The Indian Act has historically stated that those with Indian status have rights to live on reserves, share in band monies, vote for band council and chief, and inherit band property. In 1985, an amendment to the Indian Act separated Indian status from band membership. In keeping with paternalistic policies towards Aboriginal peoples, the Canadian federal government assumed fiscal responsibility for Indians in order to support the colonial structures it imposed on Aboriginal peoples through the Indian Act, such as band administration, education, and health care. See Section 35 of the Constitution Act for further information on this specific topic.) (This is not to be confused with the Canadian Constitution’s recognition of Indian, Métis and Inuit peoples as Indigenous peoples, and thus with constitutionally protected rights. As a result, the Métis and Inuit have not had Indian status and the rights conferred by this status despite being Indigenous to Canada and participating in Canadian nation building. The Indian Act applies only to status Indians, and has not historically recognized Métis and Inuit peoples.
Indian people full#
…the true interests of the aborigines and of the State alike require that every effort should be made to aid the Red man in lifting himself out of his condition of tutelage and dependence, and that is clearly our wisdom and our duty, through education and every other means, to prepare him for a higher civilization by encouraging him to assume the privileges and responsibilities of full citizenship.” 2 Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle, that the aborigines are to be kept in a condition of tutelage and treated as wards or children of the State. As an 1876 Department of Indian Affairs report explains: “Status Indians” are wards of the Canadian federal government, a paternalistic legal relationship that illustrates the historical imperial notion that Aboriginal peoples are “children” requiring control and direction to bring them into more “civilized” colonial ways of life.
Indian people registration#
Status Indians are issued a status card that contains information about their identity, their band, and their registration number. 1Īboriginal peoples in Canada who are classified as “Status Indians” are registered under the Indian Act on the Indian Register– a central registry maintained by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Given the government’s historical unilateral authority to determine who is legally Indian, the Assembly of First Nations as well as other leaders and academics have described the Indian Act as a form of apartheid law.
This criteria continues to be outlined in Section 6 of the Indian Act, thus defining who qualifies for Indian status. With the creation of the in 1876, the Canadian government developed criteria for who would be legally considered an Indian. “Indian Status” refers to a specific legal identity of an Aboriginal person in Canada. Image courtesy of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
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