The Indian Act

00:44:42
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCsYvt6JsII

Summary

TLDRIn this podcast episode, the hosts discuss the history and implications of the Indian Act, a Canadian law governing Indigenous peoples. They explore its origins in colonial policy, the assimilationist measures it imposed, and its ongoing effects on Indigenous identity, particularly for women. The conversation highlights the need for greater awareness and understanding of how the Indian Act has shaped the experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada, emphasizing the importance of honoring treaties and recognizing Indigenous sovereignty. Personal stories and critiques provide a nuanced perspective on this complex legal framework.

Takeaways

  • 🎧 New podcast 'This Land' explores tribal sovereignty issues.
  • 📜 The Indian Act was passed in 1876 and governs Indigenous status.
  • 🤝 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established guidelines for Indigenous relations.
  • 🚫 The Indian Act has been criticized for its assimilationist policies.
  • 👩‍👧 Indigenous women faced significant discrimination under the Act.
  • 📖 Many Indigenous leaders advocate for abolishing the Indian Act.
  • 🛡️ The Act affects identity and governance across diverse Indigenous Nations.
  • 💔 Historical injustices have lasting impacts on Indigenous communities.
  • 📅 Indigenous History Month highlights the importance of this discussion.
  • 🔍 Personal stories deepen understanding of the Indian Act's legacy.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video introduces a new podcast called 'This Land,' hosted by Cherokee Nation citizen Rebecca Nagel, which explores the investigation of a murder case that could lead to significant land restoration in Oklahoma and highlights the ongoing attack on tribal sovereignty in the U.S.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The hosts discuss the 'Indian Act,' reflecting on its implications in contemporary society while noting a lack of awareness among many Canadians, including Indigenous people themselves, about the details and consequences of the act.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The hosts express the need to learn about the 'Indian Act,' which governs Indigenous status and rights in Canada, and emphasize the human costs associated with the policy, particularly for Indigenous women and communities.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The historical context of the 'Indian Act' is explored, tracing its roots back to the 1755 creation of the Indian Department during the Seven Years War, showing how it evolved from military oversight to a governmental mandate for Indigenous affairs.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The transfer of the Indian Department to civilian governance is noted, alongside the establishment of policy mandates promoting the assimilation and 'civilization' of Indigenous peoples, reflecting the colonial mentality of the time.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The discussion highlights the gradual enfranchisement policy that sought to erase Indigenous identity and stress the deep-seated gender discrimination present in the Indian Act against Indigenous women who married non-Indigenous men and lost their status as a consequence.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    In 1876, the formal passage of the 'Indian Act' amalgamated previous assimilationist policies, significantly restricting Indigenous governance and autonomy while embedding colonial attitudes into law, creating lasting intergenerational impacts on communities.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:44:42

    The hosts recount personal narratives of the 'Indian Act's' long-term effects, including the experience of navigating status, identity, and the ongoing struggles faced by Indigenous peoples against historical injustices, and a call for rejecting the act in favor of self-determination.

Show more

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the Indian Act?

    The Indian Act is a Canadian federal law that governs matters relating to Indian status, bands, and Indian reserves, passed in 1876.

  • How does the Indian Act affect Indigenous peoples?

    The Indian Act impacts status, governance, and rights of Indigenous peoples and is criticized for its assimilationist policies.

  • Why was the Indian Act created?

    It was created to control and assimilate Indigenous populations following colonization.

  • What historical events influenced the creation of the Indian Act?

    Events such as the Seven Years War and the Royal Proclamation of 1763 played significant roles in shaping Indigenous policies.

  • What are some criticisms of the Indian Act?

    Critics argue that it perpetuates paternalism, denies Indigenous identities, and reinforces systemic inequalities.

  • What changes have been made to the Indian Act since its introduction?

    The Indian Act has been amended several times, notably in 1951 and 1982, but retains many original provisions.

  • How has the Indian Act impacted Indigenous women particularly?

    Indigenous women historically faced discrimination under the Act, losing their status if marrying non-Indigenous men.

  • Is there a movement to abolish the Indian Act?

    Yes, many Indigenous leaders and activists advocate for its abolition to restore self-government and sovereignty.

  • What is the significance of the Royal Proclamation?

    The Royal Proclamation established guidelines for land governance and established a framework for treaty relationships.

  • What resources are available for further learning about the Indian Act?

    Books, podcasts, and educational websites provide insights into the Indian Act and Indigenous history.

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  • 00:00:00
    [Music]
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    so hey listeners I don't know if you
  • 00:00:05
    listen to Crooked media I do all the
  • 00:00:07
    time I listen to love it or leave it I
  • 00:00:09
    listen to PO save America I listen to
  • 00:00:12
    pod save the people I mean I listen to a
  • 00:00:14
    lot of their podcasts so they are
  • 00:00:15
    introducing a new one called this land
  • 00:00:18
    it's hosted by Rebecca Nagel she's an
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    Oklahoma journalist and citizen of the
  • 00:00:22
    Cherokee Nation yeah and this land
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    provides an in-depth look at how a
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    murder story opened an investigation
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    into half the land in Oklahoma and the
  • 00:00:31
    treaty rights of five tribes yeah so it
  • 00:00:34
    it really looks at what's at stake the
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    larger right-wing American attack on
  • 00:00:39
    tribal sovereignty and how this one case
  • 00:00:41
    could result in the largest restoration
  • 00:00:44
    of tribal land in US history which would
  • 00:00:46
    be that's a pretty big deal yeah yeah so
  • 00:00:49
    you can listen to this land on your
  • 00:00:50
    favorite podcast app or wherever you get
  • 00:00:52
    the secret life of Canada dialup fax
  • 00:00:55
    machine or yeah I usually get it through
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    my carrier pigeon yeah
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    [Music]
  • 00:01:09
    do you know what the Indian Act is
  • 00:01:11
    Indian Act uh off the top of my head not
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    100% certain no idea I knew there was
  • 00:01:18
    like some like laws and I just didn't
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    know what it was called I don't know why
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    you still call it the Indian act when
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    they it's in Politically Incorrect the
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    Indian act like the red skin Act you
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    know kind reflects the mindset of like
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    the time that when it was created does
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    the Indian Act affect your life in any
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    way no not really no I don't think so I
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    mean I don't really I still don't really
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    know what it is so I'm sure there are
  • 00:01:43
    other people that are affected by by
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    this every day I'm just not one of
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    them hey Leah hey faen happy indigenous
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    month yay y but shouldn't I be say I
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    should be is that one of those things
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    where you're like like oh happy birthday
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    actually today is my birthday I've never
  • 00:02:04
    done that but yeah kind of is that
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    though well here I got you this lovely
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    pen that was already here when we got
  • 00:02:09
    into the studio so oh thank you happy
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    happy day so today I thought because we
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    are in the month of June which is pride
  • 00:02:15
    month but it's not only pride month it
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    is also indigenous history month that's
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    right so I thought we should look at
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    something that deserves some more
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    attention in my opinion the Indian Act
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    and just FYI the Indian Act just for
  • 00:02:28
    people who have never heard heard of it
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    is not the highly anticipated sequel to
  • 00:02:32
    the book Indian in the Cupboard which I
  • 00:02:34
    read in school did you read that book in
  • 00:02:36
    school no I read it in school growing up
  • 00:02:38
    and actually there was a sequel to this
  • 00:02:41
    book many of them there was the return
  • 00:02:43
    of the Indian the secret of the Indian
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    The Mystery of the cupboard and the key
  • 00:02:48
    to the Indian which is funniest one I
  • 00:02:52
    feel like these are all like chapters in
  • 00:02:53
    my
  • 00:02:55
    autobiography it was basically about
  • 00:02:57
    this plastic Indian I'm putting that in
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    quotes toy that turned into a living
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    indigenous chief of course he was a
  • 00:03:04
    chief but anyway the reason I tell you
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    all about the racist things I read as a
  • 00:03:09
    child is for the kids today kids don't
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    read the book and even though Canada
  • 00:03:14
    still has a major piece of legislation
  • 00:03:16
    with the word don't use the term indian
  • 00:03:19
    yeah and I mean I'm going to be saying
  • 00:03:21
    it a lot today uh because in this
  • 00:03:23
    episode is pretty unavoidable what it's
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    called what it's called yeah the term
  • 00:03:26
    indian is deeply entrenched in law and
  • 00:03:29
    policy in the country so while I
  • 00:03:31
    wouldn't use it publicly otherwise today
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    I will be saying it a lot the point is
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    just because the government uses
  • 00:03:37
    outdated racist terminology doesn't mean
  • 00:03:40
    you should okay so let's get into it all
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    right so I have to say as an indigenous
  • 00:03:44
    person the Indian Act has always been a
  • 00:03:46
    bit of a mystery to me I know that it
  • 00:03:48
    impacts me and I know how in some ways
  • 00:03:51
    but I know there's a lot that I don't
  • 00:03:53
    understand and I figured there must be
  • 00:03:55
    some other people out there some
  • 00:03:57
    indigenous people who feel the same way
  • 00:03:58
    so today I I wanted to take a closer
  • 00:04:00
    look at it this is good because I like
  • 00:04:03
    many Canadians I know know really very
  • 00:04:06
    little about it or maybe even nothing
  • 00:04:08
    and that's okay let's learn ex learn
  • 00:04:11
    together that's what we're here to do
  • 00:04:12
    hold my hand fail no that's fine okay
  • 00:04:14
    okay keep going so it's not uncommon
  • 00:04:16
    that people don't know things about this
  • 00:04:18
    this piece of policy and so today what I
  • 00:04:20
    thought we would do is I would give us
  • 00:04:22
    some basics of the Indian Act and
  • 00:04:24
    demystify it and then look at the human
  • 00:04:26
    cost of this piece of policy so we can
  • 00:04:28
    better understand how it has and
  • 00:04:30
    continues to impact indigenous people
  • 00:04:32
    and I want to look at mainly how it
  • 00:04:34
    impacts indigenous women right we really
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    can't do an in-depth section by section
  • 00:04:39
    look at the Indian Act because that
  • 00:04:40
    would be a 136p part episode but we can
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    look at how it came to be yes so what is
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    the Indian Act the ACT is Canadian
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    federal law that governs all matters
  • 00:04:52
    regarding to Indian status bans and
  • 00:04:54
    Indian reserves it was passed as law in
  • 00:04:57
    1876 and Still Remains as Canadian in
  • 00:04:59
    law you can actually read it online if
  • 00:05:01
    you want to I found it incredibly boring
  • 00:05:03
    but please feel free to do it if you
  • 00:05:05
    wish um an
  • 00:05:09
    endorsement and while many people in
  • 00:05:12
    Canada indigenous and non-indigenous
  • 00:05:14
    people dislike the act and feel like it
  • 00:05:15
    should just be gotten rid of it really
  • 00:05:17
    isn't that easy so why do we have it
  • 00:05:20
    then well I think to find that out we
  • 00:05:21
    need to look at the roots of this deeply
  • 00:05:23
    disturbing piece of policy all right
  • 00:05:25
    let's talk about it all right so to
  • 00:05:27
    understand the Indian Act we have to go
  • 00:05:29
    back to when the Indian Department was
  • 00:05:31
    created and Leah can you guess when that
  • 00:05:33
    may have been okay so I'm going to
  • 00:05:36
    say around the time of Confederation I'm
  • 00:05:40
    going to spit ball I'm just throwing out
  • 00:05:42
    a number MH
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    1840 no okay great no it actually goes
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    back to
  • 00:05:51
    1755 really well why was it created then
  • 00:05:54
    because that is well before
  • 00:05:57
    Confederation yeah absolutely so so back
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    in 1755 much of the world was about to
  • 00:06:02
    enter into a giant War called the Seven
  • 00:06:04
    Years War the Seven Years War is
  • 00:06:06
    actually even sometimes referred to as
  • 00:06:08
    like the true first world war because it
  • 00:06:10
    was so expansive across the globe yeah
  • 00:06:13
    and it was also called the French and
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    Indian War correct so what was basically
  • 00:06:17
    going on was that the French they had
  • 00:06:19
    begun to settle in North America more
  • 00:06:21
    and more many indigenous Nations sided
  • 00:06:23
    with the French because the French had a
  • 00:06:25
    deep trade relationship with many
  • 00:06:27
    indigenous Nations the French definitely
  • 00:06:30
    had settled in North America in more of
  • 00:06:32
    a capacity of trade they had also come
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    over with Jesuits and so when Jesuits
  • 00:06:36
    were coming over they wanted to
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    establish a good relationship with a lot
  • 00:06:40
    of indigenous people because they wanted
  • 00:06:42
    to convert them we talked a bit about
  • 00:06:45
    this in the statues episode with Samuel
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    Des shamp plain and that whole crew yeah
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    they were big into trade and you know
  • 00:06:54
    quote unquote saving souls and all that
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    so there had been skirmishes kicking up
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    in the Ohio Valley
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    and this was a time before Canada was
  • 00:07:02
    Canada and America was America so the
  • 00:07:04
    Brits decide that they need to get some
  • 00:07:05
    indigenous allies ons side so they
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    create the Indian Department initially
  • 00:07:10
    it was in uh actually under a military
  • 00:07:12
    branch of the British government you
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    know the fastest way to make new friends
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    is always to create a department in
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    their name a department of friendship
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    yeah hey Jason I've created a Jason
  • 00:07:24
    Department why don't you stop on by and
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    we'll review some documents like great
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    way to make allies okay so this Indian
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    Department which would go on eventually
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    to become Indian Affairs and now it's
  • 00:07:36
    the department of indigenous and
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    Northern Affairs was started under the
  • 00:07:39
    British military is that right yes okay
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    and it seems weird but the department
  • 00:07:43
    was started as a way for the British to
  • 00:07:45
    attempt to secure these good relations
  • 00:07:46
    with indigenous people why well so they
  • 00:07:49
    would fight alongside them first in the
  • 00:07:51
    Seven Years War and then again in the
  • 00:07:53
    American Revolution or the Revolutionary
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    War and then once more during the War of
  • 00:07:58
    1812 right because I'm sure many
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    indigenous people would know the land
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    and waterways and have a good idea of
  • 00:08:05
    strategy and tactics on their own land
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    yeah exactly indigenous people were
  • 00:08:09
    invaluable during these conflicts but we
  • 00:08:12
    are getting a bit ahead of ourselves
  • 00:08:14
    let's go back to
  • 00:08:15
    1763 okay and the conclusion of the
  • 00:08:18
    Seven Years War so the war ends France
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    gets beat and has to seed which which
  • 00:08:23
    means yeah which means to give up most
  • 00:08:26
    of their land in North America but we
  • 00:08:27
    should say it wasn't really their land
  • 00:08:29
    to begin with no it just clarify okay
  • 00:08:32
    but they they give it up they give it up
  • 00:08:34
    they give it to the Brits and King
  • 00:08:35
    George III has the Royal Proclamation
  • 00:08:39
    drawn up ah good title if you're a royal
  • 00:08:41
    okay and what did he Proclaim well the
  • 00:08:44
    document proclaimed British ownership
  • 00:08:46
    over North America but it also laid out
  • 00:08:48
    territorial guidelines and established
  • 00:08:50
    how it would be governed it set aside
  • 00:08:52
    Indian Territory that was specific for
  • 00:08:54
    first nation's use and it explicitly
  • 00:08:57
    States and where as it is just and
  • 00:09:00
    reasonable and essential to our interest
  • 00:09:03
    and the security of our colonies that
  • 00:09:05
    the several Nations or tribes of Indians
  • 00:09:08
    with whom we are connected and who live
  • 00:09:10
    under our protection should not be
  • 00:09:13
    molested or disturbed in the possession
  • 00:09:15
    of such parts of our dominions and
  • 00:09:17
    territory as not having been seeded to
  • 00:09:21
    or purchased by us are reserved to them
  • 00:09:26
    and or any of them as their hunting
  • 00:09:30
    grounds that sounded it sounded like
  • 00:09:34
    doing Benedict Cumberbatch meets like
  • 00:09:37
    Prince Charles it sounded like something
  • 00:09:39
    from like dangerous leaon it was like
  • 00:09:41
    very bodice
  • 00:09:43
    ripping okay so the Royal Proclamation
  • 00:09:46
    is incredibly important because it
  • 00:09:47
    explains how the treaty process and the
  • 00:09:50
    nation tation relationship would
  • 00:09:52
    function and how the crown should
  • 00:09:55
    associate with first nation's people it
  • 00:09:57
    also forbids settlers from squatting on
  • 00:09:59
    indigenous territory and stated that all
  • 00:10:01
    land deals had to go through the crown
  • 00:10:04
    okay gotcha so when the first Indian
  • 00:10:06
    Department superintendent Sir William
  • 00:10:08
    Johnson heard about the Royal
  • 00:10:10
    Proclamation he knew it was a big deal
  • 00:10:13
    so what did he do well he set up a
  • 00:10:15
    gathering at Fort Niagara with many
  • 00:10:17
    First Nations okay so a gathering was it
  • 00:10:21
    was it a joyful Gathering like a
  • 00:10:23
    celebration or was it more of a meeting
  • 00:10:26
    I think it was more of a meeting to to
  • 00:10:28
    sort of toy and establish these new
  • 00:10:30
    relationships between First Nations and
  • 00:10:32
    the crown because some indigenous
  • 00:10:34
    Nations had sided with the French
  • 00:10:36
    previously and the British crown wanted
  • 00:10:38
    to make sure that they were creating
  • 00:10:39
    inroads and making new allies with these
  • 00:10:42
    indigenous Nations right cuz the British
  • 00:10:44
    were the new colonial power in town and
  • 00:10:46
    they wanted to be like hey girl yeah we
  • 00:10:49
    like we know you were with France before
  • 00:10:51
    that's cool that's cool don't worry just
  • 00:10:53
    let us come hang out we promise we won't
  • 00:10:55
    take anything but actually we are going
  • 00:10:57
    to take a lot of stuff and put it in
  • 00:10:58
    museum
  • 00:11:01
    so this Gathering all right let's get
  • 00:11:04
    back to it okay yeah so at this
  • 00:11:06
    gathering this is when we see the silver
  • 00:11:08
    covenant chain wampum belt being used to
  • 00:11:10
    solidify the relationship between the
  • 00:11:12
    crown and First Nations people moving
  • 00:11:14
    forward Wampa belts are a traditional
  • 00:11:16
    form of contracts for many indigenous
  • 00:11:18
    people they were made out of COG shells
  • 00:11:20
    and they were threaded together and the
  • 00:11:22
    silver covenant chain it shows two
  • 00:11:24
    figures holding sort of a a a chain
  • 00:11:26
    between the two of them and this is to
  • 00:11:28
    signify peace and friendship this treaty
  • 00:11:31
    was also called the Treaty of Niagara
  • 00:11:33
    and the belt was a document for
  • 00:11:35
    indigenous people a wamp and belt you
  • 00:11:38
    know when we think of a contract you
  • 00:11:40
    know a lot of people think in their mind
  • 00:11:41
    paper but a wamp and belt is actually a
  • 00:11:46
    physical like
  • 00:11:48
    large spanning piece of it almost looks
  • 00:11:52
    like fabric but it is made of shells
  • 00:11:54
    right shells and different threading and
  • 00:11:56
    different colors made out of these tiny
  • 00:11:58
    um Cog shells which are uh blue and or
  • 00:12:01
    like purpley blue and white and so it
  • 00:12:04
    would take some people say it would take
  • 00:12:05
    an indigenous woman one whole day to
  • 00:12:07
    make one shell and so these are you know
  • 00:12:10
    they're long and so it would take a lot
  • 00:12:12
    of hours and so at this Gathering the
  • 00:12:15
    indigenous people brought this belt and
  • 00:12:18
    the British brought the Royal
  • 00:12:19
    Proclamation and so it was sort of this
  • 00:12:21
    like merging of agreements right and I
  • 00:12:25
    think for me really talks like really
  • 00:12:26
    speaks to that idea of nation tation
  • 00:12:28
    relationship right so it was like here's
  • 00:12:30
    our contract in our language here's our
  • 00:12:34
    contract in our language on paper yeah
  • 00:12:36
    exactly very cool yeah that's so
  • 00:12:38
    interesting because the Royal
  • 00:12:40
    Proclamation was even referenced in the
  • 00:12:43
    constitution of 1982 our constitution in
  • 00:12:45
    Canada so it is still very much part of
  • 00:12:48
    the fabric of this country it's also
  • 00:12:50
    been called the Indian Magna Carta or
  • 00:12:52
    the Indian Bill of Rights so we now have
  • 00:12:55
    an Indian department and the Royal
  • 00:12:56
    Proclamation in play so after after the
  • 00:12:59
    American Revolution and the War of 1812
  • 00:13:01
    the country of Canada begins to take
  • 00:13:03
    shape and the nation-to-nation
  • 00:13:05
    relationship begins to
  • 00:13:07
    [Music]
  • 00:13:13
    shift so in 1830 the Indian Department
  • 00:13:16
    was transferred over to the civilian
  • 00:13:18
    governors of both lower and upper Canada
  • 00:13:20
    which essentially today is Quebec and
  • 00:13:22
    Ontario right right right and so that
  • 00:13:24
    means it's no longer under the military
  • 00:13:27
    the Indian department is now run by the
  • 00:13:29
    government so just civilian dudes yeah
  • 00:13:32
    and so the next sort of piece of paper
  • 00:13:33
    that we see coming into play that leads
  • 00:13:35
    towards the Indian Act is called the
  • 00:13:37
    baggot commission and what was that the
  • 00:13:40
    bagot commission was named after Charles
  • 00:13:41
    bagot the governor general of British
  • 00:13:43
    North America so the governor general is
  • 00:13:46
    the queen standin in commonwealth
  • 00:13:48
    countries which we are one of so the
  • 00:13:50
    commission was formed to look into the
  • 00:13:52
    activities of the Indian department and
  • 00:13:54
    when it concluded in 1844 it had one big
  • 00:13:57
    takeaway and what was that well that the
  • 00:13:59
    Indians needed to be civilized and that
  • 00:14:01
    assimilationist policy including the
  • 00:14:03
    establishment of boarding schools far
  • 00:14:05
    away from children's communities should
  • 00:14:08
    be utilized okay so residential schools
  • 00:14:11
    yes residential schools now since the
  • 00:14:13
    Truth and Reconciliation Commission many
  • 00:14:15
    Canadians are aware of residential
  • 00:14:16
    schools but if anyone doesn't know a
  • 00:14:20
    little refresher residential schools
  • 00:14:22
    were set up by the Canadian government
  • 00:14:24
    and administered by Churches to
  • 00:14:25
    assimilate indigenous children into the
  • 00:14:27
    Western idea of societ Society in these
  • 00:14:29
    schools children were forbidden to speak
  • 00:14:31
    their language practice their culture or
  • 00:14:33
    even see their siblings who were
  • 00:14:35
    sometimes even in the like in the same
  • 00:14:37
    school right there was rampant sexual
  • 00:14:39
    and physical and emotional abuse and a
  • 00:14:42
    lot of the horrors that happened there
  • 00:14:43
    are still being uncovered today mhm and
  • 00:14:46
    felt today yeah some estimates say that
  • 00:14:49
    150,000 students attended the schools
  • 00:14:51
    while they were in operation between
  • 00:14:54
    1883 and
  • 00:14:57
    1996 there are so many good resources
  • 00:15:00
    and films online and we will link some
  • 00:15:02
    on our website if you want to learn more
  • 00:15:04
    in 1857 the responsibility for Indian
  • 00:15:07
    Affairs had passed from Britain to the
  • 00:15:09
    province of Canada wait cuz don't forget
  • 00:15:11
    we're pre-confederation here right so
  • 00:15:12
    it's a province of Britain yes
  • 00:15:15
    essentially right okay gotcha and so one
  • 00:15:17
    of the first items of business that they
  • 00:15:19
    had this new Department was to pass a
  • 00:15:21
    statute called an act for the gradual
  • 00:15:23
    civilization of the Indian tribes of
  • 00:15:26
    Canada this now meant the province of
  • 00:15:28
    Canada was in charge the gradual
  • 00:15:30
    civilization act really was the
  • 00:15:32
    precursor to the Indian Act it held many
  • 00:15:34
    of the same ideals and it sought to push
  • 00:15:37
    enfranchisement on indigenous people now
  • 00:15:40
    enfranchisement that word it's usually
  • 00:15:42
    connected with something good like
  • 00:15:44
    getting the right to vote or being able
  • 00:15:47
    to participate more in a free Society
  • 00:15:50
    but in the case of the Indian Act it
  • 00:15:53
    meant that indigenous people could
  • 00:15:55
    become
  • 00:15:56
    citizens but they would have have to
  • 00:15:58
    give up traditional rights and go
  • 00:16:01
    against the agreement they had in place
  • 00:16:03
    through this Royal Proclamation and the
  • 00:16:06
    Treaty of Niagara remember that wamp and
  • 00:16:08
    belt we were talking about yes exactly
  • 00:16:11
    the ACT wanted Indians to become
  • 00:16:13
    citizens if an indigenous man was 21
  • 00:16:16
    years or older and could prove that he
  • 00:16:18
    didn't have debt could speak English or
  • 00:16:20
    French was a quote unquote of good moral
  • 00:16:23
    character he could be given land for
  • 00:16:25
    farming if after a year he was able to
  • 00:16:27
    prove that he was living as a white man
  • 00:16:30
    he would be considered civilized and
  • 00:16:32
    granted his land and then he could vote
  • 00:16:34
    and so what were the tests to see if you
  • 00:16:36
    were a successful white man like um how
  • 00:16:39
    many craft beers you could name how you
  • 00:16:41
    looked in khaki shorts how many prag
  • 00:16:43
    rock albums you owned or what your vinyl
  • 00:16:46
    collection contained mayonnaise
  • 00:16:48
    consumption how many CFL games you've
  • 00:16:50
    been to how many Wes Anderson films you
  • 00:16:53
    seen good one okay so what happens if
  • 00:16:56
    you didn't want enfranchisement
  • 00:16:59
    well you would be considered a ward of
  • 00:17:01
    the state kind of like a child incapable
  • 00:17:04
    of making your own choices and living
  • 00:17:06
    freely but I should mention inran at
  • 00:17:09
    this time was only for men oh right hold
  • 00:17:11
    on to your bonnets ladies cuz you aren't
  • 00:17:13
    people yet oh know you are not and so
  • 00:17:15
    the thing is many indigenous people
  • 00:17:17
    didn't want to become enfranchised and
  • 00:17:19
    they rejected it as early as 1858 just
  • 00:17:23
    one year after the Act was introduced
  • 00:17:25
    indigenous people from galag Aquas sasi
  • 00:17:28
    on Bay of quinty walpool Island Rice
  • 00:17:31
    Lake and alwick meant to discuss their
  • 00:17:34
    dissatisfaction with the act the Act was
  • 00:17:36
    a giant failure with only one man
  • 00:17:39
    seeking to be enfranchised and even then
  • 00:17:41
    he was denied why what was the
  • 00:17:43
    government like nah not not was it
  • 00:17:45
    actually his band they were like no you
  • 00:17:48
    you can't do this okay that makes sense
  • 00:17:50
    no oh yeah so all of these different
  • 00:17:54
    nations and we should say there were so
  • 00:17:56
    many and still are many different
  • 00:17:58
    different nations living on the land
  • 00:18:00
    this at this time they're all getting
  • 00:18:02
    together and they're obviously really
  • 00:18:04
    concerned about this successive control
  • 00:18:07
    that these white people and and England
  • 00:18:10
    who's just shown up by the way is having
  • 00:18:12
    on their land and their lives yeah but
  • 00:18:14
    it didn't really matter because Canada
  • 00:18:16
    was sort of heading straight for a
  • 00:18:18
    confederation Full Speed Ahead and that
  • 00:18:21
    meant securing land for expansion West
  • 00:18:23
    and that was going to be done by any
  • 00:18:25
    means necessary this would actually
  • 00:18:27
    sadly be a really good like docu series
  • 00:18:31
    for a true crime podcast Confederation
  • 00:18:34
    move over this is the scariest thing
  • 00:18:36
    you'll hear in a long time yeah John A's
  • 00:18:38
    back and he's drunker than ever so in
  • 00:18:42
    1867 we have Confederation happening and
  • 00:18:45
    hot on the heels of that in 1869 we have
  • 00:18:48
    the gradual enfranchisement act and what
  • 00:18:50
    was that well after Confederation the
  • 00:18:53
    Canadian government really wanted to
  • 00:18:54
    speed up assimilation they wanted it to
  • 00:18:57
    take a little faster
  • 00:18:58
    so they restricted the band roles or
  • 00:19:01
    membership roles roles are it's short
  • 00:19:03
    for enrollment and it would refer to
  • 00:19:06
    anyone who could claim membership to a
  • 00:19:08
    band or what used to be called a tribe
  • 00:19:11
    so why would the government want to be
  • 00:19:12
    in charge of this though well it would
  • 00:19:15
    make them in control of who was first
  • 00:19:17
    Nations and if your goal is to
  • 00:19:18
    assimilate then you would want to know
  • 00:19:20
    when you had completed your task when
  • 00:19:23
    the Indians were all gone you would want
  • 00:19:25
    indigenous people to be traceable in a
  • 00:19:27
    way the government really pushed INF
  • 00:19:30
    franchisement the amendments to the
  • 00:19:32
    Indian Act were made in an attempt to
  • 00:19:34
    force people to become enfranchised if
  • 00:19:37
    you wanted to be a clergyman if you
  • 00:19:38
    wanted to vote if you wanted to attend
  • 00:19:40
    postsecondary or join the Army you had
  • 00:19:42
    to give up your status you couldn't be
  • 00:19:44
    an Indian and if you were an indigenous
  • 00:19:47
    veteran and you wanted to receive
  • 00:19:48
    benefits for your service then you would
  • 00:19:50
    have to become INF franchised you would
  • 00:19:52
    have to give up your identity that's
  • 00:19:55
    deeply disturbing so the ACT uh really
  • 00:19:59
    started to play with this idea of blood
  • 00:20:01
    Quantum okay so what's blood Quantum
  • 00:20:03
    blood Quantum is a a weird way of
  • 00:20:07
    measuring how much Indian blood you have
  • 00:20:09
    it's incredibly complicated and deeply
  • 00:20:12
    messed up it to me sounds a lot like I
  • 00:20:16
    mean through
  • 00:20:18
    the through the history of slavery and
  • 00:20:23
    and black chatt slavery that's a big
  • 00:20:25
    thing as well right like the one drop
  • 00:20:27
    rule one drop of black blood then you
  • 00:20:30
    can be chatt you can be a slave you know
  • 00:20:32
    that was the whole thing yeah absolutely
  • 00:20:35
    and so what blood Quantum would do is if
  • 00:20:38
    you had one quarter Indian blood then
  • 00:20:40
    you could be on the membership roles and
  • 00:20:42
    you could have status okay so status
  • 00:20:45
    gets you on the rule yes correct and so
  • 00:20:47
    this idea that the Canadian government
  • 00:20:49
    could now determine who an indigenous
  • 00:20:51
    person was and who was not is this is
  • 00:20:54
    when things start to get really messed
  • 00:20:56
    up that's yeah the ACT also worked to
  • 00:21:00
    replace indigenous forms of governance
  • 00:21:02
    that had been in place for thousands and
  • 00:21:04
    thousands of years and what they did is
  • 00:21:07
    they instead enforced a eurocentric idea
  • 00:21:10
    of elected band councils okay okay yeah
  • 00:21:15
    in my community we had Clan mothers and
  • 00:21:17
    so a clan mother they're sort of in
  • 00:21:19
    charge they're in charge of the whole
  • 00:21:20
    deal right and that means they're in
  • 00:21:22
    charge of the chief and so if a chief
  • 00:21:24
    does something out of step with what the
  • 00:21:26
    community wants he be dehorned that's
  • 00:21:29
    what it's called and what it would mean
  • 00:21:30
    is um we wear these traditional hats
  • 00:21:33
    called gentes and if you were the chief
  • 00:21:35
    you would have horns on your Genta and
  • 00:21:38
    so what would happen is the clan mothers
  • 00:21:40
    would dehorn you so they would take your
  • 00:21:41
    Genta away from you right okay but they
  • 00:21:44
    really called all the shots our society
  • 00:21:46
    like many indigenous societies were matr
  • 00:21:48
    lineal societies and so when the Indian
  • 00:21:50
    Act was coming into play it disrupted
  • 00:21:54
    all of these systems and so really we
  • 00:21:56
    you know we didn't know what to do we
  • 00:22:00
    really were starting it was like you
  • 00:22:02
    know just being thrown into the deep end
  • 00:22:03
    of the pool without knowing how to swim
  • 00:22:05
    with this new sort of elected band
  • 00:22:07
    Council system that was put in place
  • 00:22:09
    right also non-indigenous women who
  • 00:22:11
    wanted to marry indigenous men they
  • 00:22:14
    could get status so if you were a white
  • 00:22:15
    woman and you married an indigenous man
  • 00:22:18
    you would become indigenous okay but it
  • 00:22:19
    didn't work the other way around so an
  • 00:22:21
    indigenous woman who married a white man
  • 00:22:24
    would lose her status right so it was
  • 00:22:26
    deeply sexist as well deeply sexist
  • 00:22:29
    deeply sexist and the people who lost
  • 00:22:31
    out the most were indigenous women yes
  • 00:22:41
    [Music]
  • 00:22:46
    uhhuh so in 1876 what we have is Canada
  • 00:22:50
    sort of working towards finding a policy
  • 00:22:52
    where they can successfully assimilate
  • 00:22:54
    indigenous people so they take sort of
  • 00:22:56
    these these pieces of paper that they
  • 00:22:58
    had been you know right so all these
  • 00:23:01
    things we were just talking about like
  • 00:23:03
    all of these different policies they're
  • 00:23:04
    now going to merge and morph all of this
  • 00:23:07
    terrible into the Indian act so the
  • 00:23:09
    Indian Act administers status it
  • 00:23:12
    controls the ban Council it manages
  • 00:23:14
    Reserve lands and also Reserve funds so
  • 00:23:19
    basically everything yes basically
  • 00:23:21
    everything and while the ACT has been
  • 00:23:23
    amended a number of times most notably
  • 00:23:25
    in 1951 and 1982
  • 00:23:28
    it remains much the same as it did in
  • 00:23:30
    1876 I mean it even has the same name
  • 00:23:34
    wait and wasn't it in
  • 00:23:36
    1951 when amendments to the Indian Act
  • 00:23:38
    gave provinces jurisdiction over
  • 00:23:41
    indigenous child welfare like that's
  • 00:23:44
    when they said individually Alberta you
  • 00:23:45
    handle your thing sketchin you do you
  • 00:23:49
    that whole thing happened which lays the
  • 00:23:50
    foundation for the 60 scoop which is a
  • 00:23:53
    whole other story which was told really
  • 00:23:56
    well by the award-winning CBC podcast
  • 00:23:58
    finding Cleo and so this piece of policy
  • 00:24:01
    attempts and continues to attempt to
  • 00:24:03
    govern how hundreds of Nations live
  • 00:24:06
    across the land and how they live on
  • 00:24:07
    their land nations with varied
  • 00:24:10
    Traditions governance systems World
  • 00:24:12
    Views all under one paternalistic piece
  • 00:24:15
    of paper that wasn't written with any of
  • 00:24:17
    the indigenous Nations that it would
  • 00:24:19
    affect in mind no absolutely and there
  • 00:24:22
    is some consultation but it always feels
  • 00:24:25
    very rushed it feels um it doesn't
  • 00:24:28
    really feel like consultation a lot when
  • 00:24:29
    the amendments are happening a lot of
  • 00:24:31
    people don't know about it yeah so it is
  • 00:24:34
    it is a problem so you mean when the
  • 00:24:35
    government when the government of
  • 00:24:38
    Canada decides that they're going to
  • 00:24:41
    change a piece of the Indian Act it
  • 00:24:43
    feels rushed it always feels like it's
  • 00:24:45
    not communicative and yes that right yes
  • 00:24:49
    I wanted to speak with Gana Dio horn she
  • 00:24:51
    is a mohawk woman who has a complicated
  • 00:24:54
    relationship with the Indian Act much
  • 00:24:56
    like most indigenous women she's also
  • 00:24:59
    the host and creator of the coffee with
  • 00:25:00
    my ma
  • 00:25:03
    podcast when I say the words Indian Act
  • 00:25:06
    to you what comes to mind Suffocation
  • 00:25:09
    Indian
  • 00:25:10
    agent unfair
  • 00:25:13
    assimilation status number those are the
  • 00:25:16
    words that come to me off the top of my
  • 00:25:18
    head basically mhm I'm a registered
  • 00:25:21
    Indian how messed up is that that's so
  • 00:25:24
    messed up you know yeah you're like a an
  • 00:25:27
    animal that's been tagged right totally
  • 00:25:29
    yeah and that's just so against our it's
  • 00:25:31
    just not our ways you know like our ways
  • 00:25:33
    is like you have a clan you you given a
  • 00:25:35
    name you you know you're from that's
  • 00:25:37
    that's what makes you like you know you
  • 00:25:40
    you you identify as a as an U person
  • 00:25:45
    through how you were raised and and not
  • 00:25:47
    by because you were given a number you
  • 00:25:49
    know yeah yeah and it's such a weird
  • 00:25:52
    thing because like like if you don't
  • 00:25:55
    have one if you're not if you don't have
  • 00:25:57
    have a status card that can be like a
  • 00:25:59
    like for me because I'm so fair like
  • 00:26:02
    that's always been like a a proof thing
  • 00:26:04
    mhm yeah just open up my wallet see and
  • 00:26:08
    then you find yourself doing these
  • 00:26:10
    things like opening up your wallet and
  • 00:26:11
    showing somebody your status card and
  • 00:26:14
    you're just like G God like you feel
  • 00:26:15
    dirty afterwards like did I really just
  • 00:26:17
    have to do that but yeah I did because
  • 00:26:19
    mhm do you think the Indian Act should
  • 00:26:21
    be abolished oh yeah 100% I think it
  • 00:26:24
    definitely should be abolished and we
  • 00:26:26
    should all be able to run our Nations
  • 00:26:29
    the way that we used to freaking run our
  • 00:26:31
    Nations we're all smart enough to do it
  • 00:26:33
    I mean I remember it blew my mind when I
  • 00:26:35
    was a kid when we were in high school
  • 00:26:37
    and learning about what an Indian agent
  • 00:26:38
    was and like even today I was like
  • 00:26:40
    riding around and you still you can the
  • 00:26:42
    Indian agent's house I think is still
  • 00:26:44
    there I mean it's something else now but
  • 00:26:47
    but I was like me really there's like
  • 00:26:48
    there was like one guy who like he had
  • 00:26:50
    to approve everything like cuz we're all
  • 00:26:54
    bunch of idiots or something like it's
  • 00:26:56
    just so de meaning and if we played by
  • 00:26:59
    their rules you could get certain
  • 00:27:00
    benefits right like if you played by the
  • 00:27:02
    Indian agent rules your kids could your
  • 00:27:05
    kids could possibly avoid going to
  • 00:27:07
    residential school totally or you could
  • 00:27:09
    be allowed off the
  • 00:27:10
    reserve do you think that the Indian Act
  • 00:27:13
    has impacted you and if if yes how so
  • 00:27:16
    I'm assuming it's yes but oh yeah 100% I
  • 00:27:20
    remember going to get my new card and it
  • 00:27:22
    was like you know having to fill out all
  • 00:27:24
    this stuff and having to go and get the
  • 00:27:27
    picture taken and having to send it in
  • 00:27:29
    and then waiting and then getting this
  • 00:27:31
    card and then getting the sticker on it
  • 00:27:32
    says like call this number to activate
  • 00:27:35
    your status I'm like this is so messed
  • 00:27:40
    up like for real like then I like no I'm
  • 00:27:45
    Indian you know
  • 00:27:47
    like you're like Super Mario leveling up
  • 00:27:50
    yeah exactly exactly congratulations
  • 00:27:53
    you've moved on to level two Indian
  • 00:27:56
    status
  • 00:28:00
    [Music]
  • 00:28:05
    I think the way gadoo feels where you
  • 00:28:07
    know we kind of laugh about it and we
  • 00:28:09
    think it's it just sounds so ridiculous
  • 00:28:10
    to say but plenty of things about the
  • 00:28:12
    Indian Act are ridiculous so I got some
  • 00:28:15
    examples from a really great book called
  • 00:28:17
    21 things you might not know about the
  • 00:28:19
    Indian Act by Bob Joseph I thought we
  • 00:28:22
    would go through some of them you're
  • 00:28:23
    going to quiz me in a way of quiz okay
  • 00:28:26
    I'm ready the Indian Act prohibited
  • 00:28:29
    Indians from hiring legal council
  • 00:28:31
    between the years 1927 to
  • 00:28:34
    1951 so no one could hire a a lawyer no
  • 00:28:38
    it's like if you wanted to like you know
  • 00:28:40
    have a land claim oh right very
  • 00:28:43
    convenient yes very convenient Bad Boo
  • 00:28:46
    the Indian Act prevented Indians from
  • 00:28:48
    entering a pool hall from 1927 to time
  • 00:28:52
    undetermined so why was that is it like
  • 00:28:55
    in 1926 an indigenous man went went into
  • 00:28:57
    a pool hall won a game and then someone
  • 00:29:00
    was like you know what we're going to
  • 00:29:01
    legislate them out of here ex no more
  • 00:29:03
    pool halls for you and I still don't
  • 00:29:05
    know if I'm allowed in a pool hole or
  • 00:29:07
    not I mean we should check on that yeah
  • 00:29:08
    exactly let's just break down these
  • 00:29:10
    barriers once and for all yeah let me
  • 00:29:13
    just walk into a pool hall and feel safe
  • 00:29:15
    for once in my life yeah yeah yeah the
  • 00:29:17
    Indian Act forbade Indians from forming
  • 00:29:19
    political organizations from 1927 to
  • 00:29:22
    1951 this is so shady I know right so
  • 00:29:28
    between the years 1918 and 1985 the
  • 00:29:31
    Indian Act leased Reserve lands to
  • 00:29:33
    non-indigenous people so
  • 00:29:36
    wait Reserve lands which are reserved
  • 00:29:40
    for indigenous people yes the little
  • 00:29:43
    piece they were given
  • 00:29:45
    left they were still leasing off parts
  • 00:29:47
    of it giving it away to white people to
  • 00:29:50
    just do whatever they wanted yeah to
  • 00:29:51
    anyone they wanted
  • 00:29:53
    to uh the Indian Act also installed an
  • 00:29:56
    Indian agent on reserves to implement
  • 00:29:58
    government policies such as ensuring
  • 00:30:00
    children attended residential school
  • 00:30:02
    weren't they also in charge of giving
  • 00:30:04
    out passes to people on reserve so they
  • 00:30:06
    could leave kind of like a hall pass
  • 00:30:09
    except kind of genocidal well not
  • 00:30:12
    exactly it's kind of this one's a bit of
  • 00:30:14
    a tricky one because the passes weren't
  • 00:30:15
    a part of the Indian Act but they were
  • 00:30:17
    used they weren't even law but the
  • 00:30:19
    practice was used by the Indian agent
  • 00:30:22
    and it was used as a way to sort of
  • 00:30:23
    track the movements of indigenous people
  • 00:30:26
    and this was actually the subject of a
  • 00:30:27
    really fantastic movie called the pass
  • 00:30:29
    system by Alex Williams and we will link
  • 00:30:31
    to that on the website as well so many
  • 00:30:32
    links you know okay so that's also it
  • 00:30:35
    makes me think of something really
  • 00:30:37
    interesting when we get into the ideas
  • 00:30:39
    of passes and Status cards it's really
  • 00:30:42
    well known well by some that by the
  • 00:30:46
    1940s South Africa began shaping
  • 00:30:49
    apartheid based on Canada's Indian Act
  • 00:30:51
    and the Indian reserve system so our
  • 00:30:54
    partide was this policy a policy that
  • 00:30:57
    that governed relations between South
  • 00:30:58
    Africa's white minority population and
  • 00:31:02
    the black and brown non-white majority
  • 00:31:05
    it implemented one of the most punishing
  • 00:31:07
    and drastic forms of racial segregation
  • 00:31:10
    and political and economic
  • 00:31:12
    discrimination of black and brown people
  • 00:31:14
    and by the 1980s and the90s pretty much
  • 00:31:17
    earned the world's derision so all those
  • 00:31:20
    years Nelson Mandela spent in prison it
  • 00:31:23
    all started with Canada
  • 00:31:25
    exactly the Indian also declared
  • 00:31:28
    ceremonies like the pot latch and the
  • 00:31:30
    Sund dance illegal between the years of
  • 00:31:31
    1884 and
  • 00:31:33
    1951 so Potlatch is a dance is that
  • 00:31:36
    right pot lanch is a ceremony there's a
  • 00:31:38
    bunch of parts of it um I'm not from the
  • 00:31:40
    West Coast so I don't I don't think I
  • 00:31:42
    can speak it's a ceremony is a ceremony
  • 00:31:45
    so so ceremonies they were big into
  • 00:31:47
    Banning ceremony dances singing drumming
  • 00:31:51
    yeah again anything that was anything
  • 00:31:53
    that would make your culture distinctive
  • 00:31:56
    and you know
  • 00:31:57
    so it was really also about it seems
  • 00:31:59
    like a lot of this and a lot of these
  • 00:32:02
    policies are about implementing
  • 00:32:04
    forgetting we want you to forget who you
  • 00:32:07
    are that's a really good way of putting
  • 00:32:08
    it implementing forgetting yeah the
  • 00:32:10
    Indian Act also renamed Indians with
  • 00:32:13
    eurocentric names with European names oh
  • 00:32:15
    yeah well this is more of that and I I
  • 00:32:17
    mean and the you know what the thing
  • 00:32:19
    that really pisses me off let me talk
  • 00:32:22
    about it is that a lot of Europeans were
  • 00:32:24
    coming here and changing their name to
  • 00:32:26
    be more waspy or whatever right so it's
  • 00:32:30
    like you didn't even like your own names
  • 00:32:32
    and you're giving them to other people
  • 00:32:34
    yeah you know I know there's so many
  • 00:32:36
    cool names on my Reserve like for my
  • 00:32:39
    community there's some really cool names
  • 00:32:41
    and I am a
  • 00:32:42
    Johnson like there are Skywalkers and
  • 00:32:44
    there are
  • 00:32:45
    smokes instead of having the I anyway
  • 00:32:48
    I'm a Johnson right I mean you know it
  • 00:32:51
    has a certain fin don't knock it no it's
  • 00:32:54
    fine Skywalker John
  • 00:32:57
    obviously you know which one you're
  • 00:32:58
    going to pick that's all I'll say all
  • 00:33:02
    right yeah so this next one's really not
  • 00:33:05
    surprising after everything we've talked
  • 00:33:06
    about but the Indian Act helped to deny
  • 00:33:08
    status to indigenous women right and I
  • 00:33:11
    know that's true and it's terrible yes
  • 00:33:13
    so after learning about all of these
  • 00:33:16
    horrible facts about the Indian Act I
  • 00:33:18
    really wanted to talk to someone who
  • 00:33:21
    went through the process of getting her
  • 00:33:23
    status
  • 00:33:25
    back d
  • 00:33:32
    my name is it mean strong woman on a
  • 00:33:36
    hill watching over her people and my
  • 00:33:38
    English name is Teresa Van
  • 00:33:40
    mass I am a member of the White River
  • 00:33:43
    for nation of Beaver Creek Yukon and
  • 00:33:45
    Alaska because my family is separated by
  • 00:33:48
    the border and I am a full-time artist
  • 00:33:51
    and contract curator I'm wondering if
  • 00:33:54
    you could tell me just a little bit
  • 00:33:55
    about how your family came to be without
  • 00:34:00
    status sure so my grandma married my
  • 00:34:04
    grandpa um my grandma is a pend and a
  • 00:34:08
    woman and she met my grandpa who was a
  • 00:34:11
    young fesan man you know from northern
  • 00:34:14
    Holland he came over uh right at the end
  • 00:34:17
    of the second world war and he made his
  • 00:34:20
    way to the Yukon in its 20s and then I
  • 00:34:23
    don't know they fell in love got married
  • 00:34:27
    and um they had some kids and uh at that
  • 00:34:30
    time my grandma because she married my
  • 00:34:34
    non-indigenous grandpa lost her Indian
  • 00:34:37
    status so she was no longer recognized
  • 00:34:40
    by the Canadian government the federal
  • 00:34:42
    government as a status Indian she was
  • 00:34:45
    kind of seen as an everyday citizen with
  • 00:34:47
    the history of the gender discrimination
  • 00:34:51
    in the Indian Act the main part of it is
  • 00:34:54
    okay let's say uh an indigenous man
  • 00:34:57
    marries a non-indigenous woman she
  • 00:35:00
    gained status her kids gained status and
  • 00:35:05
    if her kids married and had children
  • 00:35:07
    with another non-indigenous person their
  • 00:35:11
    children would also gain status so where
  • 00:35:15
    the gender discrimination comes into
  • 00:35:17
    play is when my grandma married my grand
  • 00:35:20
    my grandpa who's non-indigenous she lost
  • 00:35:23
    status her kids never had status until
  • 00:35:25
    1985 and I a product of my mom who's
  • 00:35:30
    mixed race um you know having a child
  • 00:35:33
    with my dad who's non-indigenous I never
  • 00:35:35
    had status so that's where the gender
  • 00:35:38
    discrimination comes into play It's All
  • 00:35:40
    About the original women that marry
  • 00:35:42
    non-indigenous men the Discrimination
  • 00:35:45
    kind of went down all the way to their
  • 00:35:47
    grandchildren and can you tell me a
  • 00:35:49
    little bit about um I guess your
  • 00:35:52
    decision to gain
  • 00:35:54
    status oh God that that's a big one for
  • 00:35:58
    me with my grandma being raised in a
  • 00:36:02
    small indigenous community in Northern
  • 00:36:06
    Canada that's linked very close to
  • 00:36:09
    Alaska and when you're raised around
  • 00:36:12
    your indigenous family more so than your
  • 00:36:14
    non-indigenous family your identity is
  • 00:36:17
    quite firm you know I have light skin I
  • 00:36:20
    have blue eyes but I was taught to be a
  • 00:36:26
    first ancient person
  • 00:36:27
    you know I was an indigenous woman I was
  • 00:36:29
    a d operan person it didn't matter if I
  • 00:36:33
    was status or non-status I was
  • 00:36:34
    considered a non-status Indian at that
  • 00:36:36
    time it didn't matter because my Grandma
  • 00:36:38
    had always said you're you're an Indian
  • 00:36:41
    person you know she'd say to me when I
  • 00:36:44
    was a kid you know Teresa are you an
  • 00:36:45
    Indian and I'd be like yeah yeah I am
  • 00:36:48
    you know and then she'd be like you know
  • 00:36:50
    the next year or the next couple years
  • 00:36:51
    she'd be like Teresa are you first
  • 00:36:53
    nation yes yes I am um Teresa are you
  • 00:36:57
    you know White River First Nation yes
  • 00:37:00
    yeah I am she always kept
  • 00:37:04
    pushing that identity to make sure that
  • 00:37:07
    I was confident in my identity because
  • 00:37:10
    I'm the only grandchild that has such
  • 00:37:12
    fair skin my cousins and I grew up very
  • 00:37:15
    very close we considered brother cousins
  • 00:37:18
    so growing up with them they all kind of
  • 00:37:21
    ended up with darker skin than me so I
  • 00:37:24
    think my grandma felt a need to kind of
  • 00:37:27
    reassure my identity so when the option
  • 00:37:32
    of becoming a status Indian came up I
  • 00:37:36
    thought at first it was kind of like a
  • 00:37:38
    no-brainer cuz it's like well I already
  • 00:37:40
    am it doesn't I don't really need a card
  • 00:37:44
    but I might as well have a card you know
  • 00:37:46
    like yeah yeah proof hard proof exactly
  • 00:37:49
    hard proof hard laminated proof
  • 00:37:53
    fish but you know it was after I
  • 00:37:57
    actually applied for the card that I
  • 00:37:58
    started to question whether or not I
  • 00:38:00
    really needed that quote unquote proof
  • 00:38:03
    cuz it's like okay so what happens now
  • 00:38:06
    like yesterday I was non-status and now
  • 00:38:08
    I'm a status Indian what what happens
  • 00:38:11
    now like what's next what does this give
  • 00:38:14
    me what what has it taken away and I
  • 00:38:17
    think in a lot of respects it's taken
  • 00:38:18
    away a little bit of freedom because now
  • 00:38:21
    I'm once again in a in another category
  • 00:38:24
    you know you have your Canadian past
  • 00:38:26
    sport that's a category you have your uh
  • 00:38:29
    driver's license and that's a category
  • 00:38:31
    and now you have Indian status and it's
  • 00:38:35
    you're in a category like with my
  • 00:38:37
    grandma's words always in my head like
  • 00:38:39
    you're an Indian Teresa are you an
  • 00:38:40
    Indian asking that question and I'm
  • 00:38:42
    saying yes because she taught me to say
  • 00:38:45
    yes I thought that was good enough but
  • 00:38:49
    uh Society doesn't really like that and
  • 00:38:51
    they prefer you either have proof or
  • 00:38:54
    you're not one so I think that's where
  • 00:38:57
    it kind of came into play that I wanted
  • 00:38:58
    the the card okay so why can't we just
  • 00:39:02
    push the Indian Act into the ocean while
  • 00:39:05
    it has become so deeply entrenched into
  • 00:39:08
    the Canadian legal system it's hard to
  • 00:39:10
    undo the KN in 1969 prime minister
  • 00:39:13
    Pierre Elliot Trudeau and his minister
  • 00:39:15
    of Indian Affairs future Prime Minister
  • 00:39:17
    Jean cren presented the white paper on
  • 00:39:20
    Indian policy it's a very on the- noose
  • 00:39:23
    title yeah I know right really
  • 00:39:27
    this paper proposed an end to the Indian
  • 00:39:29
    Act and the legal relationship between
  • 00:39:31
    Canada and first nation's people it
  • 00:39:33
    would eliminate Indian status dissolve
  • 00:39:36
    the department of Indian Affairs abolish
  • 00:39:38
    the Indian Act and it would appoint a
  • 00:39:40
    commissioner to look at land claims and
  • 00:39:42
    terminate treaties so wait based on
  • 00:39:45
    everything we've just heard and
  • 00:39:46
    everything you've just told me why would
  • 00:39:48
    that be such a terrible idea we've just
  • 00:39:50
    talked about the ACT being really
  • 00:39:53
    terrible for indigenous people well it
  • 00:39:55
    would terminate our identities and our
  • 00:39:58
    rights as Sovereign Nations our Reserve
  • 00:40:00
    lands would be for sale our treaties
  • 00:40:02
    would be dissolved to many indigenous
  • 00:40:04
    people those treaties those agreements
  • 00:40:06
    our ancestors made those and they are
  • 00:40:09
    sacred to us it would also erase
  • 00:40:11
    Canada's history and responsibilities it
  • 00:40:14
    would mean we become assimilated right
  • 00:40:16
    we would just become Canadians and so we
  • 00:40:18
    still have the Indian act so do you have
  • 00:40:20
    a copy I do it was my
  • 00:40:23
    great-grandmother's um she passed away
  • 00:40:25
    when she was 101 oh my gosh yeah she
  • 00:40:28
    lived alone until she was 100 and she
  • 00:40:29
    passed away when she was 101 we were
  • 00:40:31
    cleaning out her house me and my sister
  • 00:40:33
    one day we were going through some
  • 00:40:34
    things some of her papers and there's a
  • 00:40:36
    stack of magazines and just out of this
  • 00:40:39
    stack of magazines they sort of fell
  • 00:40:41
    over and a copy of the Indian Act popped
  • 00:40:43
    out amazing uh and inside it were
  • 00:40:45
    actually the election papers the first
  • 00:40:47
    election papers for six nations band
  • 00:40:50
    Council I don't know why she kept it I
  • 00:40:53
    don't know what it meant to her you know
  • 00:40:55
    I thought about it a lot I thought about
  • 00:40:56
    that day when we found it uh a lot
  • 00:40:58
    writing this episode and I thought she
  • 00:41:01
    must have known that it meant something
  • 00:41:03
    and that it you know
  • 00:41:05
    somehow well it would have so much
  • 00:41:09
    meaning in her life whether good or bad
  • 00:41:12
    right mhm yeah I wonder what she
  • 00:41:14
    understood about it this this paper this
  • 00:41:17
    document written by white men far away
  • 00:41:19
    from our reserve and in the end I guess
  • 00:41:22
    it doesn't really matter because what
  • 00:41:25
    say do we have in of this
  • 00:41:29
    anyway the thing for me that's really
  • 00:41:31
    upsetting about all of this is that when
  • 00:41:33
    we think about the Royal
  • 00:41:35
    Proclamation those agreements were there
  • 00:41:38
    it was it was Nation to Nation we were
  • 00:41:40
    coming together and we were making
  • 00:41:42
    agreements about how we were going to
  • 00:41:43
    move forward but the thing is as we
  • 00:41:46
    moved forward as Canada moved
  • 00:41:48
    forward it forgot about that agreement
  • 00:41:50
    it pushed that agreement to the side and
  • 00:41:52
    it just did whatever it wanted to do
  • 00:41:55
    well yeah it did didn't stick to its
  • 00:41:58
    side of the agreement so really that
  • 00:42:00
    agreement is null and void you know like
  • 00:42:04
    that is the truth of it that's the truth
  • 00:42:07
    and I mean the thing is we can't we I
  • 00:42:09
    don't want to let it go like I don't
  • 00:42:10
    want the I don't want the Royal
  • 00:42:11
    Proclamation to be let go I want to hold
  • 00:42:12
    on to the Royal Proclamation because I
  • 00:42:14
    feel like we didn't come together to
  • 00:42:17
    create the Indian act so you feel in a
  • 00:42:19
    way that the Royal Proclamation was the
  • 00:42:23
    last
  • 00:42:24
    time really that ation tation agreement
  • 00:42:28
    happened and then from then on Canada
  • 00:42:31
    didn't hold up its end of that agreement
  • 00:42:33
    and then just started making new laws
  • 00:42:35
    and not really Consulting and doing
  • 00:42:37
    whatever it wanted well yeah and I mean
  • 00:42:38
    even in treaties treaties that were you
  • 00:42:40
    know post the Royal Proclamation they
  • 00:42:43
    haven't been honored they haven't been
  • 00:42:45
    treated as sacred which they are to us
  • 00:42:48
    they are to us those are our ancestor
  • 00:42:50
    signatures on those pieces of paper that
  • 00:42:52
    is a sacred thing that we have to hold
  • 00:42:54
    on to when it's disregarded like that
  • 00:42:58
    when you try to lay pieces of policy
  • 00:43:00
    over top of pieces of policy over top of
  • 00:43:02
    pieces of policy so that we can't
  • 00:43:04
    remember what the initial thing is that
  • 00:43:07
    we agreed to you're not going to make us
  • 00:43:10
    forget we
  • 00:43:12
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Tags
  • Indian Act
  • Indigenous Peoples
  • Canada
  • Colonial History
  • Assimilation
  • Sovereignty
  • Treaties
  • Indigenous Women's Rights
  • Cultural Identity
  • Paternalism