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The Royal Proclamation prevented any further settlement across North American until treaties had been negotiated with Indigenous People, and it recognized that Indigenous people had organized nations on their own lands.
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By 1830, Indigenous communities were seen as blocking the future of the future settlement of British North America. The federal government passed legislation which granted the government control and management of the lands and property of First Nations Peoples in Canada. Today, only 0.4% of Canadian land is set aside for reserves.
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The Indian Act was the Canadian government's official way fo encouraging Indigenous Peoples to give up their own culture and traditions, thereby assimilating them into mainstream Canadian culture. The Act provided schools, medical care, hunting and fishing rights, and annual treaty payments. It exempted Indigenous Peoples with Indian status from paying certain taxes. It prevented Indigenous people the right to take up land and to vote in provincial elections.
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On 31 March 1960, Indigenous Peoples won the right to vote in federal elections in Canada. Indigenous Peoples could vote without losing their Indian status.
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The National Indian Brotherhood was created to represent "Status Indians", and the Native Council of Canada was created to represent "non-Status Indians" and Metis.
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In 1969, the system was taken over by the Department of Indian Affairs, ending church involvement. The government decided to phase out the schools.
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The Canadian government introduced a white paper(an official statement of policy) to address the issues facing Indigenous People. In 1969, the White Paper proposed the abolition of reserves and an end to Indigenous special status. The premise was that equality(or non-discrimination) was necessary for a solution to the problems of Indigenous Peoples, and that special status had been the major cause of difficulties.
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The constitution of 1982 guaranteed that the existing rights of Indigenous Peoples would be recognized and affirmed. According to Indigenous Peoples, their rights include the right to control traditional land, to protect beliefs and cultures and to have self-government. Indigenous governments would be responsible for their own policing, health care, and education, but would also have equal access to the institutions and benefits provided by the federal government.
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During the 1980s, the National Indian Brotherhood, renamed Assembly of First Nations, stepped up its efforts to establish better conditions for Indigenous Peoples.
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In 1985 some substantial changes were made to the Indian Act. The most important changes include the abolishment of the concept of enfranchisement and increased self-government.
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In 1987 the Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney attempted to win Québec's consent to the revised Canadian Constitution — following the Québec government's rejection of it in 1981. The result was the Meech Lake Accord, an agreement between the federal and provincial governments to amend the Constitution by strengthening provincial powers and declaring Québec a "distinct society."
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In Oka, Quebec, officials decided to extend a golf course onto land that the Mohawks claimed had always belonged to them. In response, the Mohawks set up blockades of major roads that lasted for more than 6 months. The police stormed the barricades and one police officer was killed. The Canadian Army was called in, and there was a tense standoff between the army and the Mohawk Warriors. Finally the federal government bought the land and negotiated its transfer to the Kanesatake First Nation.
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Indigenous people re-occupied land that they claimed was sacred ground.
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At Ipperwash Ontario, a group of Indigenous protestors occupied land on a former army base that had been taken from them during the Second World War but never returned. On September 6th, the Ontario Provincial Police staged a nighttime raid on the camp. During the raid, an unarmed Ojibwa man was shot to death by an OPP sniper. When relatives attempted to drive him to a hospital, they were stopped and arrested.
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The Delgamuukw case concerned the definition, the content and the extent of Aboriginal title (i.e., ownership of traditional lands). The Supreme Court of Canada observed that Aboriginal title constituted an ancestral right protected by section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982.
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On January 8, 1998, Jane Stewart, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, delivered a written apology to Phil Fontaine, the then Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). The government also set a fund of $350 million “for community-based healing as a first step to deal with the legacy of physical and sexual abuse at residential schools” and laid plans for community development and strengthening indigenous governance.
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The Nisga’a people of BC signed a unique treaty with both the provincial and federal governments. The Nisga’a were given wide powers of self-government pertaining to issues of culture, language, and family life. They were given ownership of 1922 square kilometres of land, including all resources, fishing, and hunting rights, and $190 million.
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In 1999, the new Canadian territory of Nunavut was created, where indigenous people were given 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 elections as individuals, and then the elected members vote for the member who they want to lead the government.
