Page 286 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 to 12 | First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies
Nations and Inuit perspectives. The commission’s report, issued in 1977, concluded that no pipeline should be built in Yukon and that the Mackenzie Valley portion should be delayed for at least ten years in order to settle land claims in the region.
Bill C-3, the Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act, 2010. A bill that entitles eligible grandchildren of First Nations women who lost status as a result of marrying non- status men to register under the Indian Act.
birch bark scrolls. Pieces of birch bark on which Anishinaabe communities have recorded events, stories, migration patterns, and cultural teachings. The scrolls, many of which are considered sacred, have been passed from generation to generation, forming a collective history of a people.
blood quantum. A practice used in defining Indigenous ancestry based on the percentage of Indigenous (or status Indian) blood in an individual. In Canada, the Indian Act does not specifically use blood quantum as a factor in determining who can pass on status to the next generation, but it still uses ancestry as a deter- minant of status.
Calder v. British Columbia, 1973. A land claim case in which Frank Calder and the Nisga’a Nation sued the government of British Columbia, claiming that their title to the land was never extinguished by treaty. Although their argument was rejected by both provincial courts and the Supreme Court of Canada, the case recognized and affirmed Aboriginal title to unceded territory and Aboriginal title’s place in
law, and initiated the federal government’s comprehensive land claims process, which led to the Nisga’a Final Agreement in 2000.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A part of the Constitution Act, 1982, the Charter guarantees Canadians fundamental freedoms as well as various rights, including democratic, mobility, legal, and equality rights. Section 25 of the Charter specifies that enforcement of the Charter shall not diminish Aboriginal rights, as recognized in section 35 of the Constitution Act,
1982. See also Constitution Act, 1982; funda- mental freedoms.
citizenship. An understanding of the rights of citizens within various communities (local, national, global) and of the roles, responsibil- ities, and actions associated with these rights.
clan. A system of kinship or extended family used by various First Nations peoples. Clans are usually represented by mammals, birds, or fish that signify each clan’s unique role and respon- sibilities in the community. Clans can be either matrilineal or patrilineal. See also matrilineal; patrilineal.
colonial naming. The practice of colonizers
or settlers giving new names in their own language to places or peoples they encounter. Often these names celebrate the act of coloniza- tion or the values and icons of the colonizers.
colonial wars. Conflicts that arise as a result of foreign powers establishing and maintaining power over a colony.
colonialism. A system in which one nation establishes political control over another nation or region, sending settlers to claim the land from the original inhabitants and taking its resources. Colonialism involves subjugation of one or more groups of people by another. See also colonization.
colonization. The process in which a foreign power invades and dominates a territory or land base inhabited by Indigenous peoples, imposing its own social, cultural, religious, economic, and political systems and values.
A colonized region is called a colony. See also colonialism.
comprehensive land claims policy. See 1973 land claims policy.
Constitution Act, 1982. Part of the Canada Act, 1982, which repatriated the Canadian constitu- tion. Section 35 of the constitution recognizes the Aboriginal and treaty rights of the “Indian, Métis and Inuit peoples of Canada”, although the full meaning of this section continues to
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