Totem Poles
…deceased wife and children. Starting in the early 1920s, the federal government adopted a policy of salvage anthropology and, fearing the decline of Indigenous art, began to buy out totem…
Global Actions
…between Indigenous peoples and the colonial powers, Indigenous people have asserted their rights through appeal, negotiation, direct action and even armed rebellion—generally directed against the occupying colonial state and its…
Indian Homemakers’ Association of British Columbia
…maintaining a direct involvement within their own communities.7 Along with other women’s rights activists, the IHA successfully campaigned for the repeal of Section 12 1(b) of the Indian Act, to…
The Indian Act
…Indian status if she married a non-Indian man. This is in direct violation the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights that protects a minority’s right to belong to their…
Government Policy
…and ultimately unable to survive contemporary colonial society without the direct intervention and supervision of the Canadian government. “Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle, that the aborigines are…
Aboriginal Rights
…on a case-by-case basis. There have since been a number of court cases that have contributed to this definition. The 1990 R v Sparrow decision, for example, created the “Sparrow…
Indian Status
…their band, and their registration number. “Status Indians” are wards of the Canadian federal government, a paternalistic legal relationship that illustrates the historical imperial notion that Aboriginal peoples are “children”…
The Residential School System
…churches and the government of Canada could be sued as an entity. As the number of cases grew, a National Class Action was filed in 2002 for compensation for all…
The Residential School System (2009)
…to 44, suicide and self-inflicted injury is the number one cause of death, responsible for almost 40 percent of mortalities.18 First Nations women attempt suicide eight times more often than…
Ipperwash Crisis
…land, a group of approximately 30 members of the band, including a number of children, began their occupation of the park on September 4, 1995. They planned to peacefully occupy…