What is the Canadian Indian Act?

Answer 1

Indian Act of Canada, law designed to integrate Indians in Canada into the mainstream economy and culture. Introduced in 1876, the act allowed the Canadian government almost complete control over how Indians lived and interacted with non-Indians. At the same time, it gave the government special responsibility for the health, education, and lands of much of the Indian population. The Canadian Parliament overhauled the act in 1951 and continued to amend it significantly throughout the remainder of the 20th century. While the more recent changes allowed less federal intrusion, the government still exercised a large degree of control over the lives of Indian people. In addition, the government's control of the Indian population actually worked counter to the act's stated goal; the act isolated Indian people from mainstream Canadian society instead of integrating them into it. The Constitution Act that established Canada as a confederation in 1867 gave the new federal government responsibility for and control over most of the aboriginal people and their land reserves. (Since the 1700s the government had set aside lands for some aboriginal bands in return for most of the bands' territory.) Prior to and immediately after confederation, provincial and federal officials passed many laws restricting interactions between aboriginal people and the increasing number of whites settling near them. By 1876 there were so many aboriginal-related laws that Parliament consolidated them in the Indian Act. In this way, Parliament hoped to ensure order in relations between whites and aboriginal peoples. The new act defined who was an "Indian," using a person's lifestyle and heritage as the primary criteria. The government had complete discretion over who was designated an Indian. To be given Indian status, one generally had to be a member of an aboriginal band that was granted a reserve or government funds or had negotiated a treaty with the government. The act only applies to Status Indians. Aboriginal groups not recognized as Indian in the act include non-Status Indians, the Inuit, and the Métis, people of mixed European and aboriginal heritage. These aboriginal groups have never been subject to the Indian Act's restrictions, but many have struggled without benefits provided by the act. The act set forth what rights and protections Status Indians had. Under the act, Indians could continue to hunt and fish for a living, and they were eligible for government-funded education and health care. The government was obligated to protect reserve land from white settlers who wanted to take it, and non-Indian people were prohibited from trespassing on reserves. But the act deprived Indians of the right to govern themselves and denied them citizenship, barring them from voting in federal or provincial elections. The act also restricted their ability to conduct commerce and to own land. Indians were prohibited from consuming alcohol or leaving their reserves without governmental permission. Most of the power on any Indian reserve was held by the federal agent for the Department of Indian Affairs (now the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development), who controlled government money and could veto decisions made by the reserve council. Although the act differentiated Indians from whites, its main goal was to assimilate the Indian population into white Canadian culture. The act provided guidelines for Indian behavior. When an Indian met white standards by adopting the values and beliefs of the European Canadian population, he or she could be enfranchised (given Canadian citizenship). The requirements for enfranchisement changed over time, from knowing how to read to being a farmer or attaining professional status, for example as a lawyer or doctor. However, enfranchisement meant loss of Indian status. In some cases the act allowed the government to enfranchise Indians whether they wanted to be citizens or not. The act also forced Indians to abandon their own cultures by forbidding traditional ceremonies such as the potlatch and the Sun Dance. Many officials believed the government's relationship with Indians was appropriate because they thought aboriginal people were unable to make intelligent decisions or to control themselves.

~XDDXDD~