1. On Indigenous Peoples and Histories: TGSA Board Meeting #3
10 November 2016
Jessica Hinton, MA

2. Indigenous Peoples: First Nations, Métis, & Inuit
Original inhabitants of Turtle Island (North America).
“Indians,” status or non-status.
Citizens of nations (i.e., Kanien'kehá:ka, Mí’kmaq, Heiltsuk, etc.) that pre-date settler-colonialism, and in many cases, European nations.
Métis –
Originate from fur trade contexts by the late 17th century.
Most often, descendants of unions between Indigenous (Algonquin, Cree, Ojibwe) women and settler men.
Inuit –
Also original inhabitants of Turtle Island, but distinct from First Nations.
Formerly, “Eskimos.”
For lack of a better analogy, perhaps could be described as ‘dialects’ of one culture, as opposed to wholly different cultures.

3. Nogojiwanong: Anishinaabeg & Haudenosaunee Populations
The Original People
Council of Three Fires: Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Odawa
Nogojiwanong (Peterborough) & area: Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg territory
Haudenosaunee:
People of the Longhouse
Confederacy of Six Nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora

4. Settler-Colonialism & Indian Policies
Christopher Columbus
Landed in the Caribbean in 1492
Smallpox, measles, plague, scarlet fever, influenza, etc. led to the annihilation of two million+ people by 1550, and by extension, the slave trade.
Origins/Goals of Indian Policy: subdue, Christianize, civilize
USA: Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830
President granted lands west of Mississippi River to tribes who agreed to give up homelands.
Canada: Indian Act of 1876
Who is an ’Indian’? Who can they marry? Who are their children? Who governs them? Where can they live? Can they work? Attend school? Leave their reserve?
“Doctrine of Discovery”
Indigenous people not human beings, therefore could not discover or own land.

5. Indian Policies, cont. Royal Proclamation, 1763
British colonial governments giving settlers rights to Indigenous lands.
Gradual Civilization Act, 1857
Teach Indigenous people how to be European; assimilation is goal.
British North America Act, 1867
Section 91: Colonial government with authority of Indian peoples and lands.
Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy, 1969
“The White Paper”; sought to repeal Indian Act.
Indian Residential Schools, ????-1996
Kill the Indian in the child.

6. Responsibilities Settler-colonialism Privilege Allyship
Know what it is, how you benefit, how you’re complicit, etc.
Privilege
Does not mean you have never struggled personally; simply that you occupy a more advantageous position in settler-colonial society in comparison to the original inhabitants of Turtle Island.
Allyship
”Ally” is a verb; recognize that you have benefitted from the theft of Indigenous land and marginalization of Indigenous cultures; work to decolonize yourself and dismantle the oppressive systems in which we live.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015

7. For further information…
indian/
_English2.pdf