A HISTORY OF CANADA
Colonialism: control by one power over another area/people (one nation subjugates another) conquering and exploiting. Often forcing its own language and cultural values upon its people.
After the initial European contact, they were dependent on Indigenous people
1. Europeans and First Nations were partners in fur trade.
2. After French & British started to compete to control resources in North America, indigenous took part in wars between English and French through military alliances.
3. They generally only joined in alliances with Europeans when there were mutual benefits.
The Fur Trade in North America
- French brought few colonists
- Their interest was in furs, more than controlling the land/Nations who live there.
- They often moved into indigenous community and learned their languages.
Fur Trade
- Europeans and First Nations: representative of nation-to-nation diplomacy
- Change later: Europeans sought to impose their own laws and regulations
While the French focus on Trade, British are interested in colonizing Americas
- British established 13 colonies along the east coast of North America
- Many colonists are farmers, buying and selling lands.
- 1750: 1.5 million settlers in the 13 colonists.
7 YEARS WAR (1756 – 1763 ish)
- Tension between French and British in North America led to war
- Fought around the world – in North America was fought by British against French
- British wanted the land west of the 13 colonies which were claimed by French.
- Individual Indigenous Nations made alliances that made sense for them. Although most of them chose to form alliances with the French.
PONTIAC’S REBELLION
- Pontiac was a courageous and respected Odawa war chief who recognized the threat of British. He wanted to preserve Indigenous ways of life. He knew British were a great threat than the French.
- Pontiac assembles the Indigenous nations and spoke to them about his grievance about British. His message: return of traditional ways of life, avoiding materialism and alcohol.
o Grievance:
§ Expansion of British Forts in Indigenous territory
§ More British troops in Indigenous territory
§ More colonial settlers
§ Trading less fair than French
§ British wouldn’t trade important goods (firearm for hunting)
§ No respect given to Indigenous people/their traditions
o General Amherst: commander-in-chief of British forces. Commanders at time when they are expanding their forts and bringing more troops to Great Lakes region.
- Pontiac planned on attack on Port Detroit, 1763, but he was betrayed. The Garrison at Detroit was ready, a siege began.
- However, the unified Indigenous Nations attacked the British at their other Forts.
- Pontiac’s rebellion ended by peace treaty, signed by Pontiac, no lands being ceded to the British.
- British turned away from General Amherst’s policies, which treated Indigenous people as conquered.
- British decided they keep the colonists and Indigenous apart through the Royal proclamation of 1763.
ROYAL PROCLAMATION, 1763
- British said the land was of Appalachian Mt. belonged to the Indigenous people.
What does it mean to colonists?
- White settlers in the colonies could no longer buy land on the other side of the mountain
- Land speculation – buying land with the expectation of selling it for profit
- They couldn’t move into that territory, which had good land for farming and resources.
What does it mean to Indigenous?
- Settlers couldn’t enter territory without permission
- This permanently stop their land from being taken by settlers, the way it had been in 13 colonies.
Treaty making after Royal Proclamation
- The mid 1800s the Crown was no longer respectful of Indigenous Nations during their treaty making
- The Crown wanted to quickly get the resources, land, fish, etc.
- Indigenous people needed food and medicine.
- British signed many treaties with Indigenous Nations after Royal Proclamation
- BC don’t have treaties.
- What was said vs what was written was different
- There was language barrier
- British wanted to control the resources and land
WHAT WAS SAID VS WHAT WAS WRITTEN
- Indigenous people negotiated the terms of the treaties, that were then written differently in the agreements.
- Native groups surrendered all of their rights to the land in exchange for small reserves and meagre compensation.
- For British Crown, the treaties offered substantial benefits, such as:
o Freeing up land for loyalists who had supported the British during the American War of independence
o Advancing colonization in the West
o Providing agricultural land and natural and mineral resources
- Aboriginal communities themselves sought treaties, because settler expansion had greatly diminished wildlife populations and they feared starvation
TREATY NO. 6
What did the government say that this treaty was for?
- “And whereas the said Indians have been notified and informed by Her Majesty’s said Commissioners that it is the desire of Her Majesty to open up for settlement, immigration and such other purposes as to Her Majesty may seem meet, a tract of country bounded and described as hereinafter mentioned, and to obtain the consent thereto of Her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a treaty and arrange with them, so that there may be peace and good will between them and Her Majesty, and that they may know and be assured of what allowance they are to count upon and receive from Her Majesty’s bounty and benevolence.”
- The Crowns want settlement, basically what the Queen wants.
- The treaty was for settlement, immigration so there will a peace and good will from the Queen’s generosity.
What did the Indigenous Nations give up according to the written document?
- “The Plain and Wood Cree Tribes of Indians, and all other the Indians inhabiting the district hereinafter described and defined, do hereby cede, release, surrender and yield up to the Government of the dominion of Canada, for Her Majesty the Queen and Her successors forever, all their rights, titles and privileges, whatsoever, to the lands included.”
- Hereby cede, surrender and yield up to the government forever their rights and land
- This is what was written and not said by themselves.
What did the government expect that the Indigenous people would do once they couldn’t live longer traditionally?
- “And Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees and undertakes to lay aside reserves for farming lands, due respect being had to lands at present cultivated by the said Indians, and other reserves for the benefit of the said Indians, to be administered and dealt with for them by Her Majesty’s Government of the Dominion of Canada; provided, all such reserves shall not exceed in all one square mile for each family of five, or in that proportion for larger or smaller families, in manner following, that is to say: that the Chief Superintendent of Indian Affairs shall depute and send a suitable person to determine and set apart the reserves for each band, after consulting with the Indians thereof as to the locality which may be found to be most suitable for them.”
- Reserves for farming lands but weren’t told where the land was.
How does the following provision get reinterprets in later decades?
- “And further, Her Majesty agrees to maintain schools for instruction in such reserves hereby made as to Her Government of the Dominion of Canada may seem advisable, whenever the Indians of the reserve shall desire it.”
- Agrees to maintain schools for instruction in such reserves
- They forced to go to residential school, but what written was “whenever the Indians of the reserve shall desire it”.
What promises are made about hunting and fishing on traditional territories?
- “Her Majesty further agrees with Her said Indians that they, the said Indians, shall have right to pursue their avocations of hunting and fishing throughout the tract surrendered as hereinbefore described, subject to such regulations as may from time to time be made by Her Government of Her Dominion of Canada, and saving and excepting such tracts as may from time to time be required or taken up for settlement, mining, lumbering or other purposes by Her said Government of the Dominion of Canada, or by any of the subjects thereof duly authorized therefor by the said Government.”
- Freedom to fish and hunt traditional way of life.
- “We make rules to take the land”
How much control do Indigenous people have over reserve lands?
- “It is further agreed between Her Majesty and Her said Indians, that such sections of the reserves above indicated as may at any time be required for public works or buildings, of what nature soever, may be appropriated for that purpose by Her Majesty’s Government of the Dominion of Canada, due compensation being made for the value of any improvements thereon.”
- Land reserved for Indigenous people, but government can take it anytime. Government can use its power to take it away for whatever reason.
What does this passage promise? Was it kept?
- “That a medicine chest shall be kept at the house of each Indian Agent for the use and benefit of the Indians at the direction of such agent.”
- Promise for healthcare and medicine
INDIAN ACT 1876
- Power shifted completely to the Crown (Canadian government), they treated Indigenous people as people who need to be controlled and instructed (legal children)
- Switch from treaty partners to children has led to a distrust of the Crown lasts until this day
- Assimilated: evading the culture.
- Reserve: want to go hunting etc. but need a permission
- Duncan Campbell Scott administered the Indian Act from 1913-1932
o Get rid of culture, he wants Indigenous people to merge into Canadian government so that they don’t have their own government
o Control of Indigenous: no future resistance
What did the Indian Act say and do?
- Replaced the traditional leaders with “band council”
- Created “Indian status”, government decide who was “Indian” – fewer of them in this country.
- Created penalties for families who didn’t send their children to residential school
- Made Indigenous religions, cultural, ceremonies, languages, and traditional regalia (clothing) illegal
- Didn’t allow for political organizations or for lawyers to be hired to argue for more rights/better conditions
Chief and Council System
- To minimize/marginalize heredity any chief (chief whose chosen from the community)
- Elected chief only existed to administer Indian Act, power very limited.
- Departments of Indian Affairs controlled the land, resources, finances
- Elections happened every 2 years, little stability, in order to divide the community
Women’s Status
- Before colonization, women were central to the family and important roles in communal government
- Act made them unequal with men. They would lose their status if they married non-Indigenous man (and their generations too)
- But men married non-Indigenous women kept their status.
- When women lost their status, there were no access to the limited housing on a reserve
- In 1985, the rule changed. Application for “reinstatement” were difficult to navigate because you didn’t hire enough people to process them
Enfranchisement
- Enfranchisement means giving up status
- When status given up, individual became “person”, having right to vote
- Enfranchise also encouraged by carving off land from the reserve and giving it to the enfranchised person – private land they could mortgage/sell
- Way for government to break up reserve land and reduce the number of Indigenous people
- There was also forced enfranchisement of educated men and veterans
Farm Product Permit System
- Indigenous encouraged to adopt farming
- Land assigned for their reserves often unsuitable for farming
- Even when Indigenous farmers were able to succeed on poor farmland, settlers complained because they didn’t want competition
- “Permit to sell” created: permission was required to sell products
- Made it illegal for non-Indigenous people to buy the products
- Farmers weren’t allowed to buy equipment’s without permission
- 1892: system expanded to beef because Indigenous people succeed selling meat to England.
Potlatch and Ceremonies
- Served political purpose with Indigenous people, establish responsibilities and titles
- Breaking ceremonies to prevent communities from governing themselves according to their own traditions
- Prevent the passing down of culture to younger generations.
- In 1921, 45 people were arrested at potlatch, 22 jailed for making speeches, dancing, and gift-giving
- It lasted 71 years, repealed in 1951
Political Organization/Lawyers
- Indigenous soldiers in WWI met in Europe and were able to share their experiences on reserves from across Canada (unfair treatment)
- They tried to create a “League of Indians” to pursue land rights, better living conditions, and better education
- Government was afraid of their growing influence, so Indian Act banned political organizations in 1927
- Indian Act banned/made illegal lawyers to act for Indigenous, so that they couldn’t pursue land and rights actions in court.
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
- Assimilation, no language, clothing, no ceremony, forced Christianity, no cultural celebration
- Separation of families far away
- Compulsory: 150,000 students
- Harsh punishments
- Malnutrition
- Deaths, disease (tuberculosis)
- Sexual abuse (aside from physical)
- The Crown started to force Indigenous Children to travel far away schools run by churches
- Children were robbed of their culture and abused in those schools
- Government’s purpose was assimilation
- There were malnutrition and lack of medical care, leading to many deaths
What is Residential School Denialism?
- Denialism: a person who doesn’t acknowledge the truth of something that is supported by the majority of historical evidence
Evidence:
- 1842 – Bagot report – schools set up “far from child’s community” training in “manual labour”
- 1885 – “forcible removal of children”, Deputy Superintendent Vankoughuet “necessary to remove children”
- 1890 – Dr. Orton says tuberculosis can be reduced by half – “too costly”
- 1907 – H. S. Blake (lawyer, Indian Education) says: “appalling number of deaths” from tuberculosis
- 1910 – D. C. Scott: “barely half the children … survive”. I/A MacArthur: children are getting tuberculosis in these schools.
- 1920 – Scott: “I want to get rid of the Indian Problem”
- 1922 – Dr. Bryce: “within five years of entry 30% to 60% had died” from tuberculosis during 1894-1908.
THE SIXTIES SCOOP
- A highly disproportionate number of Indigenous children were taken from their families and communities and placed in foster care
1. What does the “scoop” refer to?
o Children taken without warning/consent to live with middle-class European families
2. When and why did the scoop happen?
o 1950s residential schools starting to close because people start to recognize the harm they caused. Children are now being placed in “provincial care” and given to non-Indigenous families to raise. By 1964, 34% of the children apprehended by the province are Indigenous.
3. How did cultural ignorance contribute to the Sixties Scoop?
o Indigenous kitchen cabinets looked very different from Euro-Canadian ones. There was more reliance on traditional foods, like game. Extended families would help raise children, but the social workers didn’t recognize this. When poor families asked the government to help, their children were often taken away.
4. What effect did the scoop have on Indigenous children?
o Children were placed in homes where they were deliberately separated from their culture. Often not told their identity. For those who knew their heritage, they felt an identity crisis. Abuse was also common in some placements.
5. When did things start to change?
o In the 1980s provinces started to prioritize adoptions with extended families/other Indigenous families. In the 1990s the federal government gives bands more control to administer family services on their own.
6. What is the situation today?
o The problem still exists. In May 2008, the number of children in “provincial care” rose to 51%. The UNICEF criticizes Canada for not living up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
THE WHITE PAPER
- Policy of the Canadian Government in 1969 to abolish all the treaties and the Indian Act.
- There would be no more Indian “Status”
- Reserves would become private property
- This attempt by the government to make everyone “equal” was rejected because it was seen as trying to assimilate Indigenous people.
1. What was the stated purpose of the “White Paper” and when was it proposed?
o To achieve “equality” by eliminating Indian status and making Indigenous people citizens. The government said that this would make Indigenous people “free”.
2. How did it plan to meet its goals? (what did it propose to do?)
o Eliminate Indian status, abolish the Indian Act, covert reserve land to private property and gradually terminate existing treaties. In exchange, there was a promise to provide funding for economic development.
3. What was the response of Indigenous people? Why did they respond this way?
o Indigenous people saw this as another attempt to assimilate them, by taking away their status and their rights to the land, including their treaty rights. They didn’t see any attempt to provide Indigenous participation in policy making.
4. What ultimately happened to this government policy proposal?
o The government scrapped the White Paper (they threw out the policy). Indigenous leaders started to organize under younger leadership to fight for their land claims.
COLONIALISM HAS LASTING EFFECTS ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN CANADA TODAY
- The life expectancy rates of Indigenous people in Canada are about 9 years lower than that of non-Indigenous people in Canada.
- Indigenous people in Canada experience the highest levels of poverty. 25% are living in poverty and 40% of Canada’s Indigenous children live in poverty.
- Suicide rates among First Nations youth are 5-6 times higher than among non-Indigenous youth
- In 2021, indigenous people made up 32% of the federal prison population, even though they only make up 5% of Canada’s population.
- The educational funding that First Nations schools received has been estimated to be 30% lower than provincial averages.
- As of January 31st, 2024, 68% of children and youth in care in BC are Indigenous
- In 2014, the rate of homicide of Indigenous women was almost 6 times higher than non-Indigenous women.
A New Era? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC)
1. Told the story of Canadian Indian Residential Schools and the abuses that happened there
2. It gave survivors of those schools the chance to tell their stories
3. It made recommendations to try to fix the bad things that happened as a result
4. BUT! It didn’t say which people/organizations were responsible for the abuses
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION (TRC): CALLS TO ACTION
1. Child Welfare
o Reduce the number of Indigenous children in “care” (removed from parents)
o Provide resources for families so that the children can stay with their families
o Make sure social workers are properly educated to make decisions about Indigenous children
o Give more power to Indigenous communities to control their own child welfare agencies.
2. Education (for Indigenous kids)
o Endure Indigenous children are getting the same education funding as non-Indigenous kids.
o This should happen within one generation
o Have culturally appropriate curricula (lessons)
o Teach Indigenous languages and provide credit for them
o Allow Indigenous parents to participate in their children’s education
3. Language and Culture
o Government must acknowledge that Indigenous people’s rights include language rights
o Create an Aboriginal Languages Act that will fund revitalization and preservation
o Create university level courses and programs that teach Indigenous languages
4. Health
o Measure and report health care outcomes so that Indigenous people can get equal treatment
o Funding for healing centres, centered on effects of Residential Schools
o Increase the number of Indigenous health care workers
o Provide cultural training to medical professionals
5. Justice
o Ensure the RCMP investigates crimes against Indigenous people that the government may have some responsibilities for
o Address the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in Canadian prisons and Indigenous youth in custody
o Allow Indigenous healing programs in prison
o Protect Indigenous victims of crime – particularly missing and murdered women and girls.
6. Education for Reconciliation
o Make education about residential schools, “Aboriginal” rights, and Indigenous contributions to the country part of the curriculum for all Canadian students from K-12
o Bring Indigenous knowledge into schools, particularly post-secondary
o Help students with inter-cultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
7. Missing Children and Burial Information
o Identify and document cemeteries and burial sites
o Provinces must make documents relating to the deaths of Indigenous children in care available to the public
o Establish a national register to record the numbers of deaths in residential schools
o Respond to family wishes about ceremonies and markers, or reburial where requested.