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status
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
1adj. — Aboriginal (First Nations)
a First Nations person recognized as such under the Indian Act; often used in compounds, as in status Indian or status woman.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — The term status is part of Canada's legal heritage. Those with status are defined as "individual[s] recognized by the federal government as being registered under the Indian Act" (see AANDC reference) and thus entitled to a variety of federal and provincial governmental services (see the 2003 quotation). Aboriginal peoples who hold this legal title are given a status card, or Certificate of Indian Status (see the 2008 quotation), which states "information about their identity, their band and their registration number" (see Indigenous Foundations reference). Rules of eligibility for status have changed over time (see ANNDC reference) and are outlined in Section 6 of the Indian Act (see Indigenous Foundations reference). Note that although status is a concept established by the Canadian government and forced onto Aboriginal people in an attempt at colonial assimilation, it is now considered by many as an affirmation of their Aboriginal identity and ancestry, as well a legal acknowledgement of federal obligations to Aboriginal peoples (see Indigenous Foundations reference).
Before 1985 (see Bill C-31), examples of ways one could lose status and become enfranchised (that is, entitled to the vote and other rights of citizenship) included serving in the Canadian armed forces, obtaining a university degree or marrying a non-status man; if a First Nations woman married a man without Indian status, she would automatically lose her status (see non-status). However, if a First Nations man married a woman without Indian status, he would be permitted to keep his status (see the 2013 quotation). Addressing some of the discriminatory facets of the Indian Act, amendments were made in the form of Bill C-31 to reinstate the status of First Nations women who had lost it due to marriage (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference). However, the status they regained did not mean the same as status that others had before. Internet domain searches indicate that the term is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1).
See also COD-2, s.v. "status"(4), which is marked "Cdn", and AHD-5, s.v. "status Indian", which is marked "Canadian".
Before 1985 (see Bill C-31), examples of ways one could lose status and become enfranchised (that is, entitled to the vote and other rights of citizenship) included serving in the Canadian armed forces, obtaining a university degree or marrying a non-status man; if a First Nations woman married a man without Indian status, she would automatically lose her status (see non-status). However, if a First Nations man married a woman without Indian status, he would be permitted to keep his status (see the 2013 quotation). Addressing some of the discriminatory facets of the Indian Act, amendments were made in the form of Bill C-31 to reinstate the status of First Nations women who had lost it due to marriage (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference). However, the status they regained did not mean the same as status that others had before. Internet domain searches indicate that the term is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1).
See also COD-2, s.v. "status"(4), which is marked "Cdn", and AHD-5, s.v. "status Indian", which is marked "Canadian".
See: enfranchised,Indian(meaning 1b),Indian Act,Indian Register,registered Indian,reserve,treaty Indian,non-status,assimilation,Bill C-31
The term status Indian is a legal term in Canada, going back to the Indian Act. While semantic change is underway, replacing Indian with more contemporary terms such as First Nation or Aboriginal person, the term Indian and some of its compounds will remain in use as long as the Indian Act is the name of the regulation. Clippings such as status (n.) often avoid problematic terminology.
Quotations
1970
That membership in the B.C.N.I.T.A. be automatic for Indian persons holding a teaching certificate or diploma of some kind. Questions of eligibility for other Indian persons (status or non-status) will be resolved by a membership committee,and decisions will be based on noteworthy participation and achievement in Indian Education.
1984
He is, according to a local historian, a member of a people forgotten by history. A Cree Indian but not a status Indian, part white man but not a white man, Sidney Moore is one of several hundred people in this James Bay community who have become victims of history and of an almost-inexplicable federal Indian policy.
1992
The study was broadened to include status Indians living off their reserves but it found few statistically significant differences between them and those living on the reserve.
2003
As a result, status Indians receive billions of dollars annually in federal tax dollars and can negotiate with governments over land claims and access to expansive natural resources.
2008
According to the Elections Act, voters have to establish their identity by showing identification with a photo: a driver's licence, medicare card, passport, certificate of Indian status or Canadian Forces ID.
2013
If a status man married a non-status - or even non-Aboriginal - woman, his rights and identity would remain intact. In fact, his new wife would actually gain full Indian status. It was a galling double standard, one that created ideological rifts between First Nations communities across Canada, as well as unfairly stripped tens of thousands of women and children of their status over the next three decades.
2016
There are many reasons for the large number of non-status Indians - estimated at 700,000 - but let's focus on the archaic treatment Indian women received from the Indian Act (created 1876). It ruled a status woman who married a non-status man forfeited her status, yet a status man who married a non-status woman didn't. In fact, the non-status woman then gained status. All children born to women robbed of their status were labelled as non-status.
Bill C-31 passed into law in April 1985 (only 31 years ago) and finally gave women the same rights as men. Yet, much damage had already been done by the gender discrimination, creating generations of non-status Indians.
2adj. — predicative, Aboriginal (First Nations)
See meaning 1.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — Increasingly used as an adjective in predicative position.
Quotations
1994
It was with respect to travel outside by an aboriginal person for medical care. I do not know if she was status or not.
1996
Joyce Fortier, 56, a Metis who lives with her daughter in Vancouver because she can't find a job, said: ``If I was status I wouldn't have a problem. But as Metis we don't have any advantages.''
2000
Mum is 'status.' She's on the band rolls. She comes from Whitefish First Nation and is Ojibwa. I'm half Ojibwa and half Oneida, because Daddy is Oneida. So at school I'm called Ojibwa/ Oneida. [...]. Daddy is 'status' too. He comes from Oneida of the Thames, a reserve near London. It has an Indian name but I can't say it, so Daddy says to just call it that for now.
2013
I am status. What about my rights under the Indian Act? They have never been used to hunt in or out of season. Those dead animals would have provided sustenance to any of the near at hand reserves.
References
- AHD-5
- COD-2
- AANDC • "Indian Status"
- Indigenous Foundations • "Indian Status"
- Canadian Encyclopedia • "Indian Act"
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