INDG101 Quiz 1

Status

Registered under the Indian Act

Non-Status

Not registered under the Indian Act; lost status, closer to ordinary Canadian citizenship

First Nations

Nations that occupied territory before Europeans; excludes Inuit and Métis

Aboriginal/Indigenous

Umbrella terms covering Métis, Inuit, and First Nations

Inuit

Arctic Indigenous peoples; "Inuk" is singular; replaced the term "Eskimo"

Métis

Mixed European and Indigenous ancestry; a distinct people

Decolonization

The socio-political agenda to set right harmful Indigenous practices/policies

Indigenization

Incorporating Indigenous knowledge into institutional practices

Reconciliation

Making peace between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples: awareness, acknowledgement, atonement, action

Positionality

Recognizing your own social location (race, settler/Indigenous status, class, etc.) shapes how you see and interpret material

Protocols of engagement

Respectful, culturally appropriate ways of interacting with Indigenous communities, Elders, and knowledge

Starting in a good way

Beginning a relationship/meeting by sincerely acknowledging land and one's own relationship to it, not as rote formality

Colonialism

The political domination of a people or area by a foreign state; also an attitude

Settler colonialism

The deliberate, ongoing occupation of land to assert ownership and impose settler culture

The "Other"

Someone constructed as different from "us" to create distance, enabling racialization

Colonizer

Anyone who participates in colonial settlement (government, military, individual settlers)

Colonized

People forced to give up their land and culture

Settler

Non-Indigenous people who settle on Indigenous lands

Myth of Stasis

The false idea that Indigenous peoples are static/unchanging, waiting to be "saved" by Western culture

"Indian problem"

Colonial mindset framing "Indians" as standing in the way of "progress"

"Perfect stranger" (Susan Dion)

A stance that justifies settler ignorance of Indigenous peoples/issues

Transforming settler consciousness

Ongoing, lifetime process of accountability, naming power dynamics, and building decolonized relationships; pairs self-reflection with action (≠ decolonization itself)

Etuaptmumk / Two-Eyed Seeing

Coined by Albert Marshall; seeing through both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems at once

Peoplehood (Robert Thomas)

Identity tied to others through territory, sacred history, ceremonial cycle, and language

Potlatch system

A give-away ceremony used to honour, transfer rights, mark inheritance, celebrate

Circle talk

Teach/learn/share to make decisions; thoughts and words are sacred; a sacred object is passed

Papal Bull

A decree by the Pope; Inter Caetera (1493) granted "discovered" lands to Spain if not already claimed by a Christian ruler

Doctrine of Discovery

Legal cover for land theft: land not inhabited by Christians was available for "discovery" and claim

Manifest Destiny

Belief that North American expansion (US) was justified and inevitable (John O'Sullivan, 1845)

Terra Nullius

"No man's land"; land not claimed by a recognized sovereign was considered available

Indigenous sovereignty

The responsibility of Indigenous peoples to care for and protect traditional lands, govern themselves, and enter relationships with other Nations

Indigenous law

Diverse, often unwritten, carried orally; governs land, living, and the supernatural

Aboriginal title

A legal term for the collective right to land; sui generis; can only be sold to the Crown

Sui generis

Describes the unique Crown–Indigenous relationship, unlike any other property interest

Royal Proclamation, 1763

Claimed British territory in North America; recognized Aboriginal Title exists and continues; settlers could only buy land from the Crown

BNA Act, 1867 – s.91(24)

Federal government responsible for "Indian" decisions and land

BNA Act, 1867 – s.92

Provincial government handles other issues (e.g., healthcare)

Constitution Act, 1982 – s.25

Protects Indigenous rights; supersedes individual Charter of Rights and Freedoms rights

Constitution Act, 1982 – s.35

Defines Aboriginal peoples as "Indian," "Inuit," "Métis"; protects their rights based on the Royal Proclamation and treaties

Constitution Express (1980–81)

Direct-action movement described by Arthur Manuel as "the most effective direct action in Canadian history"

Indian Act, 1876

Consolidated prior legislation; governs Crown land, reserves, band leadership, education/housing/finances; made Status Indians "wards" of the government

Potlatch ban

1884, banned in BC; repealed 1951

Sun Dance ban

1885, banned on the prairies; repealed 1951

Mandatory residential schooling

Made mandatory for parents to send children, 1920

Indian vote (federal)

Indians allowed to vote (under conditions), 1960; BC allowed 1949

Trudeau's White Paper, 1969

Proposed eliminating Indian status, the Indian Act, and treaties; stopped by Assembly of First Nations protest

Treaties

Agreements between two or more sovereign nations

Bellegarde's key point

Canada exists because First Nations agreed to enter treaties with the Crown; the Crown is guarantor of the treaty relationship

"Cede" vs. "share"

Numbered Treaty written English said "cede/surrender"; oral discussions described "sharing" the land

Medicine chest promise

Promised healthcare; government later claimed it meant just a first-aid kit

Pass system

First Nations confined to reserves without Indian Agent permission

Maritime Peace & Friendship Treaties (1725–1776)

Between British and Mi'kmaq/Wolastoqiyik; British would live and protect the land; no land surrender

Robinson Treaties (1850)

With Anishinaabe; secured hunting and fishing rights

Douglas Treaties (1850–1854)

Vancouver Island; 14 treaties negotiated by James Douglas

Numbered Treaties (1871–1921)

Provided reserve lands, rights, and benefits; English text said "cede"

James Bay & Northern Quebec Treaty (1975)

First modern treaty; followed Cree (Eeyou) challenge to a 1971 hydroelectric project

BC Treaty Commission (1992)

Aims for a fair treaty process using tripartite agreements

Fiduciary relationship

The government's legal duty of trust to First Nations' interests

Guerin case (1984)

Crown sold Musqueam land in breach of its fiduciary duty

Delgamuukw v. Regina (1997) – McEachern (1991) ruling

No valid claim to land; rejected oral narratives as evidence; colonial presence extinguishes Aboriginal rights

Delgamuukw v. Regina (1997) – Supreme Court ruling

First ruling that Aboriginal Title continues to exist; not extinguished by Canadian sovereignty; oral tradition acknowledged as valid evidence

Crown title (Venne, 2017)

A "legal fiction" used to justify dispossession since Canada never legitimately acquired title

Doctrine of Adverse Possession

If an owner doesn't occupy land, someone else can use it and eventually claim it

Passage of time argument

Claim that Aboriginal title "diminishes" the longer colonial presence exists; rejected by Delgamuukw

Traditional/customary land

Area traditionally occupied by a First Nation

Ancestral land

Land that belonged to the Nation's ancestors, inherited

Unceded land

Land never surrendered; 95% of BC is unceded

Manuel's 3 components of colonialism

Dispossession (steal land), dependence (strip ability to self-provide), oppression (devastate culture/economy/social fabric)