Making Canadian Indian Policy

An analysis of the formulation of the Canadian government's White Paper on Indian policy based on interviews with individuals involved in shaping the policy, government documents and reports, and published materials.

The relationship between the individual and the collective has been the major force in human life from time immemorial but the character of that relationship has evolved over time. In one dark corner of this long drama, a special case of the relationship between individual and collective has been playing out in Canada in the lives of Native Indians. In this particular corner, the collective assumes an importance unthinkable in the mainstream. Indian policy, imposed by the mainstream on some Canadians - "Indians" - has built for them a world that is both a fortress and a prison. The effects on the individuals within that system have been profound.

Indian Treaty-Making Policy in the United States and Canada, 1867?1877 is a comparison of United States and Canadian Indian policies with emphasis on the reasons these governments embarked on treaty-making ventures in the 1860s and 1870s, how they conducted those negotiations, and their results. Jill St. Germain challenges assertions made by the Canadian government in 1877 of the superiority and distinctiveness of Canada?s Indian policy compared to that of the United States. ø Indian treaties were the primary instruments of Indian relations in both British North America and the United States starting in the eighteenth century. At Medicine Lodge Creek in 1867 and at Fort Laramie in 1868, the United States concluded a series of important treaties with the Sioux, Cheyennes, Kiowas, and Comanches, while Canada negotiated the seven Numbered Treaties between 1871 and 1877 with the Crees, Ojibwas, and Blackfoot. ø St. Germain explores the common roots of Indian policy in the two nations and charts the divergences in the application of the reserve and ?civilization? policies that both governments embedded in treaties as a way to address the ?Indian problem? in the West. Though Canadian Indian policies are often cited as a model that the United States should have followed, St. Germain shows that these policies have sometimes been as dismal and fraught with misunderstanding as those enacted by the United States.

During the past thirty years Canadian 'Indian' policy has undergone significant changes. There is consensus amongst First Nations people that the 1969 White Paper, although formally retracted by the federal government in the early 1970s, has provided the framework for subsequent Canadian 'Indian' policy. In this thesis a distinction is made between 'Indian' and 'Aboriginal' policy whereby 'Indian' policy refers to those groups of people legally defined as Indian according to the Indian Act. The policy distinction is needed because it is these indigenous peoples that were the focus of the Statement of the Government on Indian Policy (commonly known as the 1969 White Paper). While the literature shows that Indian policy was formulated according to three policy goals (civilization, protection, and assimilation), this study will investigate the extent to which termination and genocide was a fourth, and continued, federal Indian policy objective. Indian termination policy has usually been discussed in reference to the American Indian experience. Although termination and genocide are rarely allowed to enter into First Nations and indigenous 'Indian' discourse in Canada, First Nations and non-First Nations writers state that genocide has and continues to be the indigenous experience in Canada. As a fourth policy reality in Canada and part of the socio-political ideology of the indigenous 'Indian' or First Nations in Canada, termination can be termed as the process and procedure in Indian policy while genocide is the ideological frame of reference. In order to assess to what extent the 1969 White Paper has influenced 'Indian' policy during the last ten years in Canada, a comparative analysis between the 1969 White Paper and the 1994 Manitoba Framework Agreement, First Nations Governance 2001, and the First Nations Land Management Act will be included... A select grouping of policy documents pertaining to Indians, as defined by the Indian Act, are part of a comparative analysis that also takes into account Canadian public policy-making in general. It is in this section of the thesis that Indian termination policy is revealed as one of the three historic policy objectives of the federal government. 'Generic' policy terms and analyses are applied to Indian policy and this discussion forms much of the thesis chapters. By bringing public policy-making into the analysis of Indian policy, any similarities across documents become apparent. The comparative analysis method was necessary in order to determine the extent that the 1969 White Paper has been incorporated into subsequent Indian policy. My research shows that, although formally and publicly retracted by the federal government, the 1969 White Paper policies were incorporated into future Indian policy initiatives. The important point is that the White Paper policy proposals would not necessarily find their way into the most recognizable form of Indian policy, the Indian Act, but would be manifest in related legislation pertaining to Indians and Indian lands. The study concludes by showing that termination, and ultimately genocide will be a realized policy objective by termination of 'Indian' ties to Reserve land.

Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer.Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has shaped, controlled, and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph's book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is at a crescendo. Joseph explains how Indigenous Peoples can step out from under the Indian Act and return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance--and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadian. He dissects the complex issues around truth and reconciliation, and clearly demonstrates why learning about the Indian Act's cruel, enduring legacy is essential for the country to move toward true reconciliation.

An introduction to Indian affairs in Canada at the national level. Includes detailed descriptions of the National Indian Brotherhood and the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

Based upon a variety of research approaches and focusing on nineteen case studies covering bands and tribal councils in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia, this book is an examination of Indian government and its meaning in practice. Four specific elements of governance are examined: citizenship, policy-making, service production and delivery, and finance.

In Citizens Plus, Alan Cairns unravels the historical record to clarify the current impasse in negotiations between Aboriginal peoples and the state. He considers the assimilationist policy assumptions of the imperial era, examines more recent government initiatives, and analyzes the emergence of the nation-to-nation paradigm given massive support by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. We are battered by contending visions, he argues - a revised assimilation policy that finds its support in the Canadian Alliance Party is countered by the nation-to-nation vision, which frames our future as coexisting solitudes. Citizens Plus stakes out a middle ground with its support for constitutional and institutional arrangements which will simultaneously recognize Aboriginal difference and reinforce a solidarity which binds us together in common citizenship. Selected as a BC Book for Everybody