21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality

by Bob Joseph

Many amendments, such as those involving enfranchisement and women, were designed with the goal of reducing the number of people who identified as status Indians.

Imposing European-style elections was designed for assimilation—to remake traditional cultures in the image of the colonizers.

Control of many elements of the reserve, including land, resources, and finance, were passed into the hands of the Department of Indian Affairs as Indigenous Peoples were considered unsophisticated and incapable of managing their own affairs. The chiefs were granted little in the way of bylaw powers, and those limited powers were not at all reflective of their former self-governing powers, which further emasculated them and their role in leading their nation. Their role was (and is) to administer the Indian Act.

Prior to European contact, and the ensuing fundamental disruption to the traditional lifestyle of Indigenous communities, women were central to the family. They were revered in the communities that identified as matriarchal societies, had roles within community government and spiritual ceremonies, and were generally respected for the sacred gifts bestowed upon them by the Creator.

Reserves were regarded for much of the 19th century as places for Indians to be confined until they became “civilized.”

In reality, reserves were created as a means of containing and controlling Indians while providing European settlers full access to the fish and game, water, timber, and mineral resources that had formerly sustained Indian life and culture.

It needs to be recognized that “status Indians” were not considered “people” according to Canadian laws and did not become “people” until the Indian Act was revised in 1951. Prior to 1951, the Indian Act defined a “person” as “an individual other than an Indian.”

Indian veterans returning from World War II found that while they may have fought for their country, they had lost their Indian status in the process and had no home to return to.

In Saskatchewan, in particular, some of the Indian farmers were very successful and grew crops and produce that were as good as or better than that produced by the settlers, and were in a position to compete with the settlers on a commercial basis. Settlers objected, claiming the Indians were being mollycoddled and receiving unfair advantages. The government responded with the permit-to-sell system. Indian farmers were then placed in the position of requiring a permit to leave their reserve and a permit to sell farm products (see #11 “Restricted Indians from leaving their reserve without permission from an Indian Agent”). To solidify the effectiveness of the permit system, settlers were prohibited from purchasing goods and services from Indian farmers.

This pooling of labour and resources went against the grain of Indian policy that was designed to eradicate the culture of community and cohesiveness and enforce individualism and self-reliance. Forcing Indians conform to the European social standard of individuality was more important than them being economically successful.

Indians would often consume their alcohol rapidly to avoid being arrested and fined. This led to the myth, which continues today, that Indians can’t tolerate alcohol. The Indian Act prohibition set the stage for the pervasive stereotype that Indians suffered from an alcohol intolerance.

When we look at Indigenous populations through Skinner’s lens, we can see that there has been a breakdown to the social fabric of communities as a result of Indian residential schools and Canadian Indian policies of assimilation. Indian children were taught in the schools that everything about them, their language, and their cultures was wrong. The parents and the children were affected by residential schools: the parents suffered the trauma of losing their children and the children suffered the trauma of feeling abandoned by their parents. This deeply rooted trauma caused many people to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism, and it explains the alcoholism that we see present in Indigenous populations across the country.

The federal government believed that true assimilation could be attained only by legally abolishing all cultural practices.

The concept of establishing rank by one’s ability to share wealth rather than establish rank by holding on to wealth was alien to Europeans.

In oral societies, when the words are gone, so are the histories, the value systems, the spiritual, ecological knowledge, the worldviews, the stories and the songs. It is an irreplaceable loss. The loss of a language severs the connection between a people and their culture.