Collective Rights Vocabulary List

Affirm

To validate and express commitment to something.

Collective identity

The shared identity of a group of people, especially because of a common language and culture.

Collective Rights

Rights guaranteed to specific groups in Canadian society for historical and constitutional reasons.

First Nations

The umbrella name for the diverse Aboriginal peoples who have collective rights recognized and protected in Canada’s constitution.

Indian

Term used by Europeans to describe Indigenous people, despite their diversity and self-identified names.

Sovereignty

Independence as a people, with a right to self-government.

Annuity

An annual payment, often symbolic today under the Numbered Treaties.

Reserve

Land designated for the exclusive use of First Nations.

Entrenching

Fixing firmly within.

Patriate

To bring to a country something that belongs to that country.

Assimilate

To become part of a different culture.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one’s culture is superior to all other cultures.

Indian Act

Federal legislation regarding the rights and status of First Nations, first passed in 1876.

Anglophone

A person whose first language is English.

Francophone

A person whose first language is French.

Official Language community

A group in Canadian society that speaks an official language of Canada.

Official language minority

A group that speaks one of Canada’s official languages and is not in the majority within a province or territory.

Publicly funded

Paid for by taxes and provided by the government.

Inherent Rights

Rights that originate from fundamental justice.

Scrip

A document in Metis history that could be exchanged for land offered to Metis during the negotiation of Numbered Treaties.

Autonomy

Authority to make decisions.