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Royal Proclamation
Declared that any land not ceded to or purchased by the French and British was reserved to the Indians.
Prevented any further settlement across NA -
Reserve system
The residential schools were set on the reserves which were lands set aside by the government for the first nations
enclosed territories, limiting first nations ability to participate in Canada's economy b/c wealth is related to property. But land on reserves is actually owned by the fed gov't, any money is distributed through band councils. -
Indian Act
An act created to regulate the lives of the First Nations in Canada
Provided medical care, hunting & fishing rights but FN ppl had to give up their culture and traditions -
Aboriginal Right to Universal Suffrage
aboriginal peoples were finally given the right to vote in federal elections in Canada
-Before 1960, in order to gain rights as a Canadian citizen, an Aboriginal person have to sacrifice give up his/her Indian status as well as the right to live on a reserve -
National Indian brotherhood and Native council of Canada formed
aboriginal people wanted a 'self government' because it would give them the right to manage resources and gain control of their education, culture and juctice system- self government is the right of a conony or a group to define the structure, laws and policies that will govern its affaris
-Formed to lobby on behalf of Aboriginal people living on reserves -
White Paper
until 1960, aboriginal peoples living on reserves did not have the right to vote, own land individually, or consume alcohol. it was encouraged that they would gain the right to vote and have rights as a Canadian but lose indian status and right to live on a reserve. Prime Minister Trudeau wanted to make changes to the reserve system (unemployment, ill health, poverty was common). The white paper addressed the issues facing aboriginal peoples. -
Residential school system abolished but not all closed
Band schools emerged (schools where Aboriginal children could study their own languages and learn about their own cultures and traditions)Problem was that secondary band schools far away from reserves therefore students had to live away from their families to go to school in cities such as Vancouver & New West (called the boarding home program)Problem was that loneliness drove some to return from high school -
White paper
Definition of ‘white paper’ –a document that a government puts forward for discussion. If it is accepted, it may be passed into a law. The 1969 White paper had a protective attitude:-suggested FN should be treated exactly the same as other Cnd citizens (no reserves, must pay income tax)Issues: changing the reserve system, inadequate housing & education, ill health and poverty in the reserves -
white paper
Solution: AssimilationResponse by Aboriginal communitycommunity rejected the proposal because,1) it was seen as an attack on their right to maintain their unique identity2) according to many, the changes were nothing more than “cultural genocide”. In essence, the government wanted Aboriginal peoples to become “good little brown white m[e]n”. (Harold Cardinal, elected president of the Indian Association of Alberta 1968-1977)The National Indian Brotherhood’s response:--demanded self-gov't -
white paper continued
The Canadian government (PM Trudeau & Indian Affairs Minister, Jean Chretien) introduced the White Paper in an attempt to address the issues facing Aboriginal peoples in Canada.Proposed the:abolition of reserves and seek jobs in citiesand to end the special status for treaty Indians (no tax) because it was felt that inequality had been the major cause of difficulties.Solution was AssimilationResponse by Aboriginal communitycommunity rejected the proposal -
1980's movement toward self governement
Aboriginal peoples want the right to self-government in order to make their own decisions about matters internal to their communities, integral to their unique cultures, traditions and languages, and connected with their relationship to the land and resources. They do not feel that the federal government has their best interests at heart regarding these matters. -
assembly of the first nations
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Passing of Bill C-31
It gave Aboriginal band councils power to decide who had the right to live on Aboriginal reserves where previous decisions had been made by the Department of Indian Affairs -
Bill C-31
Specific Land Claims:-based on existing treaties.-Have arisen in areas where treaties surrounding money, land and other assets between-Aboriginal peoples and the federal government have been signed, but their terms have not been kept (i.e. the agreed upon size of a reserve may have decreased as land was taken away for the building of another development like a road -
Bill C-31
Comprehensive Land Claims are based on traditional use and occupancy• It is the assertion of the rights of Aboriginal nations to large tracts of land because their ancestors were the original inhabitants. • These land claims question the ownership of land in large parts of Canada that were never surrendered by treaty -
Meesh lake
Meech Lake Accord did not recognize the distinct status of Aboriginal peoples in the same spirit as it recognized Quebec.Recall Elijah Harper, Aboriginal Leader from Manitoba opposed b/c he believed Ab pple deserved special status along side Quebec -
oka stand off
The Oka town council Officials decided to extend a nine-hole golf course on land that the Mohawks at a nearby Kanesatake reserved claimed had always belonged to them and was sacred. The ownership of the land had long been disputed. In response, the Mohawks set up blockades that lasted for more than six months. Eventually the Canadian Army was called in. The Mohawk warrior society decided to stop the construction of the golf course by blockading the construction. -
Oka stand off
The Mohawk warrior society decided to stop the construction of the golf course by blockading the construction. Response: the mayor of Oka called the Quebec Provincial Police to remove the blockade. police advanced on the Mohawk lines, gunfire broke out, officer was killed. Nightly violent confrontations involving nearby Quebec communities, police & Mohawks. Across Canada, other Aboriginal groups supported by blockading highways &other transportation routes that went through reserves. -
Oka stand off
The conflict ended when the Mohawks and the government reached an agreement and the federal government bought the disputed land and negotiated its transfer to the Kanesatake First NationOka was a wake up call to the gov’t of Canada that First Nations people were willing to fight for their rights. -
Nisga's Treaty
1992-1998
the treaty: 1. entitled to 8% of their original land 2. ownership of the forest3. partial profits form salmon fisheries & hydro development4. right to develop their own municipal gov’t & policing5. gov’t offered to pay the Nisga’a $190 million over 15 years in compensation for lost land6. Nisga’a Peopleagreed to become taxpayers -
Gustafasen lake BC
Aboriginal peoplere-occupied land that they claimed was sacred ground -
Ipperwash Ontario
Aboriginal people occupied land on a former army based which was taken during WWII but never returned -
Nisaga Treaty
1998 Delgamuluukw Case ruled on: It ruled that AB groups could claim ownership of the land if they can prove that they occupied the land before the Canadian gov’t claimed sovereignty, and that they occupied it continuously and exclusively.In 1998, the Nisga’a were given wide powers of self-government, ownership of 1,922 square kilometers of land, including all resources, fishing and hunting rights, and $190 million dollars. -
Delgamuluukw Case
Background: 1912, BC’s Nisga’a of the Nass Valley in the Northwest become the first group to make a land claim against the Canadian Government.In 1993, the Nisga’a won a partial victory in the Supreme court of Justice acknowledging Aboriginal title to the land.This set a precedent which later caused two neighboring nations, the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en to take their land claim to court. -
Statement of Reconciliation
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Nisaga treaty significance
a unique treaty involving both the federal and provincial governments, and, in the end, no non-Aboriginal settlers were forced from the territory under the Nisga’a control.• it was an expensive dispute. Business began to halt their investments in the area. As well, the opposition wanted to hold a referendum but the BC government refused a vote by all the population arguing that the rights of a minority can never be fairly decided by a vote of the majority. -
Statement of Reconciliation issued
The purpose of the Statement of Reconciliation was for the Canadian government to issues an official statement recognizing that the policies which sought to assimilate Aboriginal peoples were not conducive to building a strong country -
Creation of Nunavut
marks the powerful changes/successful negotiations being made by the First Nations People. This treaty gave the Inuit control over 1.6 million sq. km of land on the Eastern Arctic. political system of Nunavut there are no political parties – people run for election as individuals, and then the elected members vote for the member who they want to lead the gov't
