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1763 Royal Proclamation
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III to establish a basis of government administration in the North American territories formally ceded by France to Britain in the Treaty of Paris, 1763, following the Seven Years War. -
Indian Act
The Indian Act is the principal statute through which the federal government administers Indian status, local First Nations governments and the management of reserve land and communal monies. It was first introduced in 1876 as a consolidation of previous colonial ordinances that aimed to eradicate First Nations culture in favour of assimilation into Euro-Canadian society. -
1830 Reserve System
The reserve system was also a crucial aspect of the history of First Nations and nonAboriginal people. Established by federal and provincial legislation, the reserve system set aside tracts of land which the Crown held in trust, and First Nations people were assigned to live in specified reserves. -
1960 Aboriginal Right to Universal Suffrage
Non-status Indians received full voting rights at the provincial level, starting in British Columbia in 1949 and ending with Québec in 1969. The federal franchise was first extended to non-status Indians in 1950. The franchise fully extended to status Indians in 1960 under the John Diefenbaker administration, 12 years after a parliamentary committee recommended that First Nations be fully enfranchised. -
1968 National Indian Brotherhood & Native Council of Canada Formed
aboriginal groups had conflicting interests. Some Indian groups without land reserves wanted them while others did not, and many Status Indians opposed attempts by non-Status Indians to gain government recognition and benefits. The National Indian Council split in 1968. The National Indian Brotherhood formed to represent only Status Indians. Soon after, the Métis formed the Canadian Métis Society, and the Inuit formed several different organizations. -
1969 Residential School System Abolished but not all closed
In 1969, the system was taken over by the Department of Indian Affairs, ending church involvement. The government decided to phase out the schools, but this met with resistance from the Catholic Church, which felt that segregated education was the best approach for Indigenous children. Some Indigenous communities also resisted closure of the schools, arguing either that denominational schools should remain open or that the schools should be transferred to their own control. -
1969 White Paper
The 1969 White Paper was a Canadian government policy paper that attempted to abolish previous legal documents pertaining to Indigenous peoples in Canada, including the Indian Act and treaties, and assimilate all “Indian” peoples under the Canadian state. -
Assembly of the First Nations
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is a political organization representing approximately 900,000 First Nations citizens in Canada. The AFN advocates on behalf of First Nations on issues such as treaties, Indigenous rights, and land and resources. The AFN's Chiefs assemblies are held at least twice a year, where chiefs from each First Nation pass resolutions to direct the organization’s work. -
1980s Movement toward Self Government
The movement toward autonomy began in the 1980s, encouraged by a new sence of self relevance by many Aboriginal groups and the willingness of the federal government to withdraw. -
Meech Lake
The Meech Lake Accord is a set of failed constitutional amendments, proposed in the late-1980s. One of the key objectives of the Meech Lake Accord was to gain Quebec’s explicit acceptance of the Constitution Act, 1982. It was the first attempt to amend the Constitution under the new rules for constitutional change set out in the Constitution Act, 1982. -
Bill C-31
Bill C-31 allowed the reinstatement of thousands of women and children who had lost status under the previous discriminatory law, the amendment brought in a whole new set of ways to discriminate against them. In fact, Aboriginal leaders are now recognizing that Bill C-31 is merely the realization of the termination policy that then-minister of Indian Affairs Jean Chretien was proposing with his 1969 White Paper Policy. -
Oka Stand Off
The Oka Crisis was a 78-day standoff between Mohawk protesters, police, and army. At the heart of the crisis was the proposed expansion of a golf course and development of condominiums on disputed land that included a Mohawk burial ground. -
Nisga’a Treaty 1992-1998
A mere 111 years after a group of northwestern B.C. natives first asked Ottawa and Victoria for a treaty confirming their title to hundreds of square kilometres of the remote and lovely Nass River valley, their descendants may finally be on the verge of satisfaction. -
Gustafasen Lake BC
The trial took 10 months, its drama unfolding daily behind floor-to-ceiling bulletproof glass in the highest-security courtroom in British Columbia. Spectators passed through a metal detector before entering the B.C. Supreme Court in Surrey, a southeast suburb of Vancouver. -
Ipperwash Crisis
The Ipperwash Crisis took place in 1995 on land in and around Ontario’s Ipperwash Provincial Park, which was claimed by the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.The underlying cause of the crisis was the appropriation of the Stoney Point Reserve in 1942 by the federal government for use as a military camp. After repeated requests for the land to be returned, members of the Stony Point First Nation occupied the camp in 1993 and in 1995. -
Statement of Reconciliation issued in 1998
The Canadian government apologized today to the country's Indian, Inuit and other aboriginal peoples for decades of mistreatment, offering an emotional atonement for policies that sought to stamp out native culture and confined Indian children in often abusive government-run schools. -
1998 Delgamuluukw Case
The Delgamuukw case concerned the definition, the content and the extent of Aboriginal title. The Supreme Court observed that Aboriginal title constituted an ancestral right protected by Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. Aboriginal title is a right relating to land sui generis, held communally and distinct from other ancestral rights. Aboriginal title is, therefore, in substance, a right to territory and encompasses exclusive use and occupation. -
1999 Creation of Nunavut
On April 1, 1999, the new territory of Nunavut was born, finally making the controversial dream of the Northwest Territories' Inuit a reality. It meant the Inuit gained self-rule and control over their own institutions. This was the result of years of lobbying Ottawa and numerous plebiscites overwhelmingly in favour of self-determination. But along with the territory come the challenges: combating suicide, reversing assimilation and regaining a sense of identity.
