oct 11, 1869 - 'Gradual Enfranchisement Act'
(passed, 1869)
Description:
"By 1869, the federal government had created the Gradual Enfranchisement Act which established the elective band council system that remains in the Indian Act to this day.
The Gradual Enfranchisement Act also granted the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs extreme control over status Indians. For example, the Superintendent had the power to determine who was of 'good moral character' and therefore deserve certain benefits, such as deciding if the widow of an enfranchised Indian 'lives respectably' and could therefore keep her children in the event of the father’s death. The Act also severely restricted the governing powers of band councils, regulated alcohol consumption and determined who would be eligible for band and treaty benefits. It also marks the beginning of gender-based restrictions to status. For a closer look as to why this is, see our section on the marginalization of Aboriginal women. For a more specific look at the process of excluding women from their status rights in the Indian Act, read Chapter 9, 'The Indian Act,' in Volume I of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.)"
Sources:
http://indigenousfoundations.web.arts.ubc.ca/the_indian_act/
https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-INTER-HQ/STAGING/texte-text/a69c6_1100100010205_eng.pdf
Added to timeline:
BIPOC Oppression & Resistance in Canada & the US
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