Introduction
The White Paper of 1969 was a proposed policy direction presented by the government of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and then Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien. The White Paper proposed abolishing the Indian Act and ending the special legal relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Canada. The White Paper was met with forceful opposition from Indigenous and First Nations Leaders across Canada, sparking a new era of Indigenous political organizing.
“In spite of all government attempts to convince Indians to accept the white paper, their efforts will fail, because Indians understand that the path outlined by the Department of Indian Affairs through its mouthpiece, the Honourable Mr. Chrétien, leads directly to cultural genocide. We will not walk this path.“
-Harold Cardinal, The Unjust Society
Events Leading to the White Paper of 1969
Indigenous Peoples in Canada have faced the destruction of cultures, kinship circles, languages, and diminishing quality of life and health due to pervasive and discriminatory colonial policies and actions since contact. In the 1960s, amid a time of great political organization and protest – such as the civil rights movement in the United States – the poor treatment of First Nations in Canada became acute. The federal government could no longer deny Indigenous Peoples in Canada were facing serious socioeconomic disadvantages, which included widespread poverty, low educational attainment, high infant mortality rates, and lower life expectancy than the non-Indigenous population.
In an attempt to respond to growing pressure, in 1963 the federal government commissioned what became known as The Hawthorn Report – a study of the social conditions of Indigenous Peoples across Canada – which concluded First Nations and Indigenous Peoples were Canada’s most disadvantaged and marginalized population: “citizens minus.” The report noted the impact of the Indian Residential School system and other discriminatory government practices, ultimately recommending the end of forced assimilation programs and the creation of opportunities and provision of resources for Indigenous peoples to fully participate in modern society, whether on-reserve or elsewhere.
In response, the Trudeau government began a series of consultations with First Nations and Indigenous Leaders. Within these discussions, Leaders expressed concerns that Treaty rights and special provisions within the Indian Act had never been sufficiently realized or delivered, combined with the lack of restitution of historical grievances, such as outstanding land claims. Leaders further pressed the lack of consultation with First Nations entities, Leaders, and citizens, as well as the general neglect of Indigenous Peoples within Canadian policy making. A desire for self-determination, and access to adequate education and healthcare, were noted as pressing issues.
Responding to the findings of the Hawthorn Report and discussions with First Nations and Indigenous Leaders, Ottawa produced their policy paper – Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy – which became known as the infamous White Paper of 1969.
A Vision of a “Just Society” – The White Paper of 1969
The White Paper proposed to address Indigenous issues definitively. Current policies and programs relating to First Nations in Canada were noted as discriminatory and exclusionary – by dismantling the Indian Act, the Department of Indian Affairs, and eliminating “Indian” as a distinct legal status – the policy paper suggested such actions would make First Nations “equal” to all other Canadians. In keeping with Trudeau’s vision of a “just society,” the government proposed to effectively repeal all legislation that created the “special treatment” of First Nations and Indigenous Peoples.
“The policies proposed recognize the simple reality that the separate legal status of Indians and the policies which have flowed from it have kept the Indian people apart from and behind other Canadians. The Indian people have not been full citizens of the communities and provinces in which they live and have not enjoyed the equality and benefits that such participation offers.”
-The White Paper, 1969
The White Paper proposed the following actions:
- Eliminate “Indian” as a legal status.
- Dissolve the Department of Indian Affairs within five years.
- Abolish the Indian Act.
- Convert reserve lands to private property.
- Transfer responsibility of “Indian services” from the federal government to the provincial governments.
- Funding for economic development.
- Appoint a commissioner to address outstanding land claims.
- Gradually terminate all existing treaties.
Indigenous Responses
Backlash to the 1969 White Paper was immediate. Significant outcry and opposition emerged from major representative organizations, such as the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations). Harold Cardinal, a Cree leader from the Indian Association of Alberta, published Citizens Plus, which became known as the Red Paper, which asserted a strong defence of Treaty rights and Indigenous rights to lands, public services, and self-determination. Cardinal would later publish The Unjust Society, referencing the White Paper as “no better than cultural genocide” and a “thinly disguised programme of extermination through assimilation.”
In Manitoba, the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood (now Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs) published Wahbung: Our Tomorrows. ‘Wahbanung’ is the root word of ‘Wahbung’. The meaning of Wahbanung is “the east, where the sun rises.” In Anishinaabemowin, it refers to ‘going back to the beginning’. Wahbung: Our Tomorrows asserted a fundamental position on the self-determination for the First Nations of Manitoba and outlined an agenda of action that included First Nations’ inherent right to design and have full authority over their health, education, and child and family services systems, informed by First Nations worldviews, laws, and approaches.
Fundamentally, representative Indigenous organizations and First Nations leaders viewed the federal White Paper of 1969 as an abrogation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous organizations and Leaders adamantly opposed any eradication of the “special relationship” between First Nations and the federal government – viewing doing so as a means for Canada to renege on its promises and responsibilities to First Nations enshrined in the Treaties. Indigenous leaders demanded the direction shift towards self-determination and self-reliance – but with an ongoing Nation-to-Nation relationship with the federal government.
“Canada will not long maintain a position of respect in the councils of the world so long as her first citizens live in degradation and despair.
-Wahbung: Our Tomorrows, 1971
She will not long maintain a position of respect so long as she attempts to force changes upon her first citizens irrelevant to the situations in which they find ourselves.
We are prepared to work with the government of Canada, the government that represents the people of Canada. But we are no longer prepared to be manipulated by it, however enlightened and well intentioned that manipulation might be.”
The Legacy of The White Paper of 1969
The Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy, 1969 was withdrawn in 1970. Indigenous activists and their allies continued to press Canada and its representatives for greater recognition of Indigenous rights and the government’s responsibilities to First Nations. The aftermath and subsequent political organizing and activism became known as the “Red Power” movement in Canada. Major milestones include the 1973 Calder v. British Columbia Supreme Court of Canada decision, which agreed that Aboriginal title to land existed before European colonization of North America, and section 35 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, enshrined in 1982, which recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and Treaty rights within Canada. Later, the spirit of the Red Power movement could be seen when Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper refused, on eight separate occasions, to consent to the Meech Lake Accord, a constitutional amendment package negotiated without the input of First Nations across Canada.
Opposition to the White Paper of 1969 became a catalyst for the resurgence of Indigenous activism and a cause to reaffirm First Nations’ heritage, cultures, traditions, identities, and inherent rights. The spirit and legacies of this opposition continue to be felt today as successive regional and national Indigenous organizations press Canada to advance self-governance, self-determination in health and education, and reconciliation.