Intergovernmental Relations
Reserves and Other Communities
Indian reserves are Crown lands
held in trust for Status Indian bands. Under the Royal
Proclamation of 1763, Aboriginal lands could be surrendered only
to the Crown, not to private interests. Since 1850, as
Aboriginal people have ceded land through treaties, a portion of
these lands has been reserved for their use. In areas where
there are no treaties, the Government of Canada has created
reserves. Today,
Indian
reserves represent a fraction of the
land once occupied by Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people's
rights of access
to resources located on reserves and other
Crown lands are still being disputed. Métis and Inuit do
not have reserves. Alberta's 1938 Métis Betterment Act
provided for the allocation of provincial Crown lands as
"Métis colonies." In the 1950s, the federal government
relocated
Inuit communities from Northern Quebec to
Grise Fiord and Resolute in the High Arctic. The government's
reasons ranged from humanitarian concerns to the need to assert
Canadian sovereignty in the High Arctic.
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(left) This is an Indian Reserve, 1969
(right) Inuit
identification disc
Central Inuit
About 1950
Pressboard and printer's ink
Canadian Museum of Civilization, IV-C-4497, D2002-013314, CD2002-346
By the 1940s, the Canadian Arctic had been divided into three
western districts and nine eastern districts. Inuit residents
were accordingly assigned serial numbers beginning with W1 to W3
or E1 to E9.
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