1. The Indian Act
What Act was passed in 1867 to give the Government of Canada jurisdiction over First Nation people and their lands?

2. The Indian Act British North America (BNA) Act Section 91 (24)
“Indians and lands reserved for Indians”

3. The Indian Act
“Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle, that the aborigines are to be kept in a condition of tutelage and treated as wards or children of the State. ...the true interests of the aborigines and of the State alike require that every effort should be made to aid the Red man in lifting himself out of his condition of tutelage and dependence, and that is clearly our wisdom and our duty, through education and every other means, to prepare him for a higher civilization by encouraging him to assume the privileges and responsibilities of full citizenship.”
Department of the Interior, 
Annual Report for the year ended 30th June, 1876
(Parliament, Sessional Papers, No. 11, 1877), p. xiv.

4. Why was the Indian Act passed in 1876?

5. The Indian Act
The government wanted to “civilize” and assimilate them into Canadian society. The Act imposed several restrictions on First Nations peoples in order to meet these goals.
Was not part of the Treaty agreements

6. The Indian Act Defining who “Indians” were
Providing for enfranchising First Nations people
Administering reserve lands
Managing sales of timber
Administering band moneys
Determining leadership process (Chief and Council)
Regulating intoxicants
Prohibitions of certain activities

7. The Indian Act
What was the purpose of the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 and the Enfranchisement Act of 1869?

8. The Indian Act
The Gradual Civilization Act assumed that if First Nations’ peoples owned individual property, they would become industrious and self-reliant.
The Enfranchisement Act increased the degree of government control of on- reserve systems. There was to be very little meaningful FN participation in their own government.

9. The Indian Act
First Nations peoples did not respond to enfranchisement so it became compulsory for certain people:
FN women marrying non-FN men
Children of FN women and non-FN men
People who lived off the reserve for more than five years
People who had obtained higher education

10. The Indian Act
What statement did Duncan Campbell Scott, Superintendent General of Indian Affairs make to parliament in 1920 to expose the intent of the Canadian policy to assimilate First Nations into Canadian society?

11. The Indian Act
“Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian Question.”
Unfulfilled Treaty promises

12. The Indian Act
What was the intention of “residential schools” and how was the policy enforced?

13. The Indian Act
1894 – compulsory for FN children to go to residential schools- The goals were to ‘Christianize’ and ‘civilize’ these children. The churches ran these schools. Parents were faced with fines or jail sentences if they tried to prevent their children from being removed from their homes.
The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996

14. What type of administrative control did the Indian agents have?
The Indian Act
What type of administrative control did the Indian agents have?

15. The Indian Act
By 1880 the Department of Indian affairs was created to administer the Canadian Government's responsibilities under the Indian Act. Indian agents controlled every aspect of FNs peoples lives. They were given judicial powers as Justices of the Peace.
Indian agent’s vote superseded Chief and Council

16. The Indian Act
What system was introduced in 1869 to replace First Nations’ traditional forms of government?

17. The Indian Act
The system of Chief and Council replaced traditional forms of government. Added to the Indian Act - Sections These new band governments were made to enforce the rules and regulations created under the Indian Act.

18. The Indian Act
What prohibitions were introduced to control First Nations after the Riel Resistance in 1885?

19. The Indian Act
Pass System – not allowed to leave the reserve without permission from the Indian Agent
Permit System – not allowed to sell goods without permission of Indian Agent (livestock, wood, hay personal possessions)

20. Amendments to the Indian Act
1951 – removed some restrictions such as prevention of ceremonies, Permit system, ban of alcohol,
Bill C31 – FN women regained their status as Indians (two generations); Band membership i
1999 – First Nations Land Management Act – bands assume authority over land management

21. Contemporary Indian Act
The Indian Act
Contemporary Indian Act
Continues to regulate, manage and direct many aspects of the lives of First Nations peoples across Canada including Education, health, membership, Band elections, taxation, land and resource management.