Our Home and (Native?) Land - Part 1

Examining the Ongoing Impact of Colonialism and the Indian Act on Indigenous Land Rights

SEND IN YOUR OPINIONS, STORIES, COMMENTS OR COMPLAINTS BY REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL

The Indigenous peoples of Canada historically occupied and controlled vast territories across the country, including lands now comprising modern-day Canada. However, with the arrival of European settlers and the establishment of colonial governments, Indigenous peoples were gradually dispossessed of their lands and territories. Today, while accounting for nearly 5 percent of the Canadian population, Indigenous Reserves make up under 0.2% of Canadian land, and in an overwhelming majority of cases are themselves owned by the Canadian Government.

It was on. The greatest land grab in history was to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting indigenous populations of North America and everyone was to get a seat at the table, well almost everyone. During the French Regime, the concept of distributing indigenous ancestral lands to European settlers would begin. New France had been found and for the next 133 years the best and most economically viable land throughout modern day Quebec would given away to newly landed frenchmen. Primarily through seigneurial land grants typically consisting of a long, narrow strip of land along a river or other waterway, these parcels would range from a few hundred to several thousand acres. Conservatively it is estimated that approximately 10,000 seigneuries were granted in New France between 1627 and 1760. Consequently, (depending on who you ask) between 5 and 10 million acres (25,000-50,000 sq km) were granted.

Following the British conquest of Canada in 1763, land distribution shifted to a system of land grants and sales. The British government encouraged settlement in Canada as a means of strengthening its hold on the territory, and offered land grants to individuals who agreed to settle in the colony. The size of the grants varied, but typically ranged from 100 acres to several thousand acres. It is estimated that approximately 1.2 million acres (5000 sq km) of land were granted to settlers in Upper Canada (now Ontario) between 1783 and 1820.

Next would come the railways. Heading in to the turn of the 19th century, the Canadian government granted large tracts of land to railway companies as an incentive for them to build rail lines across the country. The size of the grants varied, but typically ranged from 20 to 40 sections (12,800 to 25,600 acres) per mile (1.6 km) of track. It is estimated that approximately 25 million acres of land, or 100,000 sq km were granted to railway companies in Western Canada between 1880 and 1920.

With reliable transport to the prairies and beyond, the chopping up of these new, vast tracts of “uninhabited” land accelerated to an unprecedented pace. There was only one thing standing in the way of complete dominion over the newly conquered lands. The Indian Problem. The Dominion Lands Act coupled with the establishment of the Indian Act a few years after it would aim to solve just that problem.

The first established a system of homesteading in Western Canada. Under the Act, individuals could apply for a quarter-section (160 acres) of land, provided they met certain requirements, such as living on the land for a certain period of time and making improvements to the property. While the second would prevent the indigenous populations from being able to take part in the new opportunity while conveniently creating legislative powers for the newly formed government to redistribute its Indian Problem to what, in many cases would amount to little more than open air prison camps. The government also reserves the right to relocate these Reserves at its sole discretion to make way for further westward expansion. This along with several other bombshells within the act ( see previous articles) would shake up each of the Nations to such a level that it would take 100 years for the cultural shock to recede enough for them to even realize what had happened and begin to mount any sort of defence.

It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million homesteads were granted in Western Canada between 1872 and 1930. 240 million acres, or almost 1 million sq km are distributed to newly settled Europeans from almost every country. Again, Indians do not get a seat at the table. In rare cases, enfranchised Indigenous peoples were given land grants or other forms of compensation in exchange for giving up their status. However, these grants were often small and inadequate, and many who enfranchised did not receive any land or compensation at all.

The combined area of every reserve in Canada in 2023 is between 26,000 and 28,000 sq km and is “vested in the crown”A fancy way of saying “owned by the federal government”

The process of dispossession was complex and multifaceted, and it involved a range of policies and practices, including forced relocation, the imposition of reserve systems, and the signing of treaties that ceded (stole) Indigenous lands to the Crown. These policies and practices were often accompanied by violence, coercion, and cultural suppression and had devastating impacts on Indigenous peoples and their communities.  Frequently, indigenous communities were not given the opportunity to fully comprehend the negotiations or the potential outcomes both short and long term.

For an Indigenous person to actually own any acre of land in Canada outright they must leave the places the grew up and buy it. A large chunk of the nation was distributed generations ago. Sold, bequeathed or mortgaged towards a brighter future for 4 generations and First Nations missed out, plain and simple. Other than that brief period in the early 1900’s in which Indigenous could be eligible for minuscule land grants under enfranchisement, this came at a high cost and saw extreme limited availability among most Indigenous. With a full 89% of the countries land still in the hands of the various provincial and federal governments there is still seemingly not enough for us. What little land we have we still can’t own and the federal government can’t even be counted on to figure out clean drinking water across the country, but they always have more billions more to send abroad.

Darren Grimes

SEND IN YOUR OPINIONS, STORIES, COMMENTS OR COMPLAINTS BY REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL