D3.2 Learning Goal:1. I will describe some significant

developments and/or issues that affected First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people in Canada during this period

2. I will explain the impact of these developments/ issues on identity, citizenship, and/or heritage in Canada

Success Criteria:I will describe & explain the impact of:- the continuing existence of residential schools- enfranchisement in 1960- Aboriginal title and land claims- the White Paper and the “Red Paper”- the founding of the Assembly of First Nation- the Calder case- the James Bay project- efforts to secure equality for First Nations

women

Why were residential schools established?Canada assumed “that native children could be successful if they assimilated into mainstream Canadian society by adopting Christianity and speaking English or French.” The government funded the schools and churches ran them. About 150,000 children were removed from their communities and forced to attend the schools. Many suffered from neglect, physical & sexual abuse.

What was the significance of enfranchisement ?

“By enfranchising, a person was supposed to be consenting to abandon native identity and communal society (with its artificial legal disabilities) in order to merge with the "free," individualistic and non-native majority. The right to vote, often confused with "enfranchisement" …was only one of the supposed advantages of loss of status before native people acquired the federal vote in 1960.”

What is the significance of Aboriginal title and land claims?“Land claims are dealt with by a process established by the federal government to enable First Nations, INUIT and MÉTIS to obtain full recognition of their rights under treaties or as the original inhabitants of what is now Canada. The process is formally based on legal concepts such as land title, Aboriginal rights and treaties, and is intended to make economic and social adjustments between two different societies.”

What was the significance of White Paper & Red Paper? “The federal government’s 1969 White Paper caused concern in First Nations communities because its intent was to abolish the special legal status of Indians already entrenched by treaties; within a year, First Nations peoples rallied and responded with the Red Paper.” They met with the government and successfully convinced it to change its policies and positions.

What is the significance of the Assembly of First Nations?It was founded to correct “past injustices and to enhance the rightful position of the First Nations Peoples in Canada's future. Considering the short time that the AFN has been in existence, significant progress has been made in the Canadian political arena…”

What was the significance of the Calder case?“In 1967, Frank Calder and other Nisga’a elders sued British Columbia, declaring that Nisga’a title to their lands had never been lawfully extinguished through treaty or by any other means. They did not win their case, but it did pave the way for the federal government’s Comprehensive land claims process, which sets up a process for Aboriginal groups to claim title to their territory.”

What was the significance of the James Bay project ?

In 1975 negotiations between the Cree and the Inuit and the provincial and federal governments, resulted in the first northern comprehensive land claim to be settled in Canada, the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA). Although the mega-hydroelectric plant was still built, Cree demands were respected.

What is the significance of The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), founded in 1974?It was founded …to enhance, promote, and foster the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of First Nations and Métis women within First Nation, Métis and Canadian societies…achieve equality for all Aboriginal women in Canada.