Intro to indian act

The Indian ActAnd other laws

written by white people for red people

These laws only apply to first nations, Metis

and Inuit people

native canadians were not consulted

still stand today as law in this country

The Royal Proclamation of 1763

Made in England by the king

Deals with all native populations in North

AmericaProclamation says that all lands were

to be held in reserve for natives

Also says natives could only give their

land to the crown

Point of contention

Did the king recognize that land rights already

existedOr did he give those

rights to natives, which he could then take

away

The British North America Act

Canada becomes a country

one very important line in the act

the federal government has the responsibility

to deal with indians

One of the first things they did was pass the Enfranchisement Act

...So indians couldn't vote, but if you became white

you could

One of the first things they did was pass the Enfranchisement Act

...and native women lost the right to vote on band matters

This was a big problem for the

IroquoisWomen there had great powers on council, they

elected chiefs

The Indian Act

or rather

The Indian Acts

Of 1876 and 1951

One of the main concepts of the act

wasNative land was actually Crown

land

The crown was looking after it for the

natives

And by crown, they meant the government

Which restricted the sovereignty of natives

And by government, they meant white people

And by restricted we mean it was illegal for

natives to:• buy alcohol

• vote

• sell their land

• leave the reserve without permission

• or hire lawyers to fight the laws

The government sought to make

natives like other CanadiansIf you served in the army ... you

became white

The government sought to make

natives like other CanadiansIf you went to

university you became white

The government sought to make

natives like other Canadians

If you were a woman and

married a white man you became

white

The law has been amended many times

most recently in 1986

It is the only law in Canada that

discriminates based on race

And yet ...

natives don't want to get rid of it yet

because ...

it guarantees land