The Indian Act 1876 is a Canadian federal law issued by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC). The Indian Act governs matters pertaining to Indian status, bands, and Indian reserves. The Act authorizes the Canadian federal government to regulate and administer the affairs and day-to-day lives of registered Indians and reserve communities. It defines who qualifies as an ‘Indian’ and who does not. By this, the authority of the federal government has very strong, overarching political and governance control over every aspect of Indigenous communities and life. Communities were imposed to implement ‘western’ governing structures in the form of band councils, to control their rights to practice their own form of culture and traditions. The Act also allows the government to determine the land base of Indigenous people by implementing reserves, more accurately referred to as First Nations. Nearly every aspect of Indigenous rights and life is controlled and monitored. The Indian Act holds a long history of assimilation policies that intended to terminate the cultural, social, economic, and political distinctiveness of Indigenous peoples by converting them into mainstream Canadian life and values. While the Indian Act has undergone numerous amendments since it was first passed in 1876, It still resembles and follows its original form, but with some adjustments to its language.
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