Who owns indian reserves in canada

The impacts of the reserve system also take on a gendered dimension. Aboriginal women on reserves face additional challenges with property, for example. Historically a woman has had to leave the reserve community she married into if her husband abandons her or passes away. In these cases, lack of regulation regarding on-reserve matrimonial property has forced many women to leave their homes and belongings behind as they leave the reserve.

Reserves fall under federal rather than provincial or municipal jurisdiction—levels of government that typically provide services, infrastructure and regulations to non-reserve communities. In the spring of , Sheila Fraser, the auditor general of Canada, concluded an audit of the environmental conditions of reserves. She found that there was a significant gap between environmental conditions in reserve communities and those in other communities in Canada.

Non-reserve communities are regulated by provincial and municipal governments, which have systems in place to deal with waste disposal and air and water monitoring. Fraser concluded that INAC lacks the capacity and resources and is generally unprepared to provide these services and regulations to reserve lands. In fact, the audit found that INAC has no idea how waste is disposed of in 80 reserve communities, a startling statistic that provides a glimpse into the breadth of challenges to overcome.

Understanding the reserve system can be complicated. While reserves were initially created to further the colonial agenda of assimilation, in time this objective competed with others, such as facilitating European settlement.

As a result, reserves were typically created in isolated areas away from non-Aboriginal settlements, perpetuating a stark segregation between Native and non-Native populations. Ironically, this situation has contributed to maintaining Aboriginal community ties and cultural reproduction.

The widely held colonial belief that, in time, Aboriginal peoples would either die out or enfranchise and assimilate into mainstream Euro-Canadian society was not borne out, due in part to the nature of the reserve system itself.

A reserve can provide a community in which Aboriginal people feel free to practice their cultures and customs, live close to their extended families, and raise their children in their cultural and ancestral homelands. Reserves are, therefore, a disruptive and in many ways destructive imposition that, through the strength of the peoples who occupy them, often simultaneously support cultural survival. The reserve system is a paradox that closely resembles that of the Indian Act.

As with the Indian Act, some Canadians believe the government should do away with the reserve system entirely, arguing that reserve lands are anachronistic and serve solely to perpetuate the segregation of Aboriginal peoples in isolated parcels of land.

Some people argue that the reserve system is a form of apartheid and should therefore be abolished. Proposals to abolish such policies have frequently been met with widespread resistance from First Nations across Canada. We agree with this intent but we find that the Government is ignorant of two basic points.

The Government wrongly thinks that the Indian Reserve lands are owned by the Crown. The second error the Government commits is making the assumption that Indians can have control of their land only if they take ownership in the way that ordinary property is owned.

Control of Indian lands should be maintained by the Indian people, respecting their historical and legal rights as Indians. While the above exchange took place in , these debates continue today.

Some continue to argue that reserves should be converted into fee simple, or privately-owned, lands. Many leaders and activists maintain that they can work towards overcoming the challenges of the reserve system and simultaneously retain their Aboriginal ways of life. Further, to simply abolish the reserve system absolves the Canadian government of its legally-binding obligations and commitments it made to First Nations.

As with the Indian Act and related policies, the reserve system is highly problematic. Bartlett, Richard H. Frideres, James S. Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, Despite the hardships caused by the reserve system, reserves, as communities, are also a place of cultural survival, where Indigenous languages are spoken and taught in schools and cultural practices are thriving. Skip to content Section 2: Colonization.

The reserve system: Important facts It is important to know the following facts: First Nations people were not consulted when reserves were created. They did not give consent. They were not compensated for the lands that were taken from them. Since their creation, reserves have been moved and reduced and their resources have been taken — all without compensation for First Nations. Until as recently as , people living on reserve needed written permission from the Indian Agent in order to leave the reserve for any reason.

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