The First Nations, Inuit and Métis Experience: Assimilation and Resilience in 20 th c . Canada

1. The First Nations, Inuit and Métis Experience:Assimilation and Resilience in 20thc. Canada

2. Marcel Thach: 1925 – 1950 • 1927: Natives Barred from Legal Land Claims • 1938: Métis Population Betterment Act • 1938: The Dominion Elections Act • 1939: Re: Eskimos declares Inuit ‘Indians • 1949: BC First Nations Gain Vote • Jodie Walsh: 1950 – 1975 • 1951: Indian Act Revision and the ‘60s Scoop’ • 1960: The Right to Vote • 1970: The Red Paper • 1973: Indian Control of Indian Education Policy • 1975: The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement • Michelle Green: 1975 – present • 1982: The Constitution Act, 1982 • 1985: Bill C-31 • 1990: The Oka Crisis • 1999-01: The Burnt Church Crisis • 2008: Government Statement of Apology Contributors:

3. Natives barred from legal land claims • In 1927, the Indian Act was amended to make it illegal for Aboriginal Canadians to retain a lawyer for land claims, thus shutting down any sort of political or legal action. (Wilson and Morrison, 608) • This amendment, later extended to the far North basically stripped Aboriginal Canadians of their right to any sort of land whatsoever. It was a blatant move to deny First Nations the right to land ownership and attempted to push the Natives towards assimilation into urban Canadian culture. • This decision illustrates the systematic dehumanization of Aboriginal Canadians and how far the Canadian government was willing to go to strip First Nations’ of their rights. 1927 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis continue to fight for land claims to this day. (Photo: freegrassy.org)

4. Métis Population Betterment Act • A joint Métis and government committee identified lands of Métis settlement and set aside twelve. There was an initial vision that the Provincial Government would provide funding for programmes that would better the lives of the Alberta Métis. (Alberta Heritage Community Foundation) • The act, however, did increase funding to the Métis and increased the quality of life for many Métis throughout the 1940s by giving them a place to practice their religion and culture. (Wilson and Morrison, 609) • This was also the first time in Canadian history in which the government had provided land to a certain group of people and would set a legal precedent for the rest of the country. The flaws in the programmes, however, would mean that the law would have to be revisited later. (Wilson and Morrison, 610) 1938 The Métis Flag has been a symbol of nationalism for over 150 years. The infinity sign represents the joining of First Nations and European cultures.

5. The Dominion Elections Act retains racism as grounds for vote denial • That Aboriginals could not vote in Canada in 1938 was a given, despite the fact that American Aboriginals were given the franchise in the 1920s. The 1938 revision, however, ‘rewarded’ veterans of the First World War with the vote. • With the Second World War on the horizon, the possibility of Aboriginal suffrage increased volunteers when war broke out on 3 September, 1939. (Stevenson, 207) • Aboriginal participation in the war led directly to their provincial suffrage in British Columbia in 1949 and was a powerful argument for their suffrage in the 50s and 60s. 1938 Jules Castonguay was the Chief Electoral Officer responsible for this extension. (Photo: Elections Canada)

6. Re: Eskimos declares Inuit ‘Indians’ • The decision to include ‘Eskimos’ as “Indians” under the Indian Act meant that they were the responsibility of the Federal Government. At the time, the government ignored the decision which affected all Inuit. (Backhouse, 18) • During the Cold War, however, the Federal government used this decision to forcibly relocate communities of Inuit living in Northern Quebec to Resolute and Grise Ford in an attempt to claim High Arctic Sovereignty. • Later, the Court decision was also used to argue in favour of the creation of Nunavut. (Backhouse, 55) • Today, there still remains legal debate over whether the Inuit are legally “Indians” under the Indian Act. 1939 Court evidence was often racist and was based on tenuous science such as phrenology. (Photo: From Backhouse, Constance, Colour-Coded: A Legal history of Racism in Canada)

7. BC First Nations Gain Vote • With increasing pressure from Aboriginal groups, the British Columbia government in 1949 allowed First Nations people to vote in the Provincial Election for the first time. (New Federation House) • In the British Columbia general election of 1949, an Aboriginal was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. • This decision would result in several Court cases which gradually enfranchised Native Canadians in Manitoba (1952) and Ontario (1954). It also led to increased pressure for the Amendment of the Indian Act in 1951. 1949 Frank Calder was the First Nations member of a Canadian legislature. (Photo: Native Leaders of Canada newfederation.org)

8. Indian Act Revision – The 60s Scoop • The 1951 amendment to the Indian Act extended provincial child welfare services to First Nations reserve communities across Canada, and resulted in what is known today as the “60s Scoop” (Armitage 113). • Grounded in the colonialist assumption that First Nations peoples were culturally and morally inferior – thus unable to adequately provide for the needs of children – government authorities forcibly removed tens of thousands of First Nations children from their families, who were then made permanent wards of the state or placed in non-Aboriginal adoptive families (Armitage 115). • The ‘60s Scoop’ is emblematic of the federal government’s systematic policy of assimilation, and the process of separating First Nations children from their families, communities, and culture is often referred to as Canada’s cultural genocide. • Today, entire generations of First Nations history and cultural identity has been stripped away because of the ‘60s Scoop’ and similar assimilative policies (Reed 71). 1951 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children appeared throughout Canada’s public spaces, in government adoption services posters such as this one. (Photo: novamulti.com)

9. The Right to Vote • In many parts of Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples held the right to vote from Confederation on, but upon the condition that they abdicate their treaty rights and Indian status (Francis, Jones, Smith 490). • It was not until 10 March 1960, under the directive of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, that the franchise was extended to the Aboriginal peoples of Canada without requiring they give up treaty rights in exchange (Francis, Jones, Smith 490). • This step by the Diefenbaker government is often cited as the precursor to future government policies which have attempted to correct the historic political marginalization of Aboriginal peoples, and marks the initial step in the long and continued battle toward Aboriginal self-governance. 1960 Election officers at Hiawatha Council Hall, Ontario, during the first federal election in which all adult aboriginals in Canada could exercise their right to vote. (Photo: collectionscanada.gc.ca)

10. The Red Paper • The 1970 “Citizens Plus,” or “Red Paper,” is a response to the Trudeau government’s 1969 “White Paper” which called for the abolition of the Indian Act, the rejection of land claims, and the assimilation of First Nations peoples into the Canadian population with the status of other ethnic minorities (Francis, Jones, Smith 491). • The “Red Paper” response, written by Harold Cardinal and the Indian Chiefs of Alberta, voiced widespread opposition, galvanized the First Nations of Canada into action, and succeeded in convincing the Liberal government to abandon the assimilationist policy of the White Paper (Francis, Jones, Smith 491). • This single political success preserved Aboriginal constitutional status, strengthened national First Nations organizations (i.e. National Indian Brotherhood) and began a sustained political effort that had not existed since initial European contact (Miller 173). 1970 Jean Chrétien, minister of Indian Affairs, meeting with a delegation from the Indian Association of Alberta and other First Nations groups in Ottawa, June 1970. First Nations representatives have just presented the “Red Paper”. (Photo: collectionscanada.gc.ca)

11. Indian Control of Indian Education Policy • The Indian Control of Indian Education Policy document, written by the National Indian Brotherhood and conceded by Ottawa in 1973, advocated parental responsibility and local Band control over First Nations education (Miller 173). • The policy articulated philosophy, goals, principles, and directives designed to create an effective and relevant educational climate for First Nations children. • This policy marks the beginning of the end to the paternalistic educational policies of the Federal government; namely, an end to the injustices of the residential school system which too often succeeded in its attempt to “kill the Indian in the child!” 1973 Thomas Moore, before and after his entrance into the Regina Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan in 1874. Propaganda posters such as these were distributed to depict the “success” of the Residential School System. (Photo: collectionscanada.gc.ca)

12. The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement • The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement granted the Inuit and Cree peoples of northern Quebec $225 million, and hunting and fishing rights to land surrendered to the provincial government for the purpose of building a system of hydroelectric dams (Bron, Houle). • This agreement was Canada’s first modern land claims settlement between the Crown and Aboriginal peoples since the numbered treaties of the 19th and 20th centuries (Bron, Houle). • This agreement reflects a changing attitude in Canadian courts that Aboriginal rights could not be ignored by provincial and/or federal governments, and paved the way for future land claims settlements. 1975 Illustrates the twenty-two comprehensive land claims agreements, covering roughly 40% of Canada’s land mass, which have been ratified and brought into effect since the Canadian government’s land claims policy in 1973. (Photo: ainc-inac.gc.ca)

13. Constitution Act, 1982 • The Constitution Act, 1982 was an Act introduced as part of Canada’s process of “patriating” the constitution, introducing several amendments to the BNA Act, 1867, and changing the name BNAAct in Canada to the Constitution Act, 1867. • Specifically, for Aboriginal Canadians Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 “recognizes and affirms” the “existing” aboriginal and treaty rights in Canada. These Aboriginal rights protect the activities, practice and traditions that are integral to the distinctive culture of the Aboriginal peoples. The treaty rights protect and enforce agreements between the Crown and the Aboriginal peoples. Section 35 also provides protection of Aboriginal title which protects the use of land for traditional practices. These rights extend to people who make up the First Nations, Inuit and Métis (Robert, Et al.). 1982 This is an image if the Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982, signed on April 17, 1982. (Photo: collectionscanada.gc.ca )

14. Bill C-31 • On June 28, 1985 the Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-31, an Act to Amend the Indian Act (Congress of Aboriginal People). • Three principles that guided the amendments to the Indian Act were: removal of discrimination; restoring status and membership rights; and increasing control of Indian bands over their own affairs. • This amendment brought the Indian Act into accord with the equality provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. • • As a result Bill C-31 allowed a number of significant events to take place. In regards to the registration system, entitlement was no longer based on sexually discriminatory rules; men and women were treated equally. Bands were now allowed to control their own membership based in their own membership rules and the concept of enfranchisement was abolished (CAP). 1985 On June 28, 1985, the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-31 amending status, membership and other provisions of the Indian Act. (Photo: sicc.sk.ca)

15. The Oka Crisis • During the summer of 1990 there was a 78-day long standoff between Mohawks in the community of Kanesatake, the Montreal police and the Canadian military (Bellefontaine). • The conflict was sparked by plans to expand a golf course in the neighbouring community of Oka on land the Mohawk claimed was a traditional burial ground. • More then twenty years later and relations between the federal and provincial governments and the Assembly of First Nations in Quebec have significantly improved. The Canadian government is much quicker to recognize that land claims do exist and the First Nations communities are given more power of the distribution of social assistance money. However, to this day there are still more than 3,000 aboriginal land claims outstanding (Bellefontaine).  1990 Pte. Patrick Cloutier and Aboriginal activist Brad Laroque, face to face in a tense standoff at the Kanesatake reserve on Sept. 1, 1990. (Photo: cbc.ca)

16. The Burnt Church Crisis • In September, 1999 Aboriginal Mi’kmaq Donald Marshall was granted permission by the Supreme Court of Canada to fish for lobster out of season. Marshall argued that treaties from the 1760s gave him the right to do (Robert, Et al.). • This infuriated the non-Aboriginals of New Brunswick; they argued that allowing the Aboriginals to fish out of season would shrink the already depleted stock of lobster. As a result the non-Aboriginals vandalized or destroyed Native fishing traps, and the Aboriginals retaliated by destroying white fishing boats and buildings. • The conflict continued until April 2001 when a federal committee released a report stating; the federal government will compensate fishermen for their lost traps and boats, Aboriginals would be banned from fishing during the fall and Aboriginals would be issued fishing licenses like all other fishermen (Robert, Et al.). 1999-2001 A masked Native warrior stands on guard at a road block in Burnt Church, New Brunswick in August 2000. (Photo: nationalpost.com)

17. Statement of Apology • On June 11, 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, made a Statement of Apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools, on behalf of the Government of Canada. He began the apology by saying, “The treatment of children in Indian Residential Schools is a sad chapter in our history” (Bellefontaine). • P.M. Harper’s Statement of Apology was a significant turning point in Aboriginal history. Over 150,000 Aboriginal children were unfairly separated from their families and communities. Many of these students suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse while attending residential schools. • The legacy of pain and suffering endured in Indian Residential Schools has contributed significantly to social problems that continue to exist in many Aboriginal communities today. On June 11, 2008 the Canadian Government publicly recognized that the absence of an apology had been an impediment to healing and reconciliation and apologized to all people affected by Indian Residential Schools (Bellefontaine). 2008 Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper poses for pictures with Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine after delivering a statement of apology expressing regret for the forced placement of 150,000 Aboriginal children into residential schools. (Photo: cbc.ca)