By Bob Joseph
This put up is a part of the Indian Act 150 collection.
This yr, 2026, marks 150 years of the Consolidated Indian Act of 1876. This serves as a well timed alternative to debate the dismantling of this harmful and restrictive piece of laws. The Indian Act has constrained and managed the lives of Standing Indians for generations, and reconciliation will likely be hampered till the Indian Act is not intact.
My latest e-book, 21 Issues™ You Must Know About Indigenous Self-Authorities, invitations Canadians to affix the dialog about dismantling the Indian Act and has provided me the chance to have these essential discussions with readers throughout the nation. Throughout these conversations, a query I’ve often been requested was: “So what comes subsequent? What’s your imaginative and prescient of Canada with out the Indian Act?”
My reply is {that a} return to Indigenous self-government is important and vital. I say “return” as a result of Indigenous Peoples have been self-governing since time immemorial. In reality, Indigenous self-governance is already occurring and is a method for Indigenous Nations to regain their company from the historic injustices of the Indian Act.
So as to greatest perceive the lasting results of the Indian Act and the need of the transfer in the direction of self-government, I feel it’s essential to first have a fast historic overview.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763
In 1763, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation, which established the boundaries of the British colony and formalized the treaty-making processes outdoors of the colony:
It’s simply and cheap and important to our Curiosity, and the Safety of our Colonies, that the a number of Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We’re linked, and who reside below our Safety, shouldn’t be molested or disturbed within the Possession of such components of our Dominions and Territories as not having been ceded to or bought by Us, are reserved to them, or any of them, as their Searching Grounds…any Lands no matter, which, not having been ceded to or bought by Us as aforesaid, are reserved to the mentioned Indians, or any of them…
This part of the Royal Proclamation is critical as a result of it acknowledges Indigenous Peoples as “Nations” or “Tribes of Indians” and acknowledges them because the house owners of the lands the British colony occupied. This was the King’s method of securing navy and financial alliances with Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples have been considered as important buying and selling and navy companions for England, which helped England cut back their dependency on France, Spain, and Russia, with whom they have been competing. The Royal Proclamation additionally said that no settlement might be established outdoors of these boundaries earlier than the Crown secured the lands by negotiating treaties with Indigenous Peoples.
When the standard chiefs or leaders negotiated historic treaties with the Crown, they realized that their previously self-sustaining, self-governing world was altering. They negotiated sure provisions and treaty articles to be able to make sure the survival and continuation of their individuals, together with training, financial help, well being care, livestock, agriculture instruments, and agricultural coaching.
These historic treaties have been made on a nation-to-nation foundation and have been negotiated with Indigenous hereditary or conventional leaders. The standard governance buildings of many countries have been a part of a productive and extremely advanced society pre-contact, and plenty of misplaced the traditions of those buildings all through Canada’s historical past, together with the undermining of ladies and elders in management roles. A few of chances are you’ll be considering, why have hereditary chiefs? From my perspective, the British have a hereditary chief. His title is King Charles.
Confederation and the Consolidated Indian Act of 1876
Issues modified on the time of Confederation with the passage of the British North America Act in 1867. Canada deserted the rules throughout the Royal Proclamation, which prompted a elementary shift from negotiating with Indigenous Peoples on a nation-to-nation stage, to viewing them as “savages,” incapable of governing themselves or elevating their very own youngsters. These Indigenous types of governance have been – and are sometimes nonetheless – downplayed as “primitive” and “backwards.”
The Consolidated Indian Act of 1876 introduced on a brand new system of governance primarily based on an electoral sort of political system with elected chiefs and councils. Canada desired a extra recognizable method for Indigenous communities to speak with the federal government and signify their respective nations. This coverage got down to eradicate the idea of hereditary chiefs, one thing Westernized democracy was not acquainted with, even supposing many colonial powers have been ruled by an analogous system of hereditary monarchs and households.
Band councils have been designed primarily to take care of healthcare, housing, and training on reserve lands. Though elected chief and council members are elected by their individuals on reserve, they’re truly accountable to the Division of Indian Affairs. The elected chief and council solely have jurisdiction throughout the reserve land borders and should undergo an electoral course of each two years. Indigenous communities like these are usually not thought-about self-governing as a result of they’re working inside a colonial system that was designed to assimilate them into the societal mainstream.
Current Day
Issues modified as soon as once more with the Structure Act in 1982, with the addition of part 35, which acknowledges and affirms current treaty and Indigenous rights. Even if these rights at the moment are constitutionally protected, the Indian Act nonetheless continues to exist with many extra restrictions than advantages.
The system of elected chief and council imposed by the Indian Act has created points and issues, particularly in recent times, with the Coastal GasLink pipeline undertaking. Elected management alongside the pipeline have been consulted, however the hereditary chiefs who govern their conventional territories weren’t consulted. This led to battle and dear delays, and raised quite a lot of confusion and dialogue surrounding elected versus hereditary management, as many communities have each. One other comparable case, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Enlargement, had an unique estimate of $5.4 billion in 2015, however met comparable pricey delays that elevated the undertaking price to $34.2 billion at completion.
Returning to Indigenous self-governance and permitting Indigenous communities to freely select how they govern themselves is not going to solely remove quite a lot of that confusion, however it is going to additionally return energy again to the communities who can greatest allocate funds and efforts to the problems that almost all want it. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a world human rights instrument that provides a framework for reconciliation and lays the inspiration for Indigenous self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance. Whereas Canada has dedicated to this framework, the continued existence of the Indian Act contradicts the themes of the UN Declaration.
Canada, as a rustic, prides itself on being a champion of human rights across the globe. Part 2 of the Canadian Human Rights Act states “that every one people ought to have a chance equal with different people to make for themselves the lives that they’re in a position and want to have and to have their wants accommodated, in keeping with their duties and obligations as members of society, with out being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices primarily based on race, [etc.].”
Nonetheless, the Indian Act contradicts this laws and continues to detrimentally have an effect on Standing Indians to this present day. Many Standing Indians reside in poor circumstances on reserves and are unable to personal the homes they reside in or the land they reside on, which isn’t topic to seizure below authorized course of. Regardless of the Structure Act, 1982 and human rights laws, the Indian Act’s existence continues to be a software of assimilation and segregation.
Dismantling the Indian Act and letting Indigenous Nations select learn how to govern themselves will profit all Canadians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. Taking motion like this is able to enable us as a rustic to exhibit our human rights aims and enhance our total picture as a rustic, not simply overseas however at dwelling too. Our identification is what we legislate it to be, so the continued existence of dangerous laws just like the Indian Act right here at dwelling reduces our credibility because the worldwide human rights champion and defender we consider ourselves to be.
I hope you’ll take the time to learn 21 Issues™ You Must Know About Indigenous Self-Authorities, and proceed to be taught and have interaction with these subjects and the way they tie into human rights discussions across the globe. These conversations are important to affect and form our shared values as Canadians, each right here and overseas. This essential work begins right here at dwelling, and together with your assist, I consider that we are able to make a constructive change, advance reconciliation, and enhance the standard of life for all Canadians.
Bob Joseph, co-founder and president of Indigenous Company Coaching Inc. (ICT), has supplied coaching on Indigenous relations since 1994. ICT has a various vary of purchasers, together with all ranges of presidency, Fortune 500 corporations, useful resource improvement corporations, and small and medium-sized companies. Bob can also be the creator of the nationwide bestseller 21 Issues™ You Could Not Know In regards to the Indian Act and its latest sequel, 21 Issues™ You Must Know About Indigenous Self-Authorities: A Dialog About Dismantling the Indian Act.
Bob is an Indigenous particular person, or extra particularly, a Standing Indian. He’s an initiated member of the Hamatsa Society and has inherited a chief’s seat within the Gayaxala (Thunderbird) clan, the primary clan of the Gwawa’enuxw one of many 18 tribes that make up the Kwakwaka’wakw. Bob is anticipating holding his inaugural potlatch to verify his Chieftainship within the close to future. His chief title is Ok’axwsumala’galis, which, loosely translated, means “whale who emerges itself from the water and presents itself to the world.”
(Please see above hyperlinks for pronunciation suggestions)
This collection was produced throughout the undertaking Historicizing Our Instances: Histories of Migration and Local weather within the Digital Area, which is supported partially by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Analysis Council.
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