A Conversation about Non-Status and Status Indigenous Persons - The Fire Within

By Nea Maaty
(Nea is a journalist with the Focus Media Arts Centre, funded by the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative)

Agencies serving the indigenous community in Toronto estimate that there are 70,000 residents living in Toronto.   Many indigenous habitants reside in the downtown, low-income neighbourhoods of Regent Park, Moss Park and St. James Town.  However, far too often Indigenous residents are invisible and only reflected in issues related to homelessness. In an effort to change this Focus Media Arts is partnering with indigenous community groups and individuals to bring you The Fire Within ~ a show committed to bringing you news and stories on Indigenous communities in the downtown east and City of Toronto.
 
In this episode of The Fire Within, we bring you a conversation with Indigenous Educator Sonia B-Inkster about Non-Status and Indians.

Indigenous people in Canada have endured many challenges and hardships throughout their resilient journey that have hit to the core of their existence and identity. One of the challenges that Indigenous nations has had to deal with is the 1876 Indian Act which defines who is and who is not considered a ‘status Indian’ and therefore entitled to rights and benefits.

As strange as it sounds, ‘status Indian’ and ‘non-status Indian’ are legal terms that
are used to differentiate between individuals who identify as First Nations.  A status Indian is governed under federal jurisdiction and therefore is entitled to certain rights and benefits that a Non-status Indian doesn’t have.  

The Indian Act is a complex issue and has long been a subject of controversy. Many Indigenous people feel the act is unjust and takes their rights and identities away. Even the term ‘Indian’ is to many considered inappropriate and outdated to describe the Indigenous individuals and their communities.
Let see if we can understand what status Indian means and how one can lose their status.
Under the Indian Act, a ‘status Indian’ would be a person who is registered or descended from ancestors who were registered or were entitled to be registered. The registry is an official record maintained by Indigenous Service Canada (ISC).

Although, a person could be eligible for status if one or both of their parents were registered as Indians, however, a child of a non-Indian parent and an Indian parent cannot be registered for Indian status.

Indigenous people lost their status for one of these reasons:

1. Marriage: If a status Indian woman got married to a non-Indian man. She and her children born after the marriage automatically lose their Indian status, under the Indian Act. This restricted the freedom of an Indigenous woman to choose her partner.

2. Enfranchisement: which means that the person has to give up their Indian status for different reasons. Voting is one of them. Before 1985, a person could apply to give up their Indian status to vote in a federal election. In1960, Parliament extended the vote to “Indian persons” unconditionally, which granted First Nations members the right to vote without forfeiting their Indian status. Initially, any First Nations person who obtained a university degree and/or became a professional such as a doctor or a lawyer would automatically lose their status.

3. Foreign residence

If a status Indian lived outside of Canada for more than five years, that person's name was deleted from the Indian Register.

Under subsection 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, Métis and non-Status Indians are considered “Indians” who are not eligible for programs and services currently targeted to ‘status Indians’.

What are the benefits that a status Indian is entitled to?  Under the Indian Act, the federal government holds governance over many services and programs that are delivered to status Indians as part of their rights and benefits. These rights and benefits include treaty payments, on-reserve housing, education and exemptions from federal, provincial and territorial taxes in specific situations.

Sonia B-Inkster, an indigenous educator and a vocal critic of the Indian Act, argues that the act is a government strategy to deny the inherent rights of many First Nations people so as to reduce the responsibilities of the federal government. She may have a point, according to the 2011 National Household Survey; ‘Non-status Indians’ represented 25.1% of the total Canadian Indigenous population, with three-quarters residing in urban areas.