Intergovernmental Relations
Legislation
A
Royal Proclamation
issued in 1763 established principles that the Crown was to respect when
dealing with Aboriginal people in North America. Today,
Section
25 of the Constitution Act, 1982 reaffirms the principles of the Royal Proclamation.
Section 35 of the Act recognizes the
Aboriginal people as including the Indian, Inuit and Métis
populations.
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Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (French version) (reproduction)
1982
Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2002-I0038-45
Issued by King George III following the fall of the French
regime in North America, the Royal Proclamation expressed
principles related to the continuity of Aboriginal rights. These
are entrenched today in the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and elsewhere in
the Canadian Constitution.
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Prior to 1876, separate legislation provided for the
administration of Indian affairs in each colony. The first
appearance of "Indian" as a legal definition appeared in
Lower Canada in 1850. The Indian Act, first passed in 1876, is
the legislation by which the federal government exercises its
responsibility for Indian affairs in Canada. The Indian Act
applies only to Status Indians; it does not apply to Inuit and
Métis Canadians. Métis and Inuit may be the subject
of separate provincial or territorial legislation, including
Alberta's 1938
Métis
Betterment Act, and the 1993
Nunavut Act.
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(left) Indian Act (1985 version)
1989
Government of Canada
Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2002-I0038-25
Prior to Confederation, numerous pieces of legislation in the
colonies gave governments the legal mandate to administrate
Indian affairs. At Confederation, Section 91(24) of the British
North America Act made "Indians, and lands reserved for
Indians" a federal responsibility. The first federal Indian
Act was passed in 1876.
The Indian Act made it compulsory for children to attend day,
industrial or residential schools run by the Churches. The
schools were designed to distance children from their Aboriginal
cultures and indoctrinate them with values and beliefs typically
associated with the Christian work ethic.
(right) Basil Paul, wearing Indian
timber bailiff badge, 1915, photograph by James Teit
Canadian Museum of Civilization, 30640, CD95-895-005
Basil Paul was a Secwepemc (Shuswap) band
member from central interior B.C. He is pictured here wearing
his badge as a government-appointed Indian timber bailiff,
responsible to the Dominion government for the management of
timber resources located on his reserve.
Access to resources located on Indian reserves was controlled by
the Crown through the federal Indian Act. Timber resources were
especially valuable, and selected band members were given
authority over them by the Department of Indian Affairs. Native
people thus became stewards over the land on behalf of the
Crown.
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