify with the Indian community culturally and/or linguistically.
Non-Status Indians
are not, or have lost the right to be, registered as Indians as defined by the Act, but identify with the Indian community culturally and/or linguistically.
The Inuit
The Inuit are Indigenous peoples of Canada that have traditionally & currently use and occupy the lands and waters ranging from the Yukon and Northwest Territories to northern Québec (Nunavik) and Labrador (Nunatsiavut).
-April 1, 1999, marked the creation of Nunavut, a new territory formed from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.
-The agreement between the Inuit of Nunavut and the federal government recognizes that the Inuit are best able to define who is an Inuk (or member of the Inuit peoples)
The Metis
The Métis are descendants of the historic Métis—those whose origin can be traced back to the Red River in the early 1800s.
-Located mainly in the prairies and the north
-They formed a language and culture that was a unique blend of Indian and European cultures.
-On April 14, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that both non-Status Indians and Métis are now considered “Indians” under the Constitution.
The Colonization of Indigenous Peoples
-The policy of colonialism adopted by European settlers attempted to completely subjugate the Indigenous peoples and to annihilate their cultures.
-Colonialism is the political domination of one nation over another.
-It includes control over their administrative, economic, social, and cultural affairs.
-The legal instrument for colonialization was the Indian Act.
-Historically, an Indian Agent administered the Act in Indigenous communities.
-These agents displaced traditional Indigenous leaders to institute a new way of living consistent with the intentions of the Canadian government at the time.
Assimilationist Policies
Assimilation refers to the absorbing of one cultural group into another.
-The Indian Act spelled out a process of enfranchisement, whereby Indians could acquire full Canadian citizenship only by relinquishing their ties to their community, i.e. by giving up their culture and traditions and any rights to land.
-The Canadian government saw the Indian Act as a temporary measure to control Indigenous peoples until they had been fully assimilated through enfranchisement.
Land Treaties
Land treaties generally aimed to force Indigenous peoples to surrender land to the Canadian government
The Reserve System and Other Paternalistic Systems
Once land was ceded and Canadian settlements had been established, Indigenous peoples were shunted aside onto reserves—small parcels of land largely devoid of any economic potential.
-The scrip system: A certificate redeemable for land or money depending on their age/status in exchange for Indigenous right
-Another example of state intervention is the disc list system.
As bureaucrats could/would not acknowledge Inuktitut names, the disc list system assigned a numbered disc to each Inuk.
The Residential School Systems
The residential schools were established in the mid-1800s by Indian Affairs in conjunction with several Christian churches.
-The schools sought to fulfill the assimilationist policies of the federal government.
-Indigenous children were denied their language, spiritual rituals, and access to their families.
-The children were regularly subjected to emotional and physical abuse, and many were also victims of sexual abuse.
Unmarked Graves Still Being Found in Canada
To date, more than 1,800 confirmed or suspected unmarked graves have been identified.
The Sixties Scoop
In 1951, the Indian Act was amended such that provincial laws like child welfare legislation, applied to reserves.
-One result is what is known as the Sixties Scoop
-In the 1960’s, massive numbers of children were removed from their communities and placed in non-Indigenous foster and adoptive homes.
-By the late 1970s and early 1980s, 1 in 7 Status Indian children was not in the care off their parents, and
-as many as 1 in 4 Status Indian children was spending at least some time away from the parental home
-Some say it’s now the Millennial Scoop
A Legacy of Harm
-From the 1990s, The Canadian government and the Anglican, Presbyterian, United, and Roman Catholic churches began to admit their responsibility for an education scheme that was designed not only to assert domination over Indigenous peoples but also to eradicate their cultures.
-Also had The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) 2006 The IRSSA recognized the damage inflicted by the residential schools and established a $1.9-billion compensation package called CEP (Common Experience Payment) for all former IRS students
