Trigger Warning! This post details information regarding the Residential ‘Schools’ and the Indian Act. Some information detailed in this post may trigger unpleasant feelings or thoughts. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society encourages you to take time to care for your Mental and Emotional well-being. Please contact The Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll-free 1 (800) 721-0066 or 24hr Crisis Line 1 (866) 925-4419 if you require further emotional support or assistance.
Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog post! Today we finished a very interesting project titled Case for a Nation 🇨🇦. The main idea of this project was understanding nationalism and defining it in a way that we understand. I feel like throughout this post you will be able to see through my work me learning and furthering my understating of the word nationalism and what it means to show nationalism.
Driving Question: How can an understanding of nationalism in the past, help us make sense of today?
Answer: By using historical perspective, we can look at nationalism in the past and understand how events in the past can affect our actions today as a society
To start off this project, we did a jigsaw activity. This was, I think at least, a very important part in this project. Basically we went around to different stations that had little snippets about nationalism around the world. We had set questions that we had to answer in a document to make sure that we understood what we were reading.
So the reason that the jigsaw activity was so important was because next we chose our topics from a “pool” of choices. I chose the Indian Act of 1876. Because of the jigsaw activity, I was able to see what topics interested me the most and therefore was able to pick a topic that I felt passionate about and that I would actually enjoy learning about. After choosing a topic, we had to do our own research on it. Below you can check out my research page ⬇️
The Indian Act of 1876
Driving Question: How can understanding nationalism of the past help us make sense of today?
Driving Questions for My Topic: How does understanding and learning about the Indian Act of 1876 impact how we see the world today?
Questions:
- Who was involved?
- Where did it happen?
- Who specifically did it effect?
- Has the government apologized?
- What was the act about?
- How long was it in place?
- Why was it created in the first place?
- What are peoples opinions on it today?
- Did it have any benefits for the First Nations people? If so what?
- How many people were affected by this Act?
- What rights were taken away from Indigenous peoples?
- What what was the goal of the act?
- What does the timeline look like for this act?
Sources:
- Indian Act Encyclopedia
- CBC article of the Indian Act of 1876
- Canada Justice Laws Website
- Indigenous corporate training
- SAC-ISC
- NWAC
- Open text bc
Important dates:
- 1876 was when the Indian Act was established
- 1927 made it illegal for First Nations people to hire lawyers
- 1879 – 1996 tens of thousands of First Nations children attended residential schools
- 2008 a formal apology was issued to Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples for this act
Important facts:
- The Indian Act tried diminish the First Nations culture by forcing them into non – Indigenous society
- It made the First Nations peoples stop expressing their culture and identities
- It made the government able to control aboriginal life – status, land, resources, wills, education, band administration, etc.
- Residential schools were meant to make children forget their languages and culture – many suffered abuse
- Permission slips would be required to leave the reserve
- “The great aim of our legislation has been to do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the other inhabitants of the Dominion as speedily as they are fit to change.” – John A Macdonald, 1887” – they wanted to get rid of the indigenous culture
- Denied women status
- Created reserves
- Renames individuals with European names
- Forbade First Nations from forming political organizations
- Prohibition the sale of alcohol to First Nations
- Prohibition the sale of ammunition to First Nations
- Forbade First Nations fro speaking their native language
- Forbade western First Nations from appearing in any public dance, show exhibition, stampede or pageant wear traditional clothing
- Created a permit system to control First Nations ability to sell productions from farms
- Status Indians have certain rights and benefits – on-reserve housing, education, and exemptions from federal, provincial and territorial taxes in specific situations
Timeline:
1876 – The Indian Act is created – any existing Indigenous self-government structures at this time are extinguished – an Indian is defined as “any male person of Indian blood” and their children.
1880 – Policy – Indigenous farmers are expected to have a permit to sell cattle, grain, hay, or produce. They must also have a permit to buy groceries and clothes
1884 – Attendance in residential schools becomes mandatory for status Indians until they turn 16. Children are forcibly removed and separated from their families and are not aloud to speak their own language or practice their own religions. Alcohol is prohibited there.
1885 – Indigenous peoples are banned from conduction their own spiritual ceremonies such as the potlatch. A ass system is also made and Indigenous peoples are restricted from leaving their reserve without permission.
1886 – The definition of Indian changes to “any person who is reputed to belong to a particular band or who follows the Indian mode of life, or any child of such person.” Voluntary enfranchisement is allowed for anyone who is “of good moral character” and “temperate in his or her habits”.
1914 – Indigenous peoples are required to ask for official permission before wearing any “costume” at public events. Dancing is out-lawed off reserve. In 1925, it is outlawed entirely.
1918 – The Canadian government gives itself the power to lease out Indigenous land to non- Indigenous persons if it is being used for farming.
1927 – Indigenous peoples are banned from hiring lawyers or legal representation regarding land claims against the federal government without the government’s approval
1951 – After the Joint Committee of Senate and House of Commons looks at the Act again in the late 40s, the bans on dances, ceremonies, and legal claims are removed. Women are now aloud to vote in band council elections.
1960 – Indigenous people are allowed to vote in federal elections.
1969 – The first Trudeau government announces its intentions to entirely eliminate the Indian Act with the White paper. This angers the Indigenous communities and the government leaves the idea.
1970 – The Royalonto Commissions on the Status of Women recommends that legislation be enacted to repeal sexist Indian Act provisions.
1973 – The Supreme Court rules that Indigenous rights to land do indeed exist and shows the 1763 Royal Proclamation as proof.
Oh wait! I almost forgot! Ok so the finial product of this project was an Instagram post. We had to create 3 images with a group of people. I would just like to say a quick thanks to Fraser and Ariane for helping me with my image! So to begin with, individually we had to create 3 images (later we would collaborate with out group members to have a final 3 that would be posted to Instagram). One had to be a drawn on image, another had to be a quote, and the last one was a choice. You can see the three that I made below ⬇️
Next, we worked on the caption. We looked at our topic and thought about the story behind it. After using the story spine (once upon a time, everyday, but then one day, because of that, until finally, ever since then), we were able to tell a story with our topic. I think this was a very important part of our project because I saw different angles and things that I could put in my caption. Below is what I had as my caption that I made ⬇️
The Indian Act of 1876 was created to stamp out Indigenous peoples culture and identity. Residential schools and reserves were forced upon them. They were banned from speaking their own languages, trading without restrictions, and having freedom. Although amends have been made, we are still seeing the consequences in todays society and we continue to address what happened.
#truthandreconciliation #indianact #firstnations
After showing what I made to my group, we combined our captions to make one awesome one. You can check that one out here ⬇️
Trigger Warning: Residential ‘Schools’ and the Indian Act!
The Indian Act was created in 1876 by the Canadian Government to assimilate the Indigenous People into Euro-Canadian society. The Canadian Government saw the Indigenous Peoples in the way of creating their own nationalistic identity. The Act instigated human rights violations and mass cultural genocide through means such as Residential ‘Schools’. This Act also made it illegal for Indigenous Peoples to have ceremonies and cultural gatherings. Many Indigenous People across Canada experienced intergenerational trauma and loss of culture. We can now understand the cultural genocide and systemic racism caused by the Indian Act, and through Truth and Reconciliation we can include Indigenous culture in our concept of Canadian nationalism.
Some information detailed in this post may trigger unpleasant feelings or thoughts. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society encourages you to take time to care for your Mental and Emotional well-being. Please contact The Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll-free 1 (800) 721-0066 or 24hr Crisis Line 1 (866) 925-4419 if you require further emotional support or assistance.
#canadianhistory #indianact #TruthandReconcilliation #canadiannationalsim #canadianidentiy
Overall, I really liked this project. I learned so much about the Indian Act of 1876 and the impact that that has on our modern day society. I also learned a lot about writing in a way that can show your opinion in a way with supporting evidence. I also learned about team work and collaborating with people who you might not always agree with. To add onto this reflection, I also learned about taking feedback and applying that to the final product in a way that is beneficial and can add onto it.
Best wishes,
-Dana
P.S. You can check out the Instagram post below ⬇️
View this post on Instagram