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Pass system (Canadian history)

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The pass system was a system of internal passports for Indigenous Canadians between 1885 and 1941. It was administered by the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), beginning after the 1885 North-West Rebellion as part of a broader effort to confine indigenous people to Indian reserves, then newly formed through the Numbered Treaties.[1][2]: 162–5  The system, initially intended as a temporary measure to quell disorder in the prairie provinces, eventually became a permanent feature of federal Indian affairs policy.[3][4]

Parliament never sanctioned the pass system; it was an administrative policy of the Department of Indian Affairs.[5] The system remained in place until 1941; its purpose was to limit the freedom of movement of indigenous populations.[5] Federal officials asserted that "Indians had to be kept separate from the rest of society for their own good, as contact tended to be injurious to them".[5] The pass system was mainly implemented in Alberta and other regions in the western prairies, in Treaty 4, Treaty 6, and Treaty 7 areas.[Notes 1] The federal government formally terminated the system in 1941.[6][7]

The pass system was administered by the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA); its authority to do so derived from a provision of the Indian Act which granted local Indian agents the powers of a justice of the peace. Under the broad powers granted to them to administer the reserves, the agents were responsible for the enforcement of the pass system; this was often done somewhat arbitrarily. Under the pretext of broadly-defined vagrancy and loitering offences, North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) officers were authorized to detain Indigenous people who were off reserve without appropriate documentation.[8]: 30  Detainees would typically be returned to their reserves; punishment for leaving the reserve without a pass could include imprisonment.

The 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigation described the policies of the pass system, the Indian reserve system, the Indian residential school system as "aggressive assimilation".[9]: 133 

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ISE_IndianPolicy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Carter, Sarah (1990). Lost Harvests. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773557444. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  3. ^ Barron, F. Laurie (1988). "The Indian Pass System in the Canadian West, 1882-1935" (PDF). Prairie Forum. 13 (1): 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  4. ^ Cram, Stephanie (February 19, 2016). "Dark history of Canada's First Nations pass system uncovered in documentary". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Carter, Sarah (1999). Aboriginal People and Colonizers of Western Canada to 1900. University of Toronto Press. p. 195. ISBN 0802079954.
  6. ^ Smith, Johanna (April 9, 2016). "Documentary chases fragile trail of pass system that once controlled movement of First Nations". The Star. Ottawa, Ontario. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference thestar_Smith_20160410 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Barron, F. Laurie (1984). "A Summary of Federal Indian Policy in the Canadian West, 1867–1984" (PDF). Native Studies Review. 1 (1): 28–39. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference TRC_2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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