A Review of the Book "21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act" by Bob Joseph

Title: 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act

Author: Bob Joseph

Publisher: Page Two Strategies

Year: 2018

172 pages (including appendices)

The Indian Act is the primary law the federal government uses to administer Indian status, local First Nations governments and the management of reserve land. It also outlines governmental obligations to First Nations peoples. The Indian Act pertains to people with Indian Status; it does not directly reference non-status First Nations people, the Métis or Inuit. First introduced in 1876, the Act subsumed a number of colonial laws that aimed to eliminate First Nations culture in favour of assimilation into Euro-Canadian society. The Act has been amended several times, most significantly in 1951 and 1985, with changes mainly focusing on the removal of discriminatory sections. It is an evolving, paradoxical document that has enabled trauma, human rights violations and social and cultural disruption for generations of Indigenous peoples.

The most important single act affecting First Nations is the Indian Act, passed by the federal government of the new Dominion of Canada in 1876 and it is still in existence today. It is beyond horrific that such a document continues to exist in the 21st century, a document that determines the existence and worth of a person and what that person is or is not allowed to do.

In his book, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Bob Joseph, an Indigenous person and a member of the Gwawaenuk Nation in British Columbia, provides readers with a description of the Indian Act and brings up 21 important pieces of the document that he felt was necessary for non-Indigenous people to understand about the Indian Act. His hope was that educating the people of Canada would be a first step in making reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a reality.

The topics in this book cover everything from the removal of the personhood of Indigenous people to Residential Schools to Reserves and Reserve management. As each new topic was brought up, it astounded me more and more that the Indian Act wasn't abolished decades ago. In fact, not only does this piece of legislation still exist but it is still in use as a way to control the rights and movements of Indigenous Peoples. It is ludicrous, in my opinion.

Joseph's book is well-written and easy to read, and it includes appendices that talks about terminology, timelines, and the 94 Calls to Action.

Every white settler Canadian needs to read this book. It only scratches the surface at our history but it is a great place to start our education.