Canada, Aboriginal Women

Fern M. Paul

Efforts to define and control its indigenous population have a long history in Canada, often with serious consequences for women in the Aboriginal community. For more than a century before the Indian Act was amended in 1985, women who were born Indian in Canada lost legal status as Indians when they married men who were not Indians. This includes Aboriginal men from Canada or other countries not registered under the Indian Act. The clauses that first discriminated against Indian women and their children in the 1869 Enfranchisement Act gradually became more restrictive, remaining in effect until Bill C-31, an Act to Amend the Indian Act, was passed in 1985. Despite the several legislative revisions, Aboriginal women and their descendants still argue that they are being treated inequitably. This entry reviews the history of Indian acts as they have affected women. The Legislature of the Province of Canada enacted two Indian ...

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