English - Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies

PRACTICE TIP
Valuable books to read about the
history of Aboriginal peoples,
the enormous contribution to
democracy, and the initial survival
of non-Aboriginal people in Canada
are:
A Fair Country: Telling Truths About
Canada by John Ralston Saul
Stolen from Our Embrace: The
Abduction of First Nations Children
and the Restoration of Aboriginal
Communities by Suzanne Fournier
Seeking mino-pimatisiwin:
An aboriginal approach to helping
by Michael Hart
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The Indian Act spelled out arbitrary conditions for being an “Indian” that were not
based on cultural and traditional practices. The family structure was undermined
by provisions in the Indian Act which enabled a non-Aboriginal woman who married
an Aboriginal man with Status to gain Indian Status, with all
the related rights, such as living on the reserve. By contrast,
Aboriginal women who married a white male or non-status
Aboriginal man were considered to be bona fide members of
Canadian society. These women and their children lost their
Indian Status.
The Indian Act was designed to destroy the traditional
culture and placed severe restrictions on Aboriginal peoples:
> The Act required that an individual sought an Indian
Agent’s consent to leave the reserve; doing so without
permission could result in a prison sentence
> The Act imposed “Band Systems,” displacing traditional
forms of governance
> 1927 amendments to the Act forbade First Nations people
from forming political organizations. Hence, it was common
for First Nations leaders to be jailed by the RCMP for trying to
organize any form of political group.
> > 1927 amendments to the Act denied Aboriginal peoples of
Canada the right to speak their native language, or practice
their traditional religion
> > The Act declared the Potlatch ceremonies, a ritual common to most First
Nations religions across the country, to be illegal
> > The Act stated that Aboriginal peoples had to give up their Indian Status if they
wanted to vote, own property, or serve in the military
There have been a number of significant revisions to the Indian Act:
> > 1985 Bill C-31: Prior to this law, Status Indian women who married non-Aboriginal
men lost their Status and their band membership. These women could no longer
pass their Status on to their children. Bill C-31 eliminated these discriminatory
provisions of the Indian Act, thus enabling these women and children to apply to
have their Indian Status restored.
> > In 2004, Sharon McIver challenged the Indian Act in a British Columbia court
as being discriminatory. While women and their children could have their
Indian Status reinstated under Bill C-31, their grandchildren were not
recognized as Status Indians. As a result of the success of her case, Bill C-3:
Gender Equity and the Indian Registration Act received Royal Assent on
December 15, 2010. The Governor in Council announced that on January 31,
2011, the Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act came into effect. The Indian
Act was revised to ensure that eligible grand-children of women who lost