SASKATOON, Sask. – In the wake of recent talks about reforming Canada’s Indian Act, Indigenous peoples are questioning what that change would look like. Ernie Louttit is a member of the Missanabie Cree First Nation. He is a status ‘Indian’ under the Indian Act, but his children are not due to certain rules under the current act. He hopes reform would allow status to be easily passed down to his children. “It just feels like you have to qualify your identity to the government,” Louttit told CTV News. “It needs to be reformed, but it needs to be reformed with good intention.” What is the Indian Act? The Indian Act was enacted in 1876. The legislation gives the federal government authority over First Nations people, status registration, reserve lands and band governance. The act attempted to assimilate First Nations. “This exists to separate the Canadian populace from the First Nations populace,” said Jason Bird, a lecturer at the First Nations University of Canada. “It seems like the goal of this whole thing is to rob Indigenous people of their status, identity and land.” For years, Indigenous groups have questioned the purpose of the act. “I don’t think anyone truly wants the Indian Act as a governing document over their societies,” Bird said. The act prevented First Nations women from running for chief and would strip women of their status if they married a non-Indigenous man. The Indian Act also paved the way for residential schools, banned cultural practices and developed the reserve system. “The reserve system is a form of apartheid and really changed the dynamics of our communities in terms of hunting, fishing and housing,” said Katherine Strongwind, founder of Sixties Scoop Legacy of Canada. Most of the reserve land given to First Nations was not optimal for farming, hunting, fishing or gathering, she said. Previous repeal efforts The Indian Act has been amended over the years. Changes in the 1950s gave provinces jurisdiction over child welfare, which ultimately led to the Sixties Scoop, Strongwind explained. “That is when we saw thousands of children taken from our homes and put into non-Indigenous homes,” said Strongwind, a Sixties Scoop survivor and advocate. In 1969, the government of Pierre Trudeau attempted to completely abolish the act through a proposed policy known as the White Paper. The move would have eliminated ‘Indian status’ altogether, among other controversial outcomes. “The White Paper really aggravated and was an offence to First Nations leadership because it was not co-developed,” Strongwind said. “It was another patriarchal decision to move towards abolishing the Indian Act and assimilating Indians, as we are called in Canada.” Strongwind says recent talks about reforming the Indian Act are “somewhat reminiscent” of the White Paper. She said she was surprised to hear the Indian Act come up in conversation at the First Ministers’ Meeting in Ottawa. “I thought it came out of nowhere,” she said. “For Premier Kinew to simply call out in a scrum to the prime minister without consulting with First Nations, and without the national chief there, is a little bit concerning.” Prime Minister Mark Carney said many Indigenous leaders have called for the elimination of the Indian Act. Any reform or abolishment would only happen in partnership with First Nations, he added. Strongwind believes this is an opportunity to redevelop legislation for the betterment of Indigenous communities. The founder of Sixties Scoop Legacy of Canada went on to say that she hopes an opportunity to renegotiate the legislation, and define who is treaty and who belongs to the treaties presents itself. She is hopeful replacement legislation can eventually be developed with more consultation with Assembly of First Nations chiefs, Indigenous leadership and survivors.
