Sisters in Spirit was originally a five-year initiative established by the Native Women’s Association of Canada to research and raise awareness about violence against Aboriginal women and girls in Canada. Set up in 2005, the SIS research team gathered s

An Indian reserve is an area of land set aside under the Indian Act for the use and benefit of First Nations peoples. There are over 3,000 Indian reserves across Canada, each governed by a band, a First Nations governing unit comprising of a chief and cou

The Highway of Tears is the name given to a tragic 720 km stretch of Highway 16 in northern British Columbia, Canada, where a string of killings and disappearances took place between 1969 and 2011. Police estimates of 19 victims are hotly disputed by Abor

The Indian Act is a Canadian statute that was first passed in 1876 and that governs how the Canadian state interacts with the First Nations of Canada and their members. The Indian Act has two main features: it a) says how Reserves and Bands can operate, and b) defines who is (and who is not) recognized as Indian. It is often considered to be controversial, and it has been said that it was introduced as a way to enforce Euro-Canadian standards of “civilization”.



There have been many amendments to...

The term Residential Schools refers to an extensive school system put in place by the Canadian Federal Government and administered by the Church. These schools had one main purpose: “To kill the Indian in the child”. This controversial school system,

If you showed up at a stranger’s house uninvited, you’d knock on the door to ask permission before entering, right? This allegory sums up nicely the basic human right known as FPIC: Free Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples. It is one of t

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council that provides a space for discussion and exchange of ideas regarding Indigenous issues. Economic and social development, culture, envir