-
1763 Royal Proclomation
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. -
1876 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. -
1830 Reserve System
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." First Nations reserves are the areas set aside for First Nations people after a contract with the Canadian state ("the Crown"), and are not to be confused with land claims areas, which involve all of that First Nations' traditional lands: a much larger territory than any other reserve. -
1960 Aboriginal Right to Universal Suffrage
Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, a civil libertarian, and long-time critic of Indian administration established a Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons on Indian Affairs in 1959 to investigate Indian administration. In early 1958, Diefenbaker’s government began drafting the Canadian Bill of Rights. With the Bill of Rights’ emphasis on equal rights for all Canadians, Indians could hardly be denied the right to vote. -
1968 National Indian Brotherhood and Native Council of Canada are Fored
The NIAC was set up to promote "unity among all First Nations people." But it didn't include the Inuit. The organization dissolved in 1968 because of disagreements between "status" and "non-status" Indians. The "status Indians" formed the National Indian Brotherhood. The "non-status Indians" and the Metis groups formed what eventually became the Congress of Aboriginal People. -
1969 Residential School System Abolished but not all Schools 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. By 1986, most schools had either been closed or turned over to local bands. Ten years later, Gordon Residential School in Punnichy, SK, finally closed its doors. -
1969 White Paper
The 1969 White Paper (formally known as the “Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy, 1969”) 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. -
1980s Movement Towards Self-Government
During the 1980s, special committees recommended that broad, measures be taken in Canada to recognize and implement self-government, and the issue was raised during the process of patriating the Canadian Constitution. A Special Committee of the House of Commons on Indian Self-Government was appointed in 1982, and in 1983 it produced the Penner Report, which recommended that Aboriginals be recognized as a distinct order of government and that processes leading to self-government be established. -
Assembly of 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. There are over 600 First Nations in Canada. -
1985 Passing of Bill C-31
Bill C-31, or a Bill to Amend the Indian Act, passed into law in April 1985 to bring the Indian Act into line with gender equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It proposed modifications to various sections of the Indian Act. -
Meech Lake
The votes in Winnipeg and St. John's never took place. As a protest against Meech's lack of attention to aboriginal issues, Elijah Harper, a Cree member of the Manitoba legislative assembly, said a soft but emphatic "no" to Gary Filmon's request for unanimous consent to put Meech onto the floor for debate. Clyde Wells, always an outspoken opponent of the accord, meanwhile found Harper's stand highly convenient. -
Oka Standoff
The Oka Crisis was a 78-day standoff (11 July–26 September 1990) 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. Tensions were high, particularly after the death of Corporal Marcel Lemay, a police officer, and the situation was only resolved after the army was called in. -
Nisga'a Treaty
Negotiators acting for 5,500 Nisga'a and the federal and provincial governments last week shook hands on a draft treaty that would confirm the band's right to a measure of self-government and nearly 2,000 square kilometres of land, while paying the Nisga'a $190 million in compensation for the release of the rest of their traditional territory. Band spokesmen welcomed the agreement as righting a historic wrong. -
Gustafasen Lake BC
The Gustafsen Lake standoff was a confrontation between the RCMP and the Ts'peten Defenders in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, at Gustafsen Lake. The standoff began on August 18, 1995, and ended on September 17, 1995. The RCMP operation would end up being the most costly of its kind in Canadian history having involved 400 police officers and support from the Canadian Military (under Operation Wallaby). -
Ipperwash Ontario
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. On 4 September 1995 protesters occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park nearby. The tension between the protesters and the OPP increased, resulting in a confrontation on 6 September 1995 during which Dudley George, an Aboriginal protestor, was killed -
1998 Delgamuukw Case
The Delgamuukw case (1997) (also known as Delgamuukw v. British Columbia) concerned the definition, the content and the extent of the Aboriginal title (i.e., ownership of traditional lands). The Supreme Court of Canada observed that Aboriginal title constituted an ancestral right protected by Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. -
Statement of Reconciliation Issued in 1998
The federal government bolstered the formal statement of reconciliation with a commitment to work with all Native peoples, the churches, and related parties to rectify the damage done under the auspices of the residential school system. To this end, a $350 million healing fund for victims was established. The government also created an additional $250 million fund to assist Native economic development, the establishment of self-government, and others. -
1999 Creation of Nunavut
Nunavut was created for the Inuit to have their own land. Nunavut, or “Our Land” in Inuktitut encompasses over 2 million km2 and has a population of 35,944 residents (2016 census), approximately 85 percent of whom are Inuit. Covering roughly the part of the Canadian mainland and the Arctic Archipelago that lies to the north and northeast of the treeline, Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada and the fifth largest administrative division in the world.
