The role of education in the loss of spiritual and cultural values ; evidence of previous and planned oppression by non-Indians ; revival of interest in traditional values and the role ofelders as a source of knowledge.
Purpose of act was to eliminate sexual discrimination within the Indian Act and make it congruent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Came about because of United Nations Human Rights Commission's ruling that First Nations women were being discriminated against due to loss of status through marriage to non-First Nations men.
Brief document outlines issues around application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to governments created by the Indian Act i.e. individual versus collective rights.
An Act to Amend “The Indian Act.” S.C. 1887, c. 33 (50-51Vict.) [Assented to 23rd June, 1887.]
Documents & Presentations
Author/Creator
Government of Canada
Description
Contains material on band membership inquiries by the Superintendent General, logging on reserve land, stopping of a payment of an annuity and interest money to any woman who lives immorally (section 73), intoxication and prostitution.
Consists of an interview where Adam Solway talks about being orphaned at 8 years and adopted by the Blackfoot Reserve, Alta; his attendance at a residential school; becoming a councillor and then chief of the reserve. He comments on the issues he had to deal with as well as providing comments on contemporary lifestyles and leadership.
Interview includes a biographical account of Antoine Lonesinger's life that includes stories about farming, trapping, house construction and the making of charcoal and lime. He also tells of the murder of an Indian Agent at the hands of a Blackfoot named Owl Eyes.
Interview with Mr Lonesinger who tells stories of Indian agents both good and bad. He also tells of the Battle of the Cut Knife Hill and the banning of the Sundance.
Discusses amendments to the Act involving reinstatement of status that had been lost due to gender discrimination in the previous Act, the issue of transmission of status to children, difficulties in producing documentation, and band membership vs. status.
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND)]
Description
Brief information sheet deals with amendments to the Indian Act which were meant to remove discriminatory rules which had denied women status, restore status and membership rights, and increase band's control over their own affairs.
Proceedings of conference that looked at the impact of the legislation. Main issues discussed were divisiveness resulting from adoption of band membership codes which block women from returning to their home communities and two-tiered system which produces loss of status due to the "second generation cutoff" rule.
The Canadian Journal of Law and Society, vol. 20, no. 2, 2005, pp. 183-205
Description
Discusses how the Six Nations band members have accessed private property using these certificates avoid circumvent the seizure for debt restrictions in the Indian Act and acquire mortgages and own their own housing.
Wide-ranging discussion among elders touching on many topics including kinship; illegitimate children; ceremonialism; therole of the elder; financing the elder who incurs some costs associated with the organization of a ceremony.
An interview with Ernest Debassigae who recounts the history of the Manitoulin Island Indians and problems with Indian agents. Transcribed by Joanne Greenwood.
Reports discrimination remains in the registration provision of the Indian Act and is found in the second generation cut-off rule which was not looked at in the McIvor case.
Labour/Le Travail, vol. 38, Special edition: Australia and Canada: Labour Compared, Fall, 1996, pp. [37]-53
Description
Compares policies that oppressed Aboriginal women in Australia and Canada during the 19th and 20th centuries. Special Joint issue with Labour History, volume 71.
Discusses conflict of law arising from application of provincial law on-reserve to matters in First Nation jurisdiction, examples cited include: gambling, smoking, adoption, health, welfare regulation and education.
Background Paper (Indian and Eskimo Affairs) ; no. 2
Documents & Presentations
Author/Creator
Department of Indian and Northern Canada
Policy Planning and Research
Description
This paper covers subjects such as early administration of Aboriginals in Canada, the development of an Indian Policy by Confederation in 1867, the 1951 Indian Act, and the implementation of the White Paper in 1969.
Examines colonization of Canada, historical trauma, the criminal justice system and community healing programs.
Duration: 37:21.
Related material: Discussion Guide.
Looks at the question of belonging, identity and gender equality and failure to address this in Bill C-3. Uses author's family story to show lack of Indian status or band membership in community.
Saskatchewan Law Review, vol. 38, 1974, pp. 243-249
Description
Examines the Indian Act in light of the Canadian Bill of Rights, the access to status by a non-Aboriginal woman when marrying a status Aboriginal man, and the old section 12(1)(b) about permitting the protest of status on the illegitimate child of a status woman.
Discusses the ramifications of Bill C-31, which amended the Indian Act, and the policy options available to the Registrar of Indian and Northern Affairs to deal with the inequities that have arisen in terms of children having status.