feb 1, 1876 - The Indian Act

Description:

The Indian Act is passed by the Government
of Canada on the premise that economic,
social, and political regulation of First Nations peoples (and lands) would facilitate assimilation. Many subsequent amendments further restrict their rights and freedoms. Changes include banning hereditary chiefdoms and other forms of governance; expropriating reserve lands for public purposes; requiring permission to be o -reserve in some provinces; prohibiting the potlatch and sun dances; requiring attendance at Residential School; revoking Indian status when enfranchised; and requiring the consent of the Superintendent of Indian A airs before hiring lawyers to initiate land claims in the courts.

An 1880 amendment to the Indian Act formally disenfranchises and disempowers Indigenous women by declaring they “cease to be an Indian in any respect” if they marry “any other than an Indian, or a non-treaty Indian.”


http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IRSR10-BM05.pdf

Video:
https://www.tvo.org//video/programs/the-agenda-with-steve-paikin/the-indian-act-explained

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