How Did Indian Act Shape the Canada We Know Today?

How Did Indian Act Shape the Canada We Know Today?
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Institution
Introduction
The existing long history of Indian facing challenges in the current century can be traced back to policies and legislation of Federal Government. Legislations that were meant to serve in the interest of Indians have shaped the modern way of life for Indians in Canada as the fight for equality is yet to be accomplished.
Background
For an Indian to be recognized by law in Canada and other parts of the European countries, certain distinctive standards were set by the government for Indians to comply with. The Indian Act is one of such laws that for decades regulated several ways of the Indian way of life. On June 28, 1985, an Act was proposed and assented to by the Canadian parliament .The amendments were to end deliberate discrimination that affected mostly indigenous women (Cannon, 2006).
How the Indian Act Shape the Canada Today
The Indian Act passed by the Federal Parliament in 1876, has shaped Canada today because of the several amendments, and changes that the Act was subjected to, since its inception. The colonial and federal laws were combined together to serve the Indians’ interest pertaining to land ,membership and local government eventually restricting Indians up to today. The act affected Indians’ way of life by stipulating who was and who was not an Indian. The Act further reorganized Indian identity in a way that they were to be considered as indigenous people. Such identity would closely be associated with the aboriginal society in Canada to show equality; compared to if they remained as foreigners. Indians were to be absorbed in the general population of Canada (Sibonney, 2007).
The act created racism because for an Indian to attain an Indian status, appropriate process had to be followed, which could only be proven through by ones’ lineage, which leaned towards the male side. Indian lands and other valuable resources were controlled by the Federal Government in Canada .The Act was meant to protect the first nations that included the local natives by giving them responsibility of acting as guardians. Indians were not considered civilized; therefore, the Act would promote civilization. Furthermore, the Act affected the right to citizenship in Canada and voting, especially for Indians, which has remained the central issue in the Canadian government policy (Clark, 2003). Enfranchisement was a process that promoted discrimination because the Aborigine Indians were to choose a surname that was to be approved by the commissioner. Indians were legally known after following this process; this included the descendants who would automatically be enfranchised. Cultural identity was lost in the process as enfranchisement promoted discrimination in that the enfranchised Indians were the only ones entitled to land, allocated by the superintendent general of Indian affairs. Few first nations who comprised of mostly the native aboriginal people in Canada refused to be enfranchised. The government further amended the Act to include an automatic enfranchisement by using education as a stick to lure the local tribes to enfranchisement (Clark, 2003).
In a bid to fight for the rights of the local tribes in Cana...