The Nature of Empires and the Empires of Nature by Karl S. Hele

Author:Karl S. Hele
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Published: 2013-01-23T16:00:00+00:00

Indian Legislation Pertaining to Land Displacement and Indian Civilization

In 1850, the Act for the protection of the Indians in Upper Canada from imposition, and the property occupied or enjoyed by them from trespass and injury was enacted to protect First Nations and their property. These acts not only “protected” their lands from scheming whites, but also prohibited taxation on the land occupied by “Indians” or persons married to them:

No taxes shall be levied or assessed … for or in respect of any of the said Indian lands, nor shall any taxes or assessments whatsoever be levied or imposed upon any Indian or any person inter-married with any Indian so long as he, she or they shall reside on Indian lands not ceded to the Crown, or which having been ceded may have been again set apart by the Crown for the occupation of Indians.48

Furthermore, the government undertook to encourage “civilizing pursuits” among First Nations peoples through multiple strategies such as the practice of agriculture.49 The “civilization” of First Nations was specifically addressed and legislated in the 1857 legislation entitled the Act to encourage the gradual Civilization of the Indian Tribes in this Province, and to amend the Laws respecting Indians. The ultimate goal of “civilization” was to remove all legal distinctions between “Indians” and “non-Indians” and to integrate the former into mainstream society. The term “enfranchised” was introduced in this act:

The Visiting Superintendent of each Tribe of Indians, for the time being, the Missionary to such Tribe for the time being, and such other person as the Governor shall appoint from time to time for that purpose, shall be Commissioners of examining Indians, being members of such Tribe, who may desire to avail themselves of this Act … and such Commissioners shall meet for the said purposes at such places and times as the Superintendent General of Indian affairs shall from time to time to time direct, and shall have full power to make such examination and inquiry: and if such Commissioners shall report in writing to the Governor that any such Indian of the male sex, and not under twenty-one years of age, is able to speak, read and write either the [E]nglish or the [F]rench language readily and well, and is sufficiently advanced in the elementary branches of education and is of good moral character and free from debt, then it shall be competent to the Governor to cause notice to be given in the Official Gazette of the Province, that such Indian is enfranchised under this Act.50

Thus, First Nations men aged between twenty-one and forty, with good morals, free of debts, “of sober and industrious habits,” and able to speak English or French were eligible to relinquish their Status Indian identity and to embrace their new “Christian” names and lands allotted to them. These pieces of legislation gave force and saliency to early Indian policy that pertained to protection, confinement, assimilation, and civilization of First Nations people.51 However, as time progressed, not many chose to enfranchise, forcing

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