The Indian Act Of Aboriginal Affairs

The Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) was a law that changed Indigenous Australian lives forever. The act enabled the New South Wales Board for the Protection of Aborigines to essentially control the lives of Aboriginal people. It was the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) that had major provisions that resulted in the containment and suffering that Aboriginal people endured. This suffering included the practice of forcible removing Indigenous children from their families. These major provisions help us understand what the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) involved and the impact it has had on the daily lives and cultures of Indigenous Australian peoples today.

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 in 1876 and has been amended many times through history. The Act was created by European settlers under the British crown in order to assert control over the Indigenous people of Canada. It developed into the takeover of Indigenous land, imposed the rule of the Crown on Indigenous affairs, openly allowed discrimination, and restricts hunting. Also, the act implemented the abolishment of band councils, entrapment within harsh reserve living conditions, the creation of residential schools, the constraint on traditions, culture, ceremonies, and the systematic growth of cultural genocide. This racist relic has imposed a great deal of injustice towards Indigenous people. It establishes a “us v. them” mentality and separates

Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native culture, teachings, and pride. Policies towards the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians has decreased their opportunities and standard of living because of policies specified previously (Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reservation systems).

After the strangling claws of the Indian Act were felt, the Canadian government began to issue more laws that intruded with the aboriginals lives and took away their rights. The first of these was the “Potlatch Law” (Hanson, n.p.). It banned potlatches and other ceremonies of the aboriginals, all for the purpose of forcing the

In 1976 the Fraser government passed the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Several state governments passed their own Land Rights Acts, which recognised aboriginal and Torres Strait islander claims to land and guaranteed them royalty payments from mining companies working there. Some laws enforced by the government became challenging for most indigenous people to abide by. Through the analysis of this information we understand the impacts the government and its laws had towards the indigenous society of

With the proposal of the ‘Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy’ (hereafter referred to as the White Paper) in 1969 by Jean Chretien, existing tensions over the role and future of First Nations within Canadian society would finally come to a head. Prior to the introduction of this policy, government bureaucrats and missionary organizations had finally begun to realize that directed change and economic development were not taking place amongst First Nations communities as they had wanted, and decided in the favor of a change. This change in policy brought about the White Paper, which was a cleverly veiled assimilationist proposal of the Canadian government to the First Nations peoples of their country. This shift in policy

Thomas Flanagan disapproves the idea of Native sovereignty ever coexisting with Canadian sovereignty. Flanagan identifies the flaws in Townshend’s arguments referring to them as a theoretical approach and not a practical approach. It is true that the sharing of jurisdictional power is the essence of the Canadian state but this cannot apply to the Aboriginals of Canada. One reason a third level of government cannot work in Canada is “In the 10 provinces, Canada has over six hundred Indian bands living on more than 2200 reserves, plus hundreds of thousands of Métis and non-status Indians who do not possess reserves,” (Flanagan 44). Flanagan draws the fact that “No one has proposed a workable mechanism by which this far-flung archipelago could

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.

-addresses a number of issues impacting ATSI communities, including the establishment of Community Justice Groups, establishment of Community Police Officers, entry to trust areas, the regulation of alcohol possession and consumption in community areas, and the establishment of the Island Industries Board.

Due to the damage the Acts, policies, and treaties had towards Aboriginal individuals, communities, and cultures, there has been a focus on the reconciliation. The Acts, policies, and treaties have created a deep mistrust on the part of First Nations people towards the government. Especially the impact of the Indian Act, which led so many children to suffer as they were abused physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally while attending the Residential Schools. Thus, it is important to heal the relationship and come to a point where non-Natives support the Aboriginal people in the healing process and revitalizing the cultural and linguistic traditions that have been lost. Although there has been an apology by the Prime Minister of Canada and a promise to renew the relationship with Aboriginal people by our current government, Justin Trudeau, the Acts, policies, and treaties are still being used to put Aboriginal people in a disadvantaged position. For example, Indian Act, although amended, is still being used. The interview with one activist who is camping outside INAC office states, "We need to dismantle the Indian Act. We want to have our own affairs. We want to be able to negotiate better. The Indian Act just spreads more colonialism". Further as Thomas King states in the video, “Things haven 't changed... Still abrogate treaties..still losing land. The methodology has changed, but attitude has not changed.” This shows that there are still works to be done with

Traditional systems of government had been dismantled by the Indian Act 1876 and other forms of control had been established (Aboriginal Self Government, n.d). After an increase in effective political organizations and activism, as well as well-covered conflicts over development in the north, Canada finally began to slightly acknowledge and enable forms of self-government; this was not until the late 60’s and early 70’s (Aboriginal Self Government, n.d). The idea of self government attained momentum during the late 20th and the early 21st centuries, and Aboriginal people began to see and understand their rights to self government asserted in the Constitution Act 1982 (Aboriginal Self Government, n.d). However, the right for Aboriginals to a self-government is far from being entrenched in law. This can be clearly proven by the slow progress and the ongoing negotiations that are taking place.

When looking at Canada as a whole, we often tend to overlook the past events of Indigenous groups who have suffered through Colonialism. As I read about this issue, I felt sympathy for the Indigenous peoples, as it was overwhelming for me to find out that this much discrimination has occurred in a nation as diverse and developed as Canada. Reading more about colonization helped me to make connections between the issues and topics I have learned about in class, and how they can be traced back to European contact with the Indigenous peoples. The Colonial powers in Canada rested in the hands of the British and the French, who declared sovereignty over the territories which rightfully belonged to the Indigenous peoples (Cochrane et al. 70). The worst effect of colonialism is the exploitation, domination, and subjugation of the people by the imperial power (Cochrane et al. 71). Due to the fact that their rights were determined solely by the white society’s rules, one of the only governance options left for Indigenous peoples was to become independent of the Canadian state (Cochrane et al. 87). The Royal Proclamation Act of 1763 guaranteed the protection of lands for Indians under the Crown, and required any colonists occupying Indian lands without the permission of the crown to evacuate; however, these rights to Indians have been much ignored (Cochrane et al. 70). During post-confederation, several treaties numbered 1-11 were created to allow aboriginals to claim land titles,

Therefore, indigenous peoples were politically controlled by the colonizers and have been economically dependent until our day (James, 2008, p. 318). Thus, the link between the identity of indigenous peoples in Canada and the nations within status can be made to the historical events that led to the creation of

A difficult history with social workers has made Aboriginal peoples untrusting of the profession today. The intent of this investigation is to show that aboriginal peoples have been mistreated for a long time starting with the Indian Act that passed in 1876 which aimed at the assimilation—meaning to assume the culture and practices of the Eurocentric settlers—of “Indians”. The Indian Act was created by Parliament to define Indian status and to establish their rights thereof. Regardless of their intended use, these policies oppressed our first nations peoples, expecting to change their culture, practices and values to fit into the commonly perceived and accepted normal Canadian lifestyle. The act has been amended many times, however its