Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

The Indian Act - Coggle Diagram

- - - - An image of the Royal Proclamation https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/royal-proclamation-of-1763
- - - - In the 1940s South Africa started making a policy-based on Canada's Indian act and Indian Reserve system. Par Tide is a policy that dealt with relations between South Africa’s white minority and the black majority. Although not directly related to the Indian act, it is important to recognize the impact it had on other places in the world.
    - - The 1951 amendment to the Indian act gave provinces control over Aboriginal child welfare. This lay groundwork for the infamous 60s scoop. Many Indigenous families were broken from generations of residential schools. This meant money was tight, death rates were high, and life was hard for many Indigenous families. This provoked provinces to use their new power to take Indigenous children from their families and send them off to get adopted by white middle-class families in Canada and the US. The impact of this event can still be seen today, as many victims of the 60s scoop are still discovering their identities and reconnecting with their culture.
        First Nations Chief Marcia Brown Martel, a victim of the 60s scoop says "There truly is a sadness to me, not to have been able to speak to my mother in her own language, to have great dialogue with her, not to be able to speak to my grandmother, who had such knowledge. Those are the regrets that I have." Without the 1951 amendment the 60s scoop might never have even happened.
    - - In 1969 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau proposed the white paper policy, which would abolish the Indian act and Department of Indian Affairs, meaning status Indians would be the same as normal Canadian citizens. He did this in hopes of creating greater equality among Canadian citizens and First Nations people. Although it may sound good on paper, the policy was rejected by many First Nations people across Canada, as the Indian act was a part of their history, and should not be abolished. On top of that, First Nations people still needed support, as residential schools were still open and poverty was still present on reserves. An example I found to be easy to understand was thinking of it like a game of Mario Kart. If an average white Canadian was the person in first place spot they wouldn't be given blue shells because it won't help them, while less privileged people like First Nations would be able to get them because it would actually help them. Destroying the legal distinction between First Nation people and other Canadians might also cut support to Aboriginal individuals in need, as the consequences of the Indian act are still being felt, and will not disappear if the Indian act id abolished.