DCHP-2

Indian Register Indian register DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. & adj. — Law, Administration, Aboriginal

  the record kept by the federal government of the names of all status Indians.

  Type: 1. Origin — The Indian Register was created by the Canadian government in 1951 after changes to the Indian Act. It is based on records from as early as 1850 (see AANDC reference) and identifies all status or registered Indians in Canada, becoming the official record of Aboriginal people who qualify for certain rights and benefits. As Chart 1 shows, the term is most frequent in Canada; Chart 2 illustrates the terms use across all provinces (the exception of New Brunswick is an artefact of the data).
  More importantly, the list comprises those members of First Nations towards whom the government accepts a level of responsibility (see status). Inclusions and exclusions to the list are disputed (see, e.g. Bill C-31). The Indian Registrar, an employee of what is now called the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, is in charge of executing the current legislation on additions, changes and exclusions from the Indian Register.

  See also: Band List  General List  Indian pay-list  registered Indian  treaty (meaning 3)  treaty annuity  treaty list  treaty money  treaty roll  First Nation  status  treaty band  Bill C-31  

  • Note that the term, while created in 1951, first appears in 1971 in two of Canada's largest newspapers, The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.