Indian Act

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Indian Act (French: Loi sur les Indiens ) is a Canadian law from 1876 that regulates the legal situation of the Indians , who are called First Nations in Canada , until today. The law defined the legal status of First Nations people as significantly lower than that of whites and established compulsory reservations for them, the rules of which are determined by whites.

It was passed by the Canadian Parliament on the basis of the Constitution Act of 1867, which gave the federal government the exclusive right to decide on issues relating to Indians and the land reserved for Indians ( called reserve in Canada ). The responsible body for the resulting regulations is the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , an authority responsible for Indian affairs (and the development of the north), which has been led by two ministries since 2017. The responsible ministers are also superintendent general , heads of authorities.

This Indian law determines who is considered an Indian and who is not. It assigns rights to the people defined in this way or restricts them. However, according to the case law of the Supreme Court and Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 , the mostly older rights from previous treaties are also recognized. These include the contracts concluded with James Douglas in British Columbia or the Numbered Treaties , which were mostly concluded at the end of the 19th century.

Status Indians, non-status Indians

Only those who are registered by name in the Indian Register enjoy Indian status or treaty status. But numerous Indians are not entered in the Indian register, which is why they are called Non-Status Indians . The list is in the ministry, but the tribes (bands) can keep their own list according to criteria to be determined, the composition of which must be sent to the ministry. The list of tribes with the numbers of registered Indians (status Indians), structured according to their place of residence (in their own reserve, in another or outside the reserves, or on crown land ), according to gender and with other data, is publicly available. Unrecognized tribes and non-status Indians are not listed here.

A woman could lose her status as an Indian by marrying a non-status Indian. Even the children from such connections, whether marital or non-marital, were without this status. The situation of those whose mother and paternal grandmother were not status Indians was even more complicated: They lost their status when they came of age at the age of 21. In addition, until 1960, who were non-status Indians could only vote at the state level.

Except for the last regulation, which practically denied the Indians the right to vote , these regulations, which gradually withdrew their status from the majority of the Indians, remained in force until 1985.

It is controversial among lawyers whether the laws of the provinces break the Indian legislation. This goes back to Section 88 of the Indian Act , in which general provisions that affect not just Indians can break provisions of the Indian Act.

Additions and changes

A number of changes, known as the “Amendments”, adapted the law to different areas. The rights of the Indians were restricted in many respects until the immediate post-war period.

Until the end of World War II

In 1881 the rights of the Indian Department were extended to the extent that Indian agents were also allowed to enforce regulations, which was simplified in the next year to the effect that they should have the same rights as magistrates.

Economic regulations

Without a permit, agricultural products were only allowed to be sold with the permission of Indian agents, a provision that is still valid today, even if it is not implemented.

Rights of the tribal leaders

1884 has been determined that once remote tribal chief (band leaders) could not be re-elected. From 1920 the Department of Indian Affairs was able to overturn the jurisdiction of the Traditional Chiefs . In 1936 the Indian agents were given the right to direct the meetings of the tribal councils and to make decisions in the event of a tie.

Interventions in the traditions

In 1885 the potlatch and general religious, public ceremonies were banned . From 1914 onwards, the western Indians were only allowed to appear in “aboriginal costumes”, ie in traditional clothing, at dances, presentations, exhibitions, parades or the like, only with official permission.

Reservations

In 1894, a change in the law strengthened the rights of non-Indians living on reservations. They were no longer under the control of the tribe that owned the reservation, but the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs .

One of the most drastic cuts is the 1905 amendment , which allowed aboriginal people to be removed from reservations that were near cities with more than 8,000 inhabitants. Tribesmen who left the land were to receive 50% of the land price (1906). In 1911, every municipality (a lower-level government unit, which was not defined in the same way in all provinces, urban and rural) and every company was allowed to use reserve land for roads, railways and other public works - without compensation. From 1918 the superintendent-general was allowed to lease unprocessed land to non-indigenous people if they needed it for farming or pasture.

Status determination

In 1920 the Indian Department was able to withdraw Indian status from anyone it considered sensible. Although the change in the law was repealed in 1922, it was reintroduced in a modified form in 1933.

Litigation Limitations

From 1927, nobody was allowed to raise funds to bring legal disputes to the courts. This mainly deprived land claims of their legal means of enforcement. Neither legal representation nor even fundraising for a legal dispute were possible.

Incapacitation in the way of life

In 1930 the owner of a pool hall was banned from admitting Indians who in this way were wasting their time or resources to the detriment of themselves, their families or their households. The owner could face fines and imprisonment of up to a month. Similar reasons had already been used when the "wasteful" potlatches were banned.

After the Second World War

After the Second World War , the Indian law initially remained unchanged, but some improvements were made in 1951. So slaughter and sale of cattle could now be carried out without the permission of the Indian agent responsible. Women with Indian status were now also allowed to participate in tribal elections. Bans on the fight for land rights, but also on ceremonies such as the potlatch , were lifted. Eventually, the automatic loss of status through marriage to non-status Indians was eliminated (1961).

But it wasn't until 1985 that women who had lost their status were able to regain it and pass it on to their children - albeit not to their grandchildren. A distinction was made as follows: the offspring of a couple in which one had full status but the other did not, should be given half status. But if the child married a partner with half status, their children lost their status. However, did she or he marry a full-status Indian, resp. -Indian, so her children also got full status. In order not to give the impression of racist legislation - "blood quantum" - one spoke of a "two generation cut-off clause". Sandra Lovelace , member of the Maliseet of Tibique-Mactaquac, brought the question to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (1981), forcing this adjustment.

Since 2000, tribesmen who live outside the reservation have been allowed to take part in elections and votes for their tribe.

literature

  • Donna Lea Howley: The Indian Act Annotated , Carswell, Toronto, 2nd ed. 1986; repr. 1989, Thomson Professional Publications Canada 1992
  • Bonita Lawrence: Gender, Race, and the Regulation of Native Identity in Canada and the United States: An Overview , in: Hypatia 18/2 (2003) pp. 3-31
  • Paula Mallea: Aboriginal law: Apartheid in Canada? Bearpaw, Brandon 1994
  • Bob Joseph: 21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act. Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality. Indigenous Relations Press, Port Coquitlam 2018

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ First preparatory work since 1874, therefore this year is often mentioned in the literature for the Indian Act.
  2. ↑ These as First Nation Profiles ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. designated publication is also available on the Internet. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pse5-esd5.ainc-inac.gc.ca
  3. ^ Thomas King : The Truth about Stories , 2003.
  4. ^ Amendments to the Indian Band Election Regulations and the Indian Referendum Regulations ( Memento June 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), November 20, 2000, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, June 10, 2008.