1. First Nations in Victorian Times
Reservations
Assimilation
Indian Act
Residential Schools

2. Impact of Immigration Some times by force
Aboriginals were pushed out of their territories to make room for immigrant settlers
Some times by force
Some thought they were allies with the British
Many died due to contact with European Disease

3. Demand for land The government
Demand for good, fertile land to sell to Europeans-Greedy!
The government
tried to revoke land treaties and steal Aboriginal territory
Persuade Bands to rent out farmland and then sell the land to settlers illegally

4. Reservations Aboriginals in Canada were forced on to reservation land
Land set aside by the government for the use of Aboriginals/First Nations
a fraction of the old territory
Usually cheap unwanted land

5. Assimilation
To join another culture. This process forces a person or group to give up their language and traditions
Assimilation of First Nations was the goal for Canada’s government
The government tried to force Aboriginals to live like Europeans

6. 1857 Gradual Civilization Act
Legislation that attempted to assimilate Aboriginals by making them British citizens (Enfranchisement)
But if they become citizens the government could ignore all previous treaties!

7. The Indian Act 1876: The legislated Discrimination of Canadian Aboriginals
The Indian Act is federal legislation that outlines the basic legal status and entitlements of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples.
This act formulized the assimilation of First Nations and consolidated previous laws concerning the First Nations

8. The government made decisions on behalf of Aboriginal peoples
First Nations became wards of the government
Most decisions were influenced either by prejudice or misunderstanding
Paternalistic Legislation: the attitude based around a family hierarchy- Father Knows Best

9. What Does the Indian Act Deal With?
The Act deals with :
the legal definition of who may claim Indian status in Canada
the rights and duties which accompany that status
the structure of Canada’s reserve system
the nature of Aboriginal self-government

10. Under the Indian Act
First Nations required to register with the government to gain legal status
If they failed to register, they would lose their rights and be declared “Non-Status”

11. The Indian Act, Status, and Treaties
Have to be considered a status Indian in order to receive certain benefits outlined within treaties
No status=no benefits=no need for government to make or honour treaties

12. The Métis were not entitled to Indian status.
Not considered First Nations as they were “half”
Considered “white” yet not treated equally
What about the Métis?

13. Métis
Sir John A. Macdonald said, "If they are half-breed, they are [considered by the government to be] white."
September, 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Métis were entitles to the same rights as Aboriginal peoples.

14. Why did the Government create the Indian Act?
Gave the government control over reserves and treaty rights
Indian Agents now in control of reservations and who lived on them
Why did the Government create the Indian Act?

15. First Nations under the control of Federal Indian Agents
First Nations were required to have special passes to leave the reserves
Indian Agents enforce who can leave the reservation and what First Nations can do on their own lands
First Nations under the control of Federal Indian Agents

16. The Provisional Government would never be allowed again!
Traditional ways of Self- Governance denied
No choosing leaders
No independent laws
The Provisional Government would never be allowed again!

17. Potlatch Ceremonies Banned!
Traditional ceremonies Banned
Part of the assimilation process- destroy culture
Potlatch Ceremonies Banned!

18. Women Faced Gender Discrimination Under the Indian Act
Aboriginal women lost their status by marriage to non- Aboriginal men- not visa versa
- Includes children
No Status =
Could not live on reserves, visit family, or be buried with family on reserves
No rights or benefits under Treaties
Women Faced Gender Discrimination Under the Indian Act

19. Amendment Bill C
1985 Bill C-31
An amendment to removed the sub-section which caused Indian women & their children to lose their status when they married non-Indian men.

20. No status for Grandchildren
Problems with Bill C-31
No status for Grandchildren
Families of Women who married out are still discriminated against.
women have to prove that the father of their child is registered as an Indian.

21. Disturbing Reality

22. Residential Schools “Kill the Indian in the Child”
Residential schools were government- sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Aboriginal children into Euro-Canadian culture.
Residential Schools “Kill the Indian in the Child”

23. Kamloops Residential School

24. Assimilation

25. Forced Residential School – Part of the Indian Act 1876
As of 1894:
children were forcibly removed from their homes and put in residential schools for 10 months of the year
age of 5 or 6 until they were 16.
Forced Residential School – Part of the Indian Act 1876

26. Students transported like cattle
Children were forcibly taken from their homes
Transported by cattle truck over long distances
Many children were not told where they were going, for how long, or why
Students transported like cattle

27. Tactics used to strip children of their identity
Forbidding children to speak their native tongue
Forbidding students to speak with siblings and parents
Telling children that they were “dirty, ugly Indians”
Cutting of their hair
Providing each student with a number that they were addressed by for the next decade
Torture and humiliation

28. Failed Schools System
60-80% of Aboriginal children in federal residential schools failed to advance past Grade 3
This largely due to the fact that so much time was spent on religious indoctrination and using the children as labourers

29. Students used as Slave Labour
Aboriginal children in residential schools were sent to work on farms and in domestic situations as seasonal free labour.
Offset the cost of running the school
Hard work forced children into submission
Students used as Slave Labour

30. Residential School Teachers
Both governments and churches realized that qualified teachers were expensive
Federal government provided minimal funding for residential schools
qualified teachers were unaffordable

31. Residential School Teachers
Saved costs by hiring incapable teachers who would not be able to gain employment else ware
All teachers members of the clergy- imposed Christian beliefs upon children

32. Abuse and Violence
Many clerical teachers were pedophiles and/or physically abusive
1000s of children sexually assaulted by teachers and administration
Many children died from abuses suffered by teachers

33. Healing Scars
Wednesday June 11, 2008, the Prime Minister Stephen Harper, made a Statement of Apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools, on behalf of the Government of Canada
Kamloops Residential School made into a museum to teach generations
Communities coming together to talk about the experience

34. Truth and Reconciliation Committee
The TRC is a component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Its mandate is to inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian Residential Schools (IRS). The Commission will document the truth of survivors, families, communities and anyone personally affected by the IRS experience.