A
Aboriginal rights in Canada
Definition Rights of First Nations peoples to
maintain distinct political and cultural identities
within Canadian legal and social structures
In late April, 1980, at a constitutional conference spon-
sored by the National Indian Brotherhood in Ottawa, On-
tario, the phrase “First Nations” was used in public for the
first time, setting a tone of dialogue for the discussion and
philosophical definition of rights for the native peoples of
Canada that was to continue well beyond that decade. Two
years later, the nation’s new constitution enumerated spe-
cific rights of First Nations peoples and established a re-
quirement that those peoples be consulted by the government
before any laws were passed that directly affected them as a
separate constituency.
During the 1980’s, the debate over the relationship
between the structures of governance of aboriginal
peoples and the Canadian government continued.
The term “nation” was employed during this debate,
sometimes to refer to Canada and sometimes to re-
fer to individual aboriginal tribes. The tribal mean-
ing became the more focused and relevant, when, in
December, 1980, the Declaration of the First Na-
tions was adopted at a gathering of aboriginal peo-
ples in Ottwawa. The declaration stated that the Ca-
nadian First Nations
continue to exercise the rights and fulfill the re-
sponsibilities and obligations given to us by the Cre-
ator for the land upon which we were placed....
[T]he right to govern ourselves and...toself-
determination... cannot be altered or taken away
by any other Nation.
The patriation of a new constitution of Canada in
1982 also took account of the changed atmosphere
of aboriginal politics. While many of the First Na-
tions’ desired objectives were not achieved, three
sections of the Constitution Act, 1982, did address
major First Nations issues, many of which had been
variously addressed by treaties and other agree-
ments made between 1763 and 1930. Section 25 of
the act prevented the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms from inadvertently overriding aborig-
inal and treaty rights. Section 35 recognized the par-
ticular land rights of the Indian, Inuit, and Metis
populations with regard to ownership, trapping,
hunting, and fishing, and section 37 called for a con-
stitutional conference to be held to address a range
of aboriginal issues.
The 1983 report from the Special Parliamentary
Committee on Indian Self-Government (popularly
known as the Penner Report) set the tone for formal
Canadian government dialogue in this area by its ex-
tensive use of the term “nation” to refer to a group of
people united by language, culture, and self-identifi-
cation as members of a common body politic. This
usage entailed a significant expansion of the idea of
rights from the prior concept of a historic claim to a
particular area of land and resources, transforming
it into a political platform for self-assertion and defi-
nition. This expanded concept of rights would affect
many spheres of Canadian political and cultural life
over the next two decades. The National Indian
Brotherhood changed its name to the Assembly of
First Nations in 1982 to mirror the changing politi-
cal atmosphere, becoming a body of native govern-
ment leaders rather than a gathering of regional
representatives.
Between 1983 and 1987, four First Ministers Con-
ferences were held. These constitutionally man-
dated meetings of the prime minister of Canada,
provincial premiers, and delegates from the four
major aboriginal groups and organizations marked
the first time that native peoples were actively repre-
sented in constitutional discussions affecting their
issues and status. The beginning focus of the confer-
ences was upon concerns at the federal and provin-
cial levels rooted in section 35(1) of the Constitution
Act, 1982, which recognized and affirmed existing
treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples.
The 1983 conference failed to win recognition of
the concept of inherent aboriginal rights by all prov-
inces and indeed was marked by a lack of agreement