The Indian Problem
From the very outset, colonial governments set about to define, control and change the lives and cultural identities of the Anishinabe people and many other nations that exist on Turtle Island. Starting in 1850, successive colonial governments passed various pieces of legislation to destroy the culture of the Anishinabe Nations.
Canada has now acknowledged that its efforts amounted to "cultural genocide". Matheson et al (2022) write that the impact of Canadian policies on "the physical and mental health of Indigenous Peoples go well beyond cultural loss". The loss of millions of lives is far more than "cultural genocide".
Along with the loss of lives and the destruction of our communities, the Anishinabe culture was systematically destroyed by very deliberate actions that were fully intended to eliminate our culture.
Legal Efforts to Suppress Anishinabe Culture
The Indian Act
The Indian Act
The Indian Act
Treaties with Europeans started when they first reached Turtle Island. Europeans sought alliances with Indigenous peoples to maintain peace and gaining access to natural resources and making gaining alliances in trade and European colonial wars. There was a formal diplomatic relationship between the Dutch and Indigenous peoples in the earlier part of the 17th century. This later became Known later as the “Covenant Chain” by the English.
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The Indian Act
The Indian Act
There is another tradition of treaty relations between the British Crown and Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) peoples in the eastern maritime regions. These treaties did not deal with land ownership or settler issues. These agreements, were made as mutual promises of peace and friendship between the parties. The agreements also guaranteed Indigenous rights to trade and the right to fish and hunt in their customary manner.
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The Indian Act
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After the British defeat of France, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 laid out the process for further colonization of Turtle Island. The Crown claimed “dominion” and “sovereignty” over Indigenous territories and that only the Crown could make treaties with Indigenous peoples. The king decreed that no individual person or colony could purchase territory from Indigenous peoples; instead, the British Crown was to be the essential actor in negotiating treaties.
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