Over 80 indigenous tribes disappeared between 1900 and 1957, and of a population of over one million during this period 80% had been killed through deculturalization, disease, or murder.
For over a century Indigenous children were removed from their families and homes, sometimes forcibly, and taken to residential schools where they were housed and educated under the authority of the Government of Canada. The establishment of Indian residential schools began in the 1870s.
'Aborigine' is generally perceived as insensitive, because it has racist connotations from Australia's colonial past, and lumps people with diverse backgrounds into a single group. Without a capital "a", "aboriginal" can refer to an Indigenous person from anywhere in the world.
In the United States, the term “Native American” is in common usage to describe Aboriginal peoples. In Canada, the term “Aboriginal” or “Indigenous” is generally preferred to “Native.” Some may feel that “native” has a negative connotation and is outdated.
For the First Nations, the Government of Canada created the band system under the Indian Act, which allowed First Nations people to vote in band elections but they could not vote in federal elections before 1960 unless they renounced their status as Registered Indians (a process referred to as enfranchisement).
Like any other resident, First Nations people and Inuit access these insured services through provincial and territorial governments. 6 Non-status First Nation and Métis people do not receive any health care benefits from the federal government.
Fast-forward more than 100 years and, as of 2020, there are more than one million Indian citizens in Canada. When Canada did a head-count of everyone in the country in the 2016 census, it showed that almost 670,000 Indian citizens were settled here as permanent residents or naturalized Canadian citizens.
The Mohawk people (Mohawk: Kanienʼkehá?ka) are the most easterly tribe of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking indigenous people of North America, with communities in northern New York State and southeastern Canada, primarily around Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River.
Scholars know that they ruthlessly tortured war prisoners and that they were cannibals; in the Algonquin tongue the word Mohawk actually means "flesh-eater." There is even a story that the Indians in neighboring Iroquois territory would flee their homes upon sight of just a small band of Mohawks.
These are the Algonquian (Blackfoot, Cree, and Saulteaux), the Athabaskan or Dene (Beaver, Chipewyan, Slavey, and Sarcee), and the Siouan (Stoney) families. The list of tribal groups in Alberta is not fixed and is based on differing interpretations of what constitutes a "tribe".
The Mohawk are traditionally the keepers of the Eastern Door of the Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Six Nations Confederacy or the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Our original homeland is the north eastern region of New York State extending into southern Canada and Vermont.
Mohawk, self-name Kanien'kehá:ka (“People of the Flint”), Iroquoian-speaking North American Indian tribe and the easternmost tribe of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy.
In Alberta, the major Aboriginal languages spoken are Blackfoot, two variants of Plains Cree (one sometimes known as Woodland Cree), Dene Suliné, Dene Tha', Dunne-Za, Métis Cree, Michif, Nakoda, Saulteaux, and Tsuu T'ina.
Edmonton lies in Treaty 6 territory, a traditional gathering place, travelling route and home for many Indigenous Peoples including the Nehiyawak/Cree, Tsuut'ina, Niitsitapi/Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Haudenosaunee/Iroquois, Dene Suliné, Anishinaabe/Ojibway/Saulteaux, and the Inuk/Inuit.
In general, Indigenous people in Canada are required to pay taxes on the same basis as other people in Canada, except where the limited exemption under Section 87 of the Indian Act applies. Section 87 says that the "personal property of an Indian or a band situated on a reserve" is tax exempt.
There are 11 numbered treaties across Canada, with Treaties 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 residing in Alberta. The First Nations in the territory now known as Alberta were concerned with the alarming spread of diseases, such as smallpox and the decimation of the buffalo due to overhunting.
Edmonton was founded in Treaty No. 6 territory and Treaty No. 6 Recognition Day recognizes Edmonton's connection with the First peoples of this land.
In Canada, Canadian Indian people are one of three cultural groups, along with Inuit and Métis, recognized as Aboriginal people under Section 35 of the Constitution Act. Under the Indian Act, Indian means “a person who pursuant to this Act is registered as an Indian or is entitled to be registered as an Indian.”
Indigenous Peoples refers to a group of Indigenous peoples with a shared national identity, such as “Navajo” or “Sami,” and is the equivalent of saying “the American people.” Native American and American Indian are terms used to refer to peoples living within what is now the United States prior to European contact.
When he landed in the Antilles, Columbus referred to the resident peoples he encountered there as "Indians", reflecting his purported belief that he had reached the Indian Ocean.
Under the 1924 Act, indigenous people did not have to apply for citizenship, nor did they have to give up their tribal citizenship to become US citizens. Most tribes had communal property, and to have a right to the land, individual Indian people needed to belong to the tribe. Thus, dual citizenship was allowed.
A person may be a dual citizen of [Name] First Nation, where they are enrolled in a Tribe located in the United States or America.
