2. Women's Perspectives - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure ...

The first statutory definition of 'Indian' is found in An Act for the better protection of the
Lands and Property of the Indians in Lower Canada, passed in 1850. The definition is
quite inclusive. It includes all those of Indian blood and their descendants, non-Indians
who have married Indians living on the designated lands, and even persons adopted in
infancy by Indians. 15 Within one year, this definition became more restrictive as a result
of amending legislation that denied non-Indian men who married Indian women the right
to acquire Indian status, but Indian status could still be gained by non-Indian women who
married Indian men.
The descendants of all intermarriages who actually resided on a reserve would
nonetheless still be considered Indians irrespective of the status of one of the spouses,
since they would fall within that part of the definition of Indian that referred to Indian
blood. 16 However, it is obvious that the same rule did not apply to men and women in
mixed marriages as it had under the earlier legislation. For the first time, Indian status
began to be associated with the male line of descent.
The concept of enfranchisement was introduced in 1857 through An Act to encourage the
gradual Civilization of the Indian Tribes in the Province, and to amend the Laws
respecting Indians. 17 The act applied to both Upper and Lower Canada, and its operating
premise was that by removing the legal distinctions between Indians and non-Indians
through enfranchisement and by facilitating the acquisition of individual property by
Indians, it would be possible in time to absorb Indians fully into colonial society. An
enfranchised Indian was, in effect, actually renouncing Indian status and the right to live
on protected reserve land in order to join non-Aboriginal colonial society. The modern
department of Indian affairs describes the nature and effect of the Gradual Civilization
Act as follows:
[The act]…contained property and monetary inducements to encourage Indians to leave
tribal societies and seek enfranchisement. An enfranchised person could receive land and
a sum of money equal to the principal of the annuities and other yearly revenues received
by the band. The intent of this legislation was that enfranchised Indians would continue
to reside in the Native community but would have the same rights as non-Indian
citizens. 18
The act applied only to adult male Indians. Under section 3 of the act, to be enfranchised
an Indian had to be male, over age 21, able to read and write either English or French,
reasonably well educated, free of debt, and of good moral character as determined by a
commission of examiners. The right to exercise the franchise depended upon meeting the
requirements in federal and provincial legislation in terms of property ownership. Thus,
there was no automatic right to vote. Indians were given a three-year qualifying period to
acquire these attributes.
Women were not to be enfranchised independently. Yet if an Indian man was
enfranchised, his wife and children were automatically enfranchised along with him,
regardless of their wishes; willingly or not, they lost their Indian status. From a woman's
perspective, this act perpetuated the notion of a wife and children as the husband's
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