SOCI 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Indian Register, Half-Breed, Indian Act
Document Summary
Stated purpose: to civilize the indigenous people, assimilationist. Defined an indian as: member of an identified band w/treaty(n=633, patrilineal descended from such a band. Woman cannot pass on her status to children. Left out: so called half-breed (e. g metis, aboriginal women who married whites, those who have descent matrilineally. Treats indians as wards of the state : children, people who cannot make decisions for themselves. Authorities include: licensing outsiders to harves resources on indian land, regulating movement of indians (pass system in place for many years , determining who has the right to live on reserves. Divides aboriginals into 4 categories: status indians(constitutional and legal term) Thos not qualified as indians under the act. No treaty(or not covered under previous proclamations under the british) Note: patrilineal qualification removed in amended act of 1985(only qualifies for two generations: metis: Originally refers to red river settlements in manitoba. Persons descended from mixed french and aboriginal descent.
