Self-determination and the Indian Act: The Erosion of Indigenous Identity

Abstract

In 2003, I conducted research in partnership with the community of Canim Lake in the interior of British Columbia (BC) to assist in discussing the parameters of citizenship, membership, and self-governance associated with defining Band membership. Band membership is a creation of the Canadian federal government with exclusive authority to determine who is an “Indian” in accordance with federal legislation. Furthermore, only Band members are eligible to reside within one of the 203 Indian Bands in BC, which is also legislated by the federal government. My purpose was to explore how the erosion of the rights of Indigenous¹ Peoples to self-determine compromised their identities. I argued that the Indian Act of 1876 legally forced Indian Bands to construct Band membership codes in such a way that traditional identity is undermined. The research highlights how Canim Lake Band members responded to the concept of Indigenous identity; that identity cannot be separated from modern-day treaty making in BC because both identity and Band membership are vital factors in the movement toward self-determination.