Yellowhead Associate Fellow, Damien Lee considers the impending and dramatic changes to Indian Status rules and the consequences for Indigenous notions of belonging and relationality.
Clarifying misconceptions about Specific Claims outlined in Tom Flanagan’s most recent article, “Specific Claims and the Well-being of First Nations”, released recently by the Fraser Institute
Rather than address fundamental issues of land distribution, the federal government is prioritizing “fiscal capacity building” in an effort to prepare bands – not for self-determination – but for compliance with the self-government policy that does not expand the authority of First Nations over their traditional territories.
Why is the split of INAC in line with the federal government’s neoliberal agenda? How does the restructuring of INAC support Canada to continue avoiding responsibility to First Nations?
There is no question that the Indian Act must go. Its assimilation provisions, restrictions on mobility, violating nearly every treaty, aggressive patriarchy, and the dismantling of authentic First Nation governance models is all well documented. So the question becomes which path do we take from here?
Based in the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University.