An Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act

Well, we still have point-of-sale tax exemption when the new HST takes effect. A nice victory. Although it won’t happen until September as a process is figured out.
It all makes me think though, is this the only reason First Nation people use status cards these days?
And as I think more about the status card sitting in my wallet, identifying me as “an Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act,” I realize how offensive such a thing really is. For a long while, I never thought much about it.
I’m sure we all take it for granted that our identity, according to the government of Canada, is marked at birth with the granting of status. Without this status, we are not entitled to the rights guaranteed to us by way of treaty or social policy.
When I was in New Zealand earlier this year, I had an opportunity to meet with some Maori, the country’s Indigenous peoples. It was quite the experience to meet, talk and share with the people I met. We shared our cultures, our differences, our similarities.
Eventually, the conversation turned to identity. To the Maori, identity is as simple as if you consider yourself Maori, then you are Maori. There is a social order in how the Maori are organized which starts with the family, the extended family, the community, the tribe and the nation.
It’s similar to First Nations in Canada, but with the Maori, the families belong to a Marae, a traditional meeting place/building, which forms the community. Several Marae make up the tribe.
As I very casually explained the many nations of Aboriginal people in Canada and such concepts as clans and such, I said things are much different today. When we’re born, each of us is given a status card, which tells us we’re Indian according to the government.
The reaction I received was one of shock. Then appalled. It was incomprehensible and offending to the Maori I met that another nation would do such a thing to the Indigenous people of the land. The Maori in New Zealand would not stand for such imposing treatment, that upon birth, a number is assigned certifying Indian status.
I could only reply that I agree, but that it was the way things are and we seem to have accepted things as such.
Since then, I’ve asked myself how did it come to this point? Why do we continue to allow the government to choose who is Aboriginal? Sure, our communities now make these decisions and to administer who belongs to the individual bands. But the decisions are still made according to the standards of the Indian Act. It’s not by our own standards.
And I wonder, if we lost the point-of-sale exemption, what else would our status cards be good for? Well, education and health rights come to mind.
But these days, these things seem more like a privilege (a concept my mom often talked about in my youth, that our rights are in danger of eroding and things such as education will become a privilege).
As it is today, there’s often not enough money to go around to fund everyone for school. And if Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has its way, post secondary education funding will no longer be freely provided, but rather loans or grants provided at their discretion.
With health, I have to wonder what’s on the horizon. But as we know, INAC provides these things as a matter of social policy. While we view them as treaty or inherent rights, INAC has a much different view.
So the question remains, does our status mean much these days? Well, for the time being, we’ll still be able to use it when making retail purchases. But if you’re like me, it’s the only time my card comes out of my wallet.