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Royal Proclamation- Part 1
A document that set out guidelines for European settlement of Aboriginal territories in what is now North America. The Royal Proclamation was initially issued by King George III in 1763 to officially claim British territory in North America after Britain won the Seven Years War. -
Royal Proclamation- Part 2
It prevented any further settlement across North America until treaties had been negotiated with indigenous peoples. It also recognized that indigenous peoples had organized nations on their own lands. This law was the basis for many modern indigenous land claims. -
Reserve System
This was the Canadians government's official way of encouraging indigenous peoples to give up their own culture and traditions, therefore assimilating them into the mainstream of the rest of Canadian society. -
Aboriginal Right to Universal Suffrage
In March 1960, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker pushed the voting rights legislation through Parliament. It came into effect July 1 that year. First Nations people were given a conditional right to vote status at the time of Confederation in 1867. To do so, they had to give up their treaty rights and Indian status. -
National Indian Brotherhood & Native Council of Canada Formed
National Indian Brotherhood & Native Council of Canada was an organization that looked to protect and advance the aboriginal and treaty rights and interests of First Nations in Canada, including health, education, culture and language. -
White Paper
In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien, introduced a policy paper that proposed ending the special legal relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state and dismantling the Indian Act. -
Residential Schools Abolished
In 1969 the Canadian government stated that all residential schools were to be abolished, however not all closed. In fact, the last residential school closed in the 90s. In 1969 the system was taken over by the Departement of Indian Affairs who ended church involvement within the system. -
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1980s movement towards self government
Lots of Aboriginal people believe that they should have an automatic right to self-government as they were here first. These arrangements would recognize Aboriginal peoples right to make decisions regarding their communities, culture, traditions, and languages. The Constitution of 1982 guaranteed that the indigenous peoples existing rights would be recognized and affirmed. Aboriginal people believe their rights include the ability to control the land originally inhabited by the indigenous. -
Assembly of the First Nations founded
The Assembly of the First Nations is a group based on the UN's General Assembly with tribes being represented by their chiefs and was founded to replace the Canadian National Indian Brotherhood. The aim of the assembly is to protect and improve the indigenous and treaty rights, improve and foster First Nation education, culture and language -
1985 Passing of Bill C-31
Bill C-31 was a bill meant to replace the Indian Act. This bill made major changes to parts of the Indian Act, including Indian status and band/tribe membership, with three goals. To deal with gender discrimination within the Indian Act, to restore Native status to those who had unwillingly lost their Indian status because of prior discriminatory provisions, and to allow bands/tribes to control their own band/tribe membership as a step towards self-government. -
Meech Lake
The Meech Lake Accord was a set of failed constitutional amendments that was proposed in the late-1980s. One of the key objectives of this Accord was to gain Quebecs explicit acceptance of the Constitution Act, 1982. Elijah Harper, an aboriginal leader from Manitoba criticized the accord because he believed that aboriginal people deserved special statues alongside Quebec. He believed the Meech Lake accord didn’t recognize aboriginal people in the same way as Quebec. -
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Oka Standoff
Officials in Oka decided to extend a golf course into the land that the Mohawks claimed had always belonged to them. In retaliation to this, the Mohawks put blockades on major roads which lasted for over 6 months. At one point the police stormed the barricade and an officer died. Because of this, the Army was called to the blockades resulting in a tense standoff between the Army and the Mohawk Warriors. Eventually, they reached an agreement. The land was bought by gov and transferred to a band. -
Nisga'a Treaty 1992-1998
In 1998, the Nisga’a people of British Columbia signed a treaty with both the provincial and federal government. The Nisga’a were given wide powers of self-government pertaining issues of culture, language, and family life. The Nisga’a people were also given ownership of 1,922 square kilometers of land and $190 million. -
Ipperwash Ontario
The Ipperwash crisis took place in 1995 on land in and around Ipperwash Provincial Park in Ontario. Aboriginal people occupied land on a former army base that had been taken away from them during WW2 but was never returned. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park in order to assert their claim to nearby land which had been expropriated from them during WW2. -
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Gustafsen Lake, BC
First Nations re-occupied land that they claimed was sacred ground at Gustafsen Lake. This resulted in a standoff between the RCMP and the Ts'peten Defenders. -
Delgamuukw Case
The 1988 Delgamuukw decision made by the Supreme Court of Canada was important because it decided the nature of Aboriginal rights and title in Canada. This case critically reviewed Aboriginal rights and titles. Aboriginal title is a right to territory and encompasses exclusive use and occupation. -
Statement of Reconciliation
The Canadian government apologized to the country’s Indian Inuit and other aboriginal peoples for decades of mistreatment. They offered an emotional atonement for policies that sought to stamp out native culture and confined Indian children in abusive government-run schools. -
Creation of Nunavut
In 1999, Nunavut a was created. Nunavut was a place for aboriginal peoples had the right to self government over natural resources, education, and justice systems. In the political system of Nunavut, there are no political parties, people run for election as individuals. The creation of Nunavut was the outcome of the largest aboriginal land claims agreement between the Canadian government and the Native Inuit people.
