A. Creating Canada, 1850–1890 · Creating Canada, 1850–1890

The Indian Act of 1876

A3 A2 A1About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe what the Indian Act of 1876 did and why the government passed it.
I can explain how the Act affected First Nations governance, identity and culture, including women's status.
I can compare the Act's goals with First Nations perspectives.
I can identify what has changed and what has continued since 1876.

Words to know

Indian Act
A federal law passed in 1876 that gave the government control over many parts of First Nations life. It has been changed many times and is still in effect.

status
Legal recognition under the Indian Act as a "status Indian" (the Act's term). The government, not the Nation, decided who had status.

assimilation
Policies meant to make a group give up its own culture, language and identity and adopt those of the dominant society.

enfranchisement
Under the Indian Act, losing legal status (and treaty rights) and becoming an ordinary British subject, sometimes forced.

band council
A local government on a reserve, set up under the Indian Act, sometimes replacing a Nation's own traditional government.

Indian agent
A government official who managed reserves and had great power over people's daily lives.

Let's start with a question

Imagine a law that decides who counts as a member of your family, who leads your community, and whether you may hold your family's celebrations. Imagine you had no say in making that law.

For First Nations, that law was the Indian Act, passed by Canada's Parliament in 1876. The word "Indian" is in the law's name, so we use it when naming the law.

Why was it passed?

The BNA Act gave the federal government power over "Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians". In 1876, Parliament brought earlier laws together into the Indian Act. Its main goals, in the government's own words at the time, were to "protect" and "civilize" First Nations, but the deeper goal was assimilation: to make First Nations people give up their own cultures and become like other Canadians, so that eventually there would be no separate First Nations at all.

First Nations were not consulted. The Act did not apply to Inuit or the Métis Nation.

What the Indian Act did

Defined status: the government decided who legally counted as an "Indian". A First Nations woman who married a man without status lost her status, and so did her children. A man who married a woman without status kept his, and she gained it.
Controlled reserves: reserve land was held by the Crown. First Nations could not sell or use it freely without government approval.
Imposed band councils: the government could replace traditional forms of government with elected band councils under its rules, and the Indian agent could overrule decisions.
Enfranchisement: a person could lose status and treaty rights, for example by earning a university degree or becoming a lawyer or minister under the 1876 Act. The idea was that a "successful" First Nations person should stop being First Nations.
No vote: status First Nations people generally could not vote in federal elections unless they gave up status (this changed in 1960).

Later changes in this period:

1884: an amendment banned the potlatch (important ceremonies of Pacific coast nations) and other ceremonies. (The ban was removed in 1951.)
1885: after the North-West Resistance, the government introduced a pass system: First Nations people on some Prairie reserves needed a written pass from the Indian agent to leave. This was a policy, not part of the law.

The 1876 status rules followed the husband. Compare the two results: this unequal treatment lasted until a 1985 change to the Act (Bill C-31).

What the Act controlled	Example	Effect
Identity	Status rules for women who married non-status men	Women and children cut off from their communities and rights
Government	Elected band councils; agent's power	Traditional governments pushed aside
Land	Reserves held by the Crown	Nations could not freely use or develop their land
Culture	1884 potlatch ban	Ceremonies had to be hidden; some objects taken
Rights	Enfranchisement; no federal vote	Choice between rights as a First Nations person and rights as a citizen

How the Indian Act reached into many parts of life.

First Nations responses

First Nations did not simply accept the Act.

Many communities kept holding ceremonies in secret during the potlatch ban, protecting their laws, songs and stories.
Leaders petitioned the government, sent delegations to Ottawa, and argued that the Act broke the treaty relationship.
Many Nations kept their traditional governments alongside or instead of band councils.

Change and continuity

1951: ceremony bans removed. 1960: status First Nations people gain the federal vote without losing status. 1985: a change to the Act (Bill C-31) began restoring status to many women who had lost it, and their children.
Continuity: the Indian Act is still in effect, though changed many times. Many First Nations want it replaced by self-government and their own laws. Some Nations have already moved out of parts of it through agreements.

Changes to the Indian Act over time. Most controls were added in this unit's period; most restorations came many decades later (1951 to 1985). The dates are evenly spaced, not to scale.

Worked example

Modelled example: Continuity and change in the status rules

Compare the rules about First Nations women's status in 1876 and today.

1876: a First Nations woman who married a man without status lost her status, her treaty rights and often her right to live on reserve. Her children had no status.
Was this the same for men? No. A man who married a woman without status kept his status, and his wife gained it. The rule treated men and women unequally.
What changed? In 1985, Parliament changed the Act so that many women who had lost status could regain it, along with their children. Further changes came later after court cases brought by First Nations women.
What continued? The federal government still decides who has status under the Indian Act, not the Nations alone, and some unequal effects lasted for generations.

The status rules show both change (women's status restored from 1985) and continuity (the government still controls status). First Nations women's activism drove the change.

Not the same as a treaty

A treaty is an agreement between two nations, made with both sides present. The Indian Act is a law that Canada passed by itself, without First Nations' consent. Many First Nations leaders said the Act went against the spirit of the treaties.

Hands-on activity

Who decides? A family discussion

You need: paper, a pencil and a grown-up.

Make a list of five decisions in your family or community: who is part of the family; who leads a club or team; when and how you celebrate a holiday; where you can travel; how land or a home is used.
For each, write who decides now (for example, "our family", "club members by vote").
Beside each, write what would change if a faraway government official made that decision for you instead, without asking.
Discuss with your grown-up: why is self-government so important to First Nations today?

Look for: connecting each decision to a part of the Indian Act (identity, governance, ceremonies, the pass system, land), and recognizing how much control the Act took away.

Your turn

In what year was the Indian Act passed?

What was the deeper goal of the Indian Act?

Who decided who had status under the Indian Act?

What happened to a First Nations woman with status who married a man without status?

What did the 1884 amendment ban?

What was the pass system?

Is the Indian Act still in effect?

More practice: warm-up

Did the Indian Act apply to Inuit?

What is a band council?

When was the potlatch ban removed?

In what year could status First Nations people vote federally without losing status?

Who was the Indian agent?

More practice: on your own

Explain the difference between a treaty and the Indian Act.

Why was enfranchisement a form of assimilation?

How did First Nations respond to the potlatch ban?

Why did the Indian Act treat men and women unequally?

Give one change and one continuity in the Indian Act since 1876.

Challenge

Why is the Indian Act often described as a tool of assimilation, even though it also set aside reserves "for" First Nations?

Use historical significance to judge the Indian Act.

Some First Nations want the Indian Act abolished; some worry about what would replace it. Suggest why both views exist.

Check your understanding

Quiz

What was the main goal behind the Indian Act of 1876?

Who decided who had status under the Indian Act?

What did the 1884 amendment ban?

How is the Indian Act different from a treaty?

What happened to a status First Nations woman who married a man without status, under the 1876 rules?

Which statement is accurate today?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Students describe a significant law and its impact (A3), consider First Nations perspectives and responses (A2), and trace change and continuity to today (A1).

Language: The word "Indian" appears because it is the name of the law and the term used in it. Encourage your child to use "First Nations" in their own writing.

How to help: The "who decides" discussion makes the Act concrete. You might read news about a First Nation's self-government agreement together.

Common difficulties: Confusing the Indian Act with treaties; thinking the Act is only history; missing the gender inequality in status rules.