"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.

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."

Get the Story:
Brent Wesley: An Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act (The Wawatay News 6/24)