Final Exam 2015
Question 1
Aspects of An Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of Indian Tribes in this Province, and to amend the Laws Relating to Indians, 1857 include:
- Applied equally to Upper and Lower Canada;
- Referred to as the Gradual Civilization Act, this statute was the first to introduce the concept of enfranchisement - the process by which Indian people lost their Indian status and became full British subjects;
- Intent was to remove all legal distinctions between Indians and non-Indians.
- Only Indian men could seek enfranchisement: 1) had to be over the age of 21 2) Able to read and write in either English or French 3) Free of debt
4) Of good moral character as determined by a commission of non-Aboriginal
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Indian women were excluded from voting for band chiefs and councils
prohibited the sale of alcohol
Instituted compulsory enfranchisement by stating Indian women who married non-Aboriginal men automatically lost their Indian status, and any children resulting from the marriage would also be denied Indian status.
As with all of the Acts discussed so far, these points were subject to confirmation by the government. This is another example of attempts to eradicate Indian people and their culture and to assimilate into a “civilized” world. It was the goal of the government that this Act would speed up assimilation by eliminating tribal systems. These Acts were designed to break down tribal forms of government on the grounds they were irresponsible.
The purpose of the Indian Act, 1876 was to consolidate earlier Acts into one piece of legislation that provided a national framework. This was to assist in the assimilation and civilization of Indians across Canada. The Act provided government with the power to impose an elected band council system and establish rules respecting the operation of
The Indian Removal Act was an act that removed native americans from their land because the US wanted it. The supreme court specifically told Jackson to not move the native americans off the land, but Jackson still did. Even though the native americans and the US had an agreement, the US still decided to remove the native americans so they could have the land. The native americans were moved off their land and moved west. This lead to the Trail of Tears.
One of Andrew Jackson’s reason behind the Indian Removal Act was so that the United States could achieve their goal of Manifest Destiny, which is the belief Americans had that God meant for their country to be expanded from east to west coast.
Congress later passed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924 which granted citizenship to all Indians. This citizenship decree was the logical political manifestation of the assimilation program, and brought with it the expectation that Indians would be brought in line with other Americans in the areas of civil and criminal law. The Indian Citizenship Act supposedly gave Indians the privilege of voting, the obligation to perform compulsory military duty when called, and to pay taxes on off-reservation revenues. It is estimated that two-thirds of the Indians had acquired citizenship before the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act. Still, some Indian nations did not recognize the Citizenship Act because they did not feel that one sovereign nation
The history and the establishment of various Indian tribes in America took the path of revolution by human civil rights institutions. The Indian American citizen had to form a movement whose main aim was demand for their rights from the Native Americans and the government by sorting for cultural independent protection, advocating of their human rights and restoration of economic rights. Independence of the human race do not always come as an easy task but is involves a sequence of efforts against the violation of rights by their native colonies.
The Canadian government has great control of where the aboriginals are situated and what resources and services are made available to them. In 1876 the Indian act was created by the Canadian government (Indian Act). “The Indian act is a Canadian federal law that governs and matters pertaining to Indian statuses, bands, and Indian reserves”(Indian Act). A part of the Indian Act made the government give some crown land to the Aboriginals; the
The Indian Act was created under the provisions section 91 of the Constitution Act of 1867 (Moss, 1990). The act was implemented to define who an “Indian” is and the rights that come with the title. These rights pertain to status, bands and reserves for
The Indian Act was an attempt by the Canadian government to assimilate the aboriginals into the Canadian society through means such as Enfranchisement, the creation of elective band councils, the banning of aboriginals seeking legal help, and through the process of providing the Superintendent General of the Indian Affairs extreme control over the aboriginals, such as allowing the Superintendent to decide who receives certain benefits, during the earlier stages of the Canadian-Indigenous' political interaction. The failure of the Indian Act though only led to more confusion regarding the interaction of Canada and the aboriginals, giving birth to the failed White Paper and the unconstitutional Bill C-31,
Thesis: The Indian Act effectively required Aboriginals to give up large amounts of land and rights followed by moving onto reserves. It negatively changed the lives of many Indian men and women who married non-status Aboriginals and harshly withdrew Aboriginal children from their families and put them into residential schools for the purposes assimilation. The Indian Act was known for creating an atrocious life for Indians.
The purpose of the Indian Act was to encourage assimilation. This was achieved by suppressing traditional ceremonies, defining who was "Indian" and who wasn 't, and moving First Nations to reserves in hopes of disconnecting First Nations ' ties with the land. The term status Indian was used to define someone who is registered according to the provisions of the act and is therefore eligible to receive specific benefits.
This meant that all matters that had to be discussed had to be approved by the government appointed Indian agent before a chief and council could address the matter. Once matters were discussed any resolution had to be agreed upon by the appropriate federal minister before being enacted. When people attempted to address grievances or complaints they had with the government and the Indian Act System, new laws were passed to stop them from organizing and effectively dealing with the issues brought to their attention.
The Indian Removal Act is justified and should be approved as a bill. In January of 1830, a bill was introduced to the Congress to remove and relocate the Natives elsewhere. The rationale of the bill was to expand the southern and the western regions of the United States of America. Furthermore, the Natives would have to be moved further to the west of the Mississippi river. The Indian Removal Act would set up a new foundation for the Natives and expand the frontiers of the United States of America.
Indigenous governance is filled with legislations and amendments that began with the Royal proclamation act of 7th October 1763. Since then, there has been a massive effort to civilize the indigenous population in order to integrate them with the non-indigenous population by the government of Canada. The main purpose of such a congress is debated till date.
Different laws like the Indian Act and other treaties played an outstanding role in shaping Aboriginal relationship in Canada. The Indian Act led to a huge conflict of interest following its effect on the Indians living in Canada during its implementation. The Indian Act was a mechanism that strengthened the eviction of Indians ad also a means of displacing Indians from their tribal lands. On the onset of the 19th Century, land hungry Canadian settlers clustered in the coastal south of Canada and slowly moved into the neighboring states. Since most of the tribes occupying that area were the Indians, the Canadian settlers petitioned the Canadian government to remove them as they perceived them as an obstacle to expansion towards the west. The rationale for the Indian Act was that the southeast Indian tribes had no attachment to any particular land. However, this rationale ignored the fact the Indian tribes had vast crops of corn and lived in settlements.
The next chapter, Deloria talked about The Indian Reorganization Act, which passed in 1934. This law was also known as the ‘Wheeler Howard Act’. It was an attempt to protect the new rights for the Indian that lives on the reservation.
In 1830, congress passed The Indian Removal Act, which became a law 2 days later by President Andrew Jackson. The law was to reach a fairly, voluntarily, and peacefully agreement for the Indians to move. It didn’t permit the president to persuade them unwillingly to give up their land by using force. But, “President Jackson and his government