First Nations (Canada): peoples, governance, history and contemporary issues

Indigenous cultures in Canada can be divided into five cultural areas that have very different climatic and ecological conditions. These required adaptations that continue to shape cultures today. While nomadic groups long predominated in the north and in the grasslands of the centre, in the west and east these were sedentary groups, partly farming or seasonally migrating in certain areas, for whom fishing was of great importance, and for some groups also seal hunting. In addition, there were whalers in the west. The dwellings were also adapted to these ways of life, of which tepee and wigwam are the best known, but large villages with longhouses also developed on the Great Lakes and in the west. Tribal confederations existed in many cases. Shamans were of great importance.

The phase of trade contacts with Europeans that began around 1500 transitioned into the colonial phase after 1600, during which European settlers increasingly claimed land and during which many tribes were wiped out by epidemics. In the 19th century, numerous reservations were created and Canada attempted to assimilate the Indians by educating them to become farmers. Until the 1970s, almost all children attended boarding schools, called residential schools, where they were not allowed to use their language. It was not until 1960 that Indians on reservations were allowed to vote in federal elections for the first time, and the last residential schools were closed in 1996.

Within the First Nations of the Northwest Coast or the Northeast, the traditional system of rule with a hereditary chiefdom, dating back to pre-European roots, persists in many cases, but in competition with the Canadian-initiated system of elected chiefs and their advisors. While First Nations invoke treaties and increasingly demand quasi-governmental authority in fixed territories, Canada's government views Indians more as groups of individuals, and some provinces are trying to enforce privatization of land that previously belonged to the tribe as a whole.

Some First Nations have achieved a certain prosperity, but many suffer from poverty and serious social problems. This is especially true for rural groups whose natural environment has been destroyed by resource exploration (uranium, oil shale, especially in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta), military bases (Cold Lake, Goose Bay) and logging (especially in British Columbia, but also in the other provinces). Nevertheless, cross-regional cultural and economic alliances are developing that now include distant indigenous peoples.

Education and training are of great importance here, and higher education has also been available at the First Nations University of Canada in Saskatchewan since 2003. Many of the small languages are threatened with extinction, but the tribes and some government institutions are making efforts to preserve them. The language with the most speakers is Cree.

In addition, Indians also suffer from systemic racism present in the Canadian justice system, police (Mounted Police RCMP), courts and prisons. One indication of systemic racism in the RCMP is the fact that 36% of the fatal shootings carried out by Mounties were of Indigenous people, even though Indians and Inuit make up only 4% of the population.

In Canada, First Nations people are often referred to as First Nations people. This term competes with the term "Indian", which is usually used in a blurred way in public for all members of the Indian tribes recognized by the state (bands or tribes), but also for all those who consider themselves to be Indians or who are attributed to this group by others.

Since 1876, the Indian Act has defined exactly who is an Indian. To be recognized as an Indian by the state, one must belong to one of the recognized Indian tribes. It is not possible to belong to more than one tribe, even if the parents belonged to different tribes; the father is decisive. Even in regions where the ethnic groups had a completely different understanding and did not know any tribes in the European sense, this concept based on genetic kinship was imposed on them. The discussion about the cartographic definition of the so-called traditional tribal areas, which is of greatest importance for compensation payments and treaty negotiations, is thus oriented towards 19th century ideas. In many regions, however, there were not exclusive rights to a particular tribal territory, as Euro-Canadians often think, but rather overlapping rights of use, which were also often tied to groups of houses and dwellings or to families, clans, and kinship lines, and also to cyclical migrations throughout the year.

The term First Nation is intended to counter the state's power of definition with its own understanding. This consists of the fact that each tribe determines for itself who is to belong to it, and that recognition as a tribe does not depend on a state authority. Thus, there are numerous First Nations that are not officially considered tribes. At the same time, there is a greater emphasis on the character of a sovereign nation with all rights and responsibilities. Accordingly, the Assembly of First Nations functions as the national representative body. Currently, about 20% of the members of recognized First Nations are not recognized as Indians. A number of First Nations, such as the Kichesipirini in the province of Quebec, are not recognized as a tribe.

The term First Nations was first used officially in 1982 when the Assembly of First Nations was named. As a self-designation for most ethnic groups, it has now largely replaced the term Band or Indian Band, so that the term is also in common use in the singular. While the term tribe predominates in the United States, in Canada the term band remains in official usage. It is used as a kind of generic term that encompasses First Nations, Tribes and Bands.

Although the term First Nations is also used by the Canadian authorities, it is not precisely defined legally. Therefore, the competent authorities prefer the term Indians in legal matters. The ministry responsible for "Indian Affairs" in Canada is Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Ministries with similar names exist in the provinces.

In the Indian Act already mentioned, three types of Indians are distinguished:

1. Status Indians: Members of an Indian people who are registered or eligible for registration as Indians. They are registered by name in the Indian Registry, which is maintained by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.
2. Non-Status Indians: members of an Indian tribe who are not eligible to register as Indians.
3. Treaty Indians: members of the Indian peoples who signed the eleven "Numbered Treaties" with the Crown of Great Britain between 1871 and 1921.

There is also a fourth group whose size has grown to about 117,000 since 1985. They are the descendants of Indian women who have married non-Indians. Since the Indian Act considers only patrilineal descent as decisive - in contrast to the matrilineal Iroquois, for example - these children could only regain Indian status upon application. But in turn, their children lose that status unless they marry a status Indian. This ruling ensures that this group, known as Bill C-31 Indians, will largely disappear after two generations. It also contradicts fundamental rights such as those contained in the 1982 Constitution. These include, in this case, according to the British Columbia Supreme Court, the equality of all before the law, especially without regard to ancestry or gender. With the death of the last status Indians, the reserve granted only to them must be returned to the government - a process that Six Nations chief Bill Montour calls "the greatest land theft of the century."

All members of recognized tribes who wish to obtain entitlements to government benefits under the Indian Act must be enrolled in the Indian Register. This Indian Register is maintained by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

A number of rights and claims against the government are attached to the term Status Indian. These relate to land rights, material benefits and protection against expropriation. The status could be lost by simply leaving the reservation, by moving to another reservation or by marriage. However, this trend seems to be slowly reversing as more and more Native people are registering and their birth rate is significantly higher than the rest of the population. Attitudes towards registration have also changed significantly in urban areas. For a long time, there was a fear of racially motivated discrimination or even contempt, especially there, if the origin became known.