Peoples and identity

Indigenous. The umbrella term used in Canada for the original peoples of the land and their descendants. Indigenous peoples in Canada include three constitutionally recognized groups: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. These are three distinct peoples with different histories, legal relationships, and traditions — not subdivisions of one group.

First Nations. The Indigenous peoples of Canada south of the Arctic who are not Métis or Inuit. There are over 630 First Nations in Canada representing more than 50 distinct nations and cultural groups. "Indian" is the legal term used in the Indian Act and remains in legal use, though "First Nations" is preferred in most contemporary contexts.

Métis. A distinct Indigenous people that emerged from the historic intermarriage of Cree, Anishinaabe, Saulteaux, and other First Nations women with French and Scottish fur traders, primarily in the Red River Valley and across the Prairies and parts of Ontario. The Métis Nation has its own language (Michif), distinct political institutions, and a recognized homeland. "Métis" is contested as a label — the Métis National Council and its member governments distinguish the historic Métis Nation from broader mixed-ancestry claims, particularly in eastern Canada.

Inuit. The Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, living across Inuit Nunangat — Nunavut, Nunavik (northern Quebec), Nunatsiavut (Labrador), and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (NWT). "Eskimo" is an outdated and inappropriate term; do not use it. "Inuit" is plural; "Inuk" is singular.

Status / Non-status. Under the Indian Act, "Status Indians" are legally recognized as Indians by the federal government and are entered in the Indian Register. Status confers certain rights and obligations — tax exemptions on reserve, eligibility for some federal programs, band membership. "Non-status" refers to people of First Nations ancestry who, for various reasons including the historic discriminatory provisions of the Indian Act, are not registered. Status is a legal category, not a measure of Indigenous identity.

Treaty rights. Rights arising from treaties signed between Indigenous nations and the Crown. Treaty rights are constitutionally protected under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Different nations have different treaties; many First Nations and most Métis communities have no treaty at all.

Institutions and law

Indian Act. A federal statute first passed in 1876, still in force in 2026. It defines who is and is not a "Status Indian," controls band governance, restricts Indigenous land tenure, and has historically governed nearly every aspect of First Nations life. The Indian Act does not apply to Métis or Inuit. Bob Joseph's 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the most accessible introduction.

Reserve. Land set aside by the federal government for the use of a First Nation, held in trust by the Crown. Reserves are governed under the Indian Act and are distinct from traditional or treaty territory, which is much larger.

Section 35. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982: "The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed." The legal foundation for Indigenous rights in Canadian constitutional law.

UNDRIP. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN in 2007. Canada voted against it in 2007, reversed position in 2010, and in 2021 passed Bill C-15 requiring federal law to be aligned with UNDRIP.

FPIC. Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. A principle from UNDRIP: Indigenous peoples have the right to give or withhold consent to actions affecting their lands, territories, and resources.

Aboriginal title. A legal doctrine recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in Delgamuukw (1997) and Tsilhqot'in (2014). It recognizes Indigenous peoples' collective right to land based on historic occupation prior to European sovereignty. Aboriginal title is not the same as treaty rights.

State policies and their legacies

Residential schools. The Indian Residential School (IRS) system: federally funded, primarily church-run institutions that operated in Canada from the 1870s to 1996. Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families. The TRC concluded the system constituted cultural genocide. Over 150,000 children attended; thousands died. The TRC documented 4,100+ confirmed deaths; the true number is unknown.

Sixties Scoop. The mass removal of Indigenous children from their families by provincial child welfare authorities and their placement in non-Indigenous adoptive or foster homes, roughly 1960s through 1980s. Estimated 20,000+ children. The term was coined by Patrick Johnston in 1983. A 2017 federal class-action settlement compensated status First Nations and Inuit survivors but excluded Métis and non-status.

Millennium Scoop. The continuing overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system today. Indigenous children are 53.8% of children in foster care in Canada despite being only 7.7% of children — a rate the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled constitutes racial discrimination.

MMIWG. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Sometimes expanded to MMIWG2S to include Two-Spirit people, or MMIWG+ / 2SLGBTQQIA+ to include broader gender-diverse community members. The National Inquiry's 2019 Final Report concluded the crisis constitutes a Canadian genocide.

Pass system. An informal but enforced federal policy from the 1880s to 1940s that required First Nations people to obtain a pass from the Indian Agent before leaving their reserve. Never legislated; nevertheless enforced for decades.

High Arctic Relocation. The forced relocation of Inuit families from northern Quebec to the High Arctic (Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord) in 1953 and 1955 by the federal government. Canada formally apologized in 2010.

Bodies, principles, and documents

TRC. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2008–2015). Chaired by Justice Murray Sinclair (Anishinaabe). Produced a six-volume Final Report and 94 Calls to Action.

RCAP. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1991–1996). A 4,000-page, five-volume report with 440 recommendations. Largely ignored by government but the most thorough policy analysis of Indigenous-Crown relations to date.

NCTR. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, at the University of Manitoba. Permanent archive of TRC records.

OCAP. Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession. Four principles of First Nations data governance, stewarded by the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC). Asserts First Nations communities' right to control how data about them is collected, used, and shared.

Jordan's Principle. A child-first principle named for Jordan River Anderson (Norway House Cree Nation, 1999–2005). It requires that, when a First Nations child needs a government service, the government of first contact pays for it — without jurisdictional disputes between federal and provincial governments delaying care. Enforced through the CHRT case won by Cindy Blackstock.

Calls to Action. The 94 specific calls issued by the TRC in 2015 addressing child welfare, education, language and culture, health, justice, and reconciliation. Progress is tracked by the Yellowhead Institute and CBC.

Calls for Justice. The 231 specific calls issued by the National Inquiry into MMIWG in 2019.

Land and resurgence

Land back. A movement and political demand for the return of Indigenous lands to Indigenous nations. Not a metaphor — literal restoration of land, jurisdiction, and authority. See Yellowhead Institute's 2019 Land Back report.

Idle No More. Indigenous-led grassroots movement founded in November 2012 by Jessica Gordon, Sylvia McAdam, Sheelah McLean, and Nina Wilson in response to federal Bill C-45. The most significant Indigenous mass mobilization of the past two decades.

Two-Spirit / 2S. An umbrella English term, introduced at the 1990 Indigenous LGBTQ gathering in Winnipeg, used by some Indigenous people to describe gender and sexual diversity rooted in Indigenous traditions. Nation-specific terms predate and continue alongside it.

Decolonization. The undoing of colonialism. Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang argue in their 2012 essay that decolonization specifically requires the repatriation of Indigenous land — it is not a metaphor for other forms of social justice.

Resurgence. Indigenous self-determination through the renewal of Indigenous intellectual, political, ceremonial, and material traditions on their own terms — not through state recognition. Associated particularly with the work of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Glen Coulthard, and Taiaiake Alfred.