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First Nations is a term of ethnicity used in Canada. It refers to indigenous peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are not Inuit or Métis. Collectively, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples are known as Aboriginal peoples, First peoples, or Indigenous peoples, bands, or nations. A national representative body of the First Nations in Canada is the Assembly of First Nations.

First Nations people have been referred to as Indians, Native Americans, Native Canadians, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Autochthones (a term used by French Canadians), and Aboriginal peoples. They are known officially by the Government of Canada as registered Indians if they are entitled to benefits under the Indian Act.

It is now used in the United States (although those in the U.S. still usually use either "Indians" or increasingly "Native Americans"). The First Nations Development Institute "is working to restore Native control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own - be they land, human potential, cultural heritage, or natural resources - and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native communities".


Contents

Controversial terminology

A First Nation is a legally undefined term that came into common usage in the 1980s to replace the term "Indian band". Elder Sol Sanderson says that he coined the term in the early 1980s.[1] A band is defined as "a body of Indians for whose collective use and benefit lands have been set apart or money is held by the Canadian Crown, or declared to be a band for the purposes of the Indian Act" [2]. There are currently over 600 First Nations governments or bands in Canada. Roughly half of these are located in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

There is some controversy over the use of the term "First Nations" to either self-describe Indigenous peoples within Canada, or for non-indigenous peoples to refer to Indigenous peoples in this fashion. The reason for this controversy is that under international law covenants, "First Nations" per se have no standing in international law as "indigenous peoples" or "nations" do.

The Canadian government, many Indigenous peoples within Canada, and many non-indigenous people use the term First Nations, because they are attempting to be respectful of the right of Indigenous people to use whichever word that they want to describe themselves. However, a careful distinction is often made about the use of the term "First Nations".

In general, those Indigenous peoples within Canada who describe themselves as "First Nations" do not believe or hold with the concept of sovereignty of Indigenous peoples as nation-states, while those who do not use the term, or insist upon the term "Indigenous peoples" are sovereignists. There are also Indigenous people in Canada who use the term "First Nation" for any tribal and or nomadic ethnic group deprived of self-determination as a political recognition of colonialization. These groups work internationally on minority rights and self-determination.

Indian reserves, if arranged in Canadian law by treaties such as Treaty 7, are the contemporary lands of First Nations. Some reserves are located within a city, such as the Opawikoscikan Reserve in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. There are more reserves in Canada than there are First Nations, as some First Nations were ceded by treaty more than one reserve. Some reserves are called First Nations; for example, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in Southwestern Ontario is only one of many reserves occupied by members of the Ojibwa nation.

Other terms include status Indian and non-status Indian, the latter designating a member of a First Nation who is not entitled to benefits. The use of the word "Indian" in day-to-day language is erratic in Canada, with some seeing the term as offensive while others prefer it to alternate terminology such as "Aboriginal person" (or people). All members of First Nations who are entitled to benefits are entered in the Indian Register, which serves as the official record of members of First Nations. Administration of the Indian Act and Indian Register is carried out by the federal government's Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.

First Nations:A First Nations art display at Vancouver International Airport.
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A First Nations art display at Vancouver International Airport.

Under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the document many people refer to as the "Indian Magna Carta", the Crown refers to the Indigenous people in British territory as "Tribes or Nations".

History

Interaction with European-Canadians

Aboriginal peoples in Canada have had interactions with Europeans as far back as 1000 AD (see History of Canada, European Contact), but prolonged contact came once European settlements took hold.

As far back as the late 18th century, First Nations believe they have been targeted for assimilation into what they call European/Canadian culture.[3] These attempts reached a climax with the establishment of the Canadian residential school system, the prohibition of Indigenous cultural practices, and the Indian Acts of the late 19th and early 20th century.[4]

In 1885, some First Nations in (modern day) Western Canada became involved in the North-West Rebellion, as part of their resistance to Canadian westward expansion. In much of Canada, First Nations became subject to the controversial Numbered Treaties, while in other areas like British Columbia, treaties are still being negotiated today.

Late 20th Century

The Erasmus-Dussault commission

In 1991, Brian Mulroney created a royal commission, headed by co-chairmen George Erasmus and René Dussault. They produced a 4,000 page report in 1996. The most revolutionary proposal in the report was the creation of a government for (and by) the First Nations that would be fully responsible within its own juridiction, and with which the federal government would speak in a "Nation-to-Nation" manner. This proposal offered a far different way of doing politics from the traditional policy of assigning all First Nations matters under the juridiction of the Indian and Northern Affairs, managed by one minister of the federal cabinet. The report also recommended providing the governments of the First Nations with up to CAD$2 billion every year until 2010, in order to reduce the socioeconomic gap between the First Nations and the rest of the Canadian citizenry. The money would represent an increase of at least 50% from the current budget of the Indian and Northern Affairs. Finally, the report insisted it was important for First Nations leaders to actively think of ways to cope with the challenging issues their people were facing, so that the First Nations could take their destiny into their own hands.

The federal government, then headed by Jean Chrétien, responded to the report a year later by officially presenting its apologies for the forced acculturation the federal government imposed on the Natives, and by offering an "initial" provision of $350 million.

Several tripartite (federal, provincial, and First Nations) accords have been signed since the Eramus-Dussault commission, in the spirit advocated by the co-chairmen. In 2001, the Quebec government, along with the federal government, signed with the Cree Nation "La Paix des Braves" (The Peace of the Braves, a reference to the 1701 peace treaty between the French and the Iroquois league). The deal would allow the province's national electricity provider, Hydro-Quebec, to exploit the hydroelectrical resources in exchange for an allocation of $3.5 billion to be given to the government of the Cree Nation. Later, the Inuit nation of Quebec joined in the agreement. In 2005, the leaders of the First Nations signed, with different provincial and federal governments, the Kelowna Accord that would have yielded $5 billion for 5 years, but the newly elected government of Stephen Harper refused to sign the deal.


Several crises throughout the country, between different provincial governments and different bands of the First Nations, also occurred in the late 20th century, notably:

Early 21st century

Currently many First Nations, along with their peers the Métis and the Inuit, claim to receive inadequate funding for education, and allege that their rights have been overlooked in many instances. Recently James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, listed the encouragement of indigenous young people as one of his key priorities, and during his term (which began in 2002) has launched several initiatives to promote literacy and bridge building.

As of 2006, over 75 First Nations communities exist in boil-water advisory conditions [1]. In late 2005 the drinking water crisis of the Kashechewan First Nation received national media attention when E. coli was discovered in their water supply system, following two years of living under a boil-water advisory.

Diversity

Main article: List of First Nations peoples

There are many distinct First Nations cultures in Canada. These distinct cultures have origins from six geographic areas of Canada:

While diversity is also found in the number of languages of First Nations peoples, many of them are presently endangered with generally a decreasing number of speakers.

See also

References

  1. ^ Assembly of First Nations, p. 74.
  2. ^ Terminology Guide Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
  3. ^ Stage Three: Displacement and Assimilation, Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 6 of the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 26 August 1991
  4. ^ Conceptions of History Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 3 of the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 26 August 1991

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