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1763 Royal proclamation
- was issued by the British King in 1763 after the 7 years war with France ended -France had ceded (given) the territories in north america to Britain as part of the peace deal -The king drew a line along the appalachian mountains and designated everything west of the mountains as native territory -this designation forbade colonists from settling there, which angered the european settlers -explicitly stated that natives owned "all lands not ceded by or purchased from them"
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1830 reserve system
-natives were seen as blocking westward expansion by european settlers
-the natives were moved on to reserves, which were parcels of federal land only a fraction of the size of the native's original land
-reserves are also managed by the federal government, who at the time saw the natives as an obstacle to expansion. As a result, these reserves were often on the poorest land, and the government held very little interest in the welfare of the inhabitants. -
1876 Indian Act
-passed in 1876
- governs how Canada and the Canadian government interacts with native people
-gives the government control over almost all aspects of native's lives
- limits the power of "Band Councils" and forbids them from reserving land
-it was unilaterally imposed, as opposed to being negotiated
-the act was used to try to assimilate native people into Canadian society
-set up residential schools to teach native kids the Canadian way of life
- is seen as discriminatory by many Canadians -
Assembly Of the First Nations
After the First World War, the League of Indians in Canada was founded by a Mohawk veteran, Fred Ogilvie Loft. It became the antecedent of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and Indian Association of Alberta.
In 1926, the Indian Defense League of America was formed by Chief Clinton Rickard of the Tuscarora Nation, with heavy involvement in US-Canada border crossing problems faced by "Indians" in both countries. Rickard organized an annual celebration to assert border crossing rights -
1960 Aboriginal Right to Universal Suffrage
-gave native people the right to vote in Canadian elections
-universal suffrage defined as everyone having the right to vote, not just certain groups based on race, religion or gender (this term still often excludes minors, however)
-passed at around the same time as the canadian bill of rights, which stated that all Canadians have equal rights
-bill of rights was strong evidence that native people should get the right to vote
-until now they were considered wards of the state, like foster kids -
Period: to
National Indian Brotherhood and Native Council of Canada
-formed in 1961 to represent the interests of Canada's native people
- collapsed in 1967 since the Status, Non Statues Natives and Metis couldn't work together
-Metis and Non Status Indians formed the Native Council of Canada
-Status Indians formed the National Indian Brotherhood
-both groups still had the same goal, to represent and advance the interests of native Canadians -
1969 Residential School System Abolished
-residential schools were formally abolished in 1969, and all such institutions were placed under the administration of the Department of Indian Affairs, as opposed to that of the Catholic Church
-although ownership changed hands, the conditions at the schools did not
-despite the clear indications that the schools were not working, and did more hard than good, it took many more years before schools actually started to close
-last residential school only closed in 1996, almost 3 decades later -
Period: to
1969 White Paper
-was a policy proposal by PM Trudeau and the Minister of Indian Affairs
-was meant to abolish the Indian Act, which many saw as discriminatory
-would also remove the legal status of "Indian" from Canadian law, which was part of Trudeau's plan to increase equality
-however, most native band leaders opposed the policy proposal, and after a year it was withdrawn
-the natives saw it as more of an assimilation attempt seeking to remove their special status then as a sincere equality measure -
Specific Land Claim
Specific claims deal with past grievances of First Nations related to Canada's obligations under historic treaties or the way it managed First Nations' funds or other assets. To honour its obligations, Canada negotiates settlements with the First Nation and (where applicable) provincial and/or territorial governments. -
Comprehensive Land Claims
Comprehensive land claims deal with the unfinished business of treaty-making in Canada. These claims generally arise in areas of Canada where Aboriginal land rights have not been dealt with by treaty or through other legal means -
1980 Movement Towards Self Government
-proposal to give governments representing Canada's native peoples greater powers, ranging from powers equal to those of municipal governments, to demands to be considered sovereign states
-no bands were granted status of sovereign states, some granted varying degrees of power as a result of their negotiations with federal/ provincial governments
-drive for self government stems from the idea that this land belongs to the natives, and that it is occupied by settlers, who impose laws upon them -
1985 passing of bill c-31
The three principles that guided the amendments to the Indian Act were:
removal of discrimination;
restoring status and membership rights; and
increasing control of Indian bands over their own affairs.
n addition to bringing the Indian Act into accord with the equality provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Bill C-31 expanded band control over membership and community life, enabling Indian people to take an important step toward self-government. -
Oka standoff
Was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka. Sûreté du Québec Corporal Marcel Lemay was killed by a bullet, Rumours circulated that the reason no source had been determined was that it had been a police bullet and that Lemay had been conducting an internal investigation which was connecting the death of two Mohawk men to SQ guns. The dispute was the first well-publicized violent conflict between First Nations and the Canadian government -
Gustafasen Lake BC
Confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ts'peten Defenders in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, at Gustafsen Lake. 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. The predominantly indigenous occupiers believed that the "grazing rights privilege" ranch land on which they stood was both sacred space and part of a larger tract of Shuswap territory. -
1998 Delgamuukw case
-aboriginal title is the idea that the land in canada is owned by the native people, and illegally occupied by the white settler's defendants
- the supreme court defined Aboriginal title, and what requirements had to be met in order for the natives to claim sovereignty over that land
- the requirements were:
-"they must have occupied the territory before the declaration of sovereignty"
- they must prove continued occupation between the declaration of sovereignty and before it -
Statement of Reconciliation issued in 1998
the Canadian government issued
a "Statement of Reconciliation" contained within a
document entitled Gathering Strength – Canada's
Aboriginal Action Plan.
made a number of recommendations to the Government of Canada regarding residential schools. Canada consequently made a Statement of Reconciliation to residential school survivors in 1998 and created the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. -
Nisga'a Treaty
-between the Nisga'a first nations and the BC government
- 2000 square KM of reserve land was created in the Nass River Valley
-300,000 square KM of water reserve was also created
-gave the natives control of the land's rich fishing and logging industries
- was the first formal treaty signed between natives and the BC government in over a century -
1999 Creation of Nunavut
the map of Canada changed. The former Northwest Territories (NWT) was divided in two, creating a new territory called Nunavut. In the Inuit language, Inuktitut, the word "Nunavut" means "our land." -
Ipperwash Ontario
was an Indigenous land dispute that took place in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park in order to assert their claim to nearby land which had been expropriated from them during World War II. During a violent confrontation, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) killed protester Dudley George. George was unarmed and an OPP officer fired and killed Dudley George, believing the flashlight he held in his hand was a weapon.
