Gradual Civilization Act

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The Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of Indian Tribes in this Province, and to Amend the Laws Relating to Indians (Act to encourage the gradual civilizing Indian tribes in this province and improve the legal relationship with Indians), known as Gradual Civilization Act (Act Gradual civilization), was a law passed by the Parliament of the Province of Canada in 1857.

The law introduced the law for the protection of the Indians in Upper Canada ( Act for the Protection of the Indians in Upper Canada ) continued, which had been decided. 1839 But it also required that every registered Indian could be released from this status if he met certain conditions. First of all, he had to be at least 21 years old, speak, read and write in English or French , and have a basic education. He also had to be debt free and of good moral character . On the other hand, such a liberated (enfranchised) Indian would no longer have the legal rights and customs of Indians, yes, he would no longer even be to be taken for an Indian, but would be a British subject.

In practice, the moral requirement in connection with the linguistic abilities was sufficient, even if they were limited, as long as he had an oral command of one of the required languages. A three-year probationary period was also provided. A sober and hard-working lifestyle, freedom from debts and sufficient intelligence to lead an independent life were sufficient.

In addition, applicants should choose a family name that had to be approved by the responsible Indian commissioner . The descendants were also exempt, were no longer members of their former tribe, unless they remarried into a tribe.

In addition, if successful, the applicant received a piece of land (up to a maximum of 50 acres ), which, however, was removed from the land intended for his former tribe. He was only the owner , as it were , because only his children became owners of the land. So he couldn't sell or trade it either. There was also a certain amount of money.

With the acceptance they formally lost all rights of a registered Indian (status Indian) to benefits and participation. If a couple died without children, the country should revert to the crown at the latest with the death of the last survivor. An application for enfranchisement could only be made voluntarily, but women and children were not asked.

Anyone who falsely posed as a liberated Indian could face six months in prison.

The law was a huge failure because only one Indian was "liberated" until the Indian Act of 1876 was passed. His name was Elias Hill.

But the law had fatal consequences insofar as the approach of acting from nation to nation and accordingly only accepting contractual regulations was thereby abandoned. Mistrust and rejection grew, and the tribes protested the law.

For the first time, it was no longer the tribes or their members who decided who an Indian was, but a British law. Reserves could now also be reduced in size without the formal consent of the tribes. In addition, women were neither asked about the liberation nor about the question of re-entry into a tribe.

In retrospect, it appears to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development as "the beginning of a psychological assault on Indian identity that would be escalated by the later Indian Act prohibitions on other cultural practices", i.e. the beginning of a psychological attack on Indian identity that should be increased by the prohibitions of the later Indian law.

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Remarks

  1. ^ "An Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of Indian Tribes in this Province, and to Amend the Laws Relating to Indians", 3rd Session, 5th Parliament, 1857.