11 Facts About Indian Act

Indian Act is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves.

Notably, the original Indian Act defines two elements that affect all Indigenous Canadians:.

The Indian Act replaced any laws on the topic passed by a local legislature before a province joined Canadian Confederation, creating a definitive national policy.

The 1985 amendment to the Indian Act extinguished the idea of enfranchisement, although by then Status Indians were Canadian citizens by birth.

Only those on the official Indian Register maintained by the federal government are Status Indians, subject to the full legal benefits and restrictions of the act.

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Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Indian Act was not discriminatory, as the pair gained the legal rights of white women at the same time they lost the status of Indian women, in a parallel to R v Drybones.

In 1894 amendments to the Indian Act made school attendance compulsory for Indigenous children between 7 and 16 years of age.

Rights exclusive to Indians in the Indian Act are beyond legal challenge under the Constitution Act, 1982.

Section 25 of the Constitution Indian Act, 1982 provides that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms shall not be interpreted as negating Aboriginal, treaty or other rights of Canada's Aboriginal peoples.

The Indian Act was amended in 1951 to allow religious ceremonies, including the "give-away dance".

In Canada v Canada, the majority found that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's determination that the Indian Act did not violate the Canadian Human Rights Act was reasonable due to judicial deference.