Remixed Timeline

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples - 1997

1 CE

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples submits its report in 1997. Four of the seven commissioners appointed were Aboriginal people. The main conclusion of the report was the need for a complete change in the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada. This new relationship would respect Aboriginal cultures and values, the history behind Aboriginal nationhood and the inherent right to Aboriginal self-determination (self-government)

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

2

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission releases its final report in 2015. The commission looked at activities alleged to have occurred at residential schools, as well as the negative impacts of the schools' stated aim to assimilate First Nations children. Its final report identified 94 "Calls to Action" to "redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation."

Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples

3

Canada endorses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which it had opposed since its adoption in 2007.

Nanavut is Created

4

Nanavut is a new territory in Canada with a majority Inuit population. Inuktitut and English are the new territories official languages. Nanavut has its own legislative assembly, which has powers equal to any other federal territory, and its own Supreme Court.

Nisga'a Treaty

5

For the first time in their history, the Nisga'a people sign a treaty with the governments of British Columbia and Canada settling a land claim on more than 2000 square kilometres of land.

Idle No More Movement

6

The Idle No More movement uses social media to call on "all people to join in a peaceful revolution, to honour Indigenous sovereignty, and to protect the land and water." Protests such as circle dances and rail blockades are staged across the country on a wide variety of issues.

Section 12 - Indian Act Repealed

7

Section 12 of the Indian Act is repealed in 1985, as a result of the Lavell case at the Supreme Court. Native women can now marry a non-Native and keep their status and rights to own or inherit family land; they can also participate in band councils, political and social affairs of their communities.

Oka Crisis

8

1990 - Mohawk warriors set up barricades to protect their land from a golf course expansion near Oka, Quebec. The land is a Mohawk burial ground. Violence erupts between Mohawk and provincial police. The army is called in. The golf course is never built.

Meech Lake Accord

9

1992 - Elijah Harper, a Cree member of the Manitoba Legislature, refused to support the Meech Lake Accord on the grounds that the revision to the Canadian Constitution did not recognize Aboriginal rights. His action defeated the accord and sent the provinces and the federal government back to the discussion table.

Ipperwash Provincial Park

10

1995 - After decades of letter-writing campaigns, members of the Stoney Point and Kettle First Nations enter Ipperwash Provincial Park in Ontario to demand that the government return the land that it occupied in 1942 for a training camp and promised to return after the war. Protester Dudley George was shot dead and two other injured by the RCMP. The land was returned in 2007.

Six Nations (Haudenosaunee) Barricades

11

Members of the Six Nations (Haudenosaunee) put up barricades around a housing development near Caledonia, Ontario to demand recognition of their land title that was taken away in the 1840s. The Ontario government buys the housing development and put a ban on construction in place. The land claims remain unresolved.

Attawapiskat First Nation School

12

2008 - Shannen Koostachin, a 14 year old girl from Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario meets with Indian Affairs minister Chuck Strahl to demand a new "safe and comfy" school for her community. She is turned down. The school is eventually built and opened in August 2014.