Glossary

The words in the following glossary will assist those who are exploring this Edukit.

Aboriginal

Aboriginal is the collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. The Canadian Constitution (the Constitution Act, 1982) recognizes three groups of Aboriginal Peoples: Indians, Métis, and Inuit. These are three separate peoples with unique heritages, languages, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs.

Amendment

This means to change or modify existing legislation or laws.

Annuities

Annuities are a contract or agreement regarding a sum of money to be either paid yearly or at regular intervals.

Assimilation

Assimilation is a process of forcing one culture to become absorbed by a larger, more dominant or mainstream group.

Bill C-31

Bill C-31 refers to the pre-legislation name of the 1985 Actto Amend the Indian Act. Bill C-31 refers to the clause that was in the Indian Act, which stated that any Aboriginal woman who married a non-Aboriginal man would subsequently lose her status. The Bill counteracted the previous legislation allowing women to have their (and their children's) Indian status restored.

Colonization

Colonization is the process of trying to establish a new colony while imposing new beliefs, values, and attitudes on existing cultures.

Community

A community is made up of people who are part of a large group that shares similar interests and backgrounds, which include religion, language, and ancestry.

First Nation

A name Aboriginal People gave themselves that refers to them as the original inhabitants of Canada.

Culture

Culture is made up of the customs and shared beliefs, attitudes, values, goals, practices, social forms and material traits of a religious, racial or social group.

Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND)

Developed in 1966, DIAND fulfils the lawful obligations of the federal government to Aboriginal Peoples arising from treaty, the Indian Act and other legislation. It provides the delivery of services such as education, housing and social services.

Indian Act

Federal legislation first developed in 1876. The Indian Act determines federal government obligations and regulations concerning Aboriginal People as well as regulating Indian reserve lands. The Indian Act had been amended a number of times, most recently in 1985.

Marrying-out clause

This is a reference to the clause in the Indian Act that legislated that any Aboriginal women who married a non-Aboriginal man would lose her Indian status.

Métis

Métis means a person who self-identifies as Métis, is of historic Métis Naiton ancestry, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples and is accepted by the Métis Nation.

Métis Nation

Egalitarian nomads, the Métis had no real property and took part in the summer buffalo hunt like most other Plains First Nations people. Similar to the Plains Cree, they maintained a “home base” from which they migrated to take part in buffalo hunts. The Métis nation is unique to the cultural map of Canada in that they emerged only after the arrival of Europeans and the intermarriage of English or French Canadians with Aboriginal, predominantly Cree women. The children born of these marriages were called Métis, which is the French term for “mixed blood.” They are distinct from First Nations, Inuit, and non-Aboriginal Peoples. Métis history and culture is made up of on diverse ancestral origins such as Scottish, Irish, French, Ojibway, and Cree.

Paternalistic

Often misleadingly used to describe the relationship between the federal government and Canada's Aboriginal People, it refers to a situation in which a superior power or authority regulates the conduct of other groups on an individual and authoritative scale.

The White Paper

Released in 1969 by the federal government, the intent of the White Paper was to abolish the special legal status recognized by Aboriginal People in regards to the Indian Act. Hence, Aboriginal People would have no legal distinction between other Canadians and themselves. The government proposed an approach that would lead Aboriginal People to equality of opportunity. The White Paper was vehemently opposed by Aboriginal Peoples across the country.

Treaty Indian

A Treaty Indian is an Aboriginal person with status, who belongs to a band or First Nation group that signed a treaty with the federal government.

Traditions

Traditions are aspects of a culture that are practiced from one generation to the next. One way that traditions are passed down in Aboriginal communities is through oral history.