User:Rakaiqbal/Settler Colonialism in Canada

The Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of Canada, is known to be one of the most important treaties in Canada between Europeans and Indigenous peoples. The Royal Proclamation by King George III established the relationship between Indigenous people and the Crown, which recognized Indigenous peoples rights as well as defining the treaty making process which is by still used in Canada today. The Royal Proclamation also acknowledged the constitutional right that Indigenous peoples have the right to sovereignty and self government. Within the document, both sides agreed that treaties were the most effective legal way for Indigenous people to release control of their land, however the Royal Proclamation was written by the British with our any Indigenous input which resulted in a monopoly over Indigenous lands by the British Crown. The Proclamation banned colonial setters from from claiming the land that was being populated by Indigenous peoples, unless the land had first been bought by the Crown and then sold to the settlers. As time passed colonial settlers and governments were ambitious to establish their own communities and extract their resources to send back to Europe, forgoing the guidelines set out in the Proclamation. Colonial settlers did not share the same view as Indigenous peoples on the sacredness of the land, but rather as something that could be easily bought and sold. As the number of colonial settlers increased the use of land for farming and mining increased and Indigenous relations began to deteriorate.

''(Maybe add this) The Royal Proclamation shows a similar timeline of how the relationships between Indigenous peoples, colonial settlers and the Crown interacted. The relationships between the three began as being mutually beneficial to all parties where the groups were learning from one another.''


 * Addition of a picture of the RP?
 * Addition of final citations
 * https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1379594359150/1379594420080
 * https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/26421
 * https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1370355181092/1370355203645#a1

The Indian Act of 1876
In 1876 The Indian Act was passed by the Canadian government which was a highly invasive law that controlled almost every aspect of the daily lives of Canadian Indigenous peoples. Many parts of the Indian Act were used as a way to suppress Indigenous peoples in hopes for colonial settlers to flourish. The main intentions of the law was for Indigenous peoples to be absorbed into main stream Canadian life and leave behind their traditional values and adopt Canadian values that were introduced by colonial settlers. The Indian Act was created in such a way to ensure the success of colonial settlers while attempting to defeat and ultimately abolish the Indigenous peoples of Canada. The Indian Act governs Indian status, bands and Indian reserves among many other aspects of Indigenous peoples lives. The Indian Act of 1876 incorporated a huge range of individual functions, including define Indian status and the entitlement and legal conditions that accompanied it, establishing land management regimes on reserves, managing the sales of natural resources, structuring the administration of Indian monies, and define band council powers and electoral systems. Although throughout the years the Indian Act has undergone amendment, it has stayed virtually the same.


 * Discuss the White paper Act of 1969 in regard to the Indian Act?
 * Addition of final citations
 * https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=prb0912-e&op=pdf&app=Library
 * https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-5/page-1.html#h-331721

Residential Schools
Residential Schools was an extensive school system that was set up by the Government of Canada and organized and ran by Churches. Residential schools began operation in Canada in the 1880’s and began to close during the end of the 20th century. Residential school’s main objectives were to educate indigenous children, by teaching Euro-Canadian and Christian values and ways of living to assimilate Indigenous children into standard Canadian cultures. The values that were taught in residential schools were brought to Canada from the colonial settlers who made up a majority of the population.

In Canada over 150,000 children attended residential schools and were forcibly removed from their families and were not longer aloud to speak their own language or acknowledge they culture or heritage while at residential schools. If rules were broken the students were brutally punished. Residential schools were known for students experiencing physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse from the staff. Residential schools resulted in generations of Indigenous peoples who lost their langue and culture. The removal of homes at such a young age also resulted in generations of peoples who did not have the knowledge or skills to have families of their own.

As colonial settlers began to populate Canada, they brought their own Eurocentric views that believed that their civilization was the ultimate goal. Colonial settlers saw Indigenous people as savage pagans that needed to be civilized, with the best means of doing that was through education. Residential schools did not result in the education of indigenous peoples, as much as it did result in a settler colonial genocide of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. The establishment of residential schools is a direct link to colonial settlers and the values that they brought, when they began to populate what we know today as Canada.


 * addition of a quote regarding residential schools in Canada?
 * Picture?
 * Addition of final citations
 * https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/clmhc-hsmbc/res/information-backgrounder/sys-pensionnats-residential-school-sys
 * https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074
 * https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/indian-residential-schools-settler-colonialism-and-their-narratives-in-canadian-history(d3d82b38-f712-4578-b369-b5efe1264877).html