Nationalization of the native voice : The White Paper of 1969 and the growth of the modern native movement ...

• Main Author: Van Dalfsen, Kathleen A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The University of British Columbia 2014
• Subjects: First Nations
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0076020; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0076020

In June of 1969 the White Paper on Indian Policy was presented to the House of Commons. With this White Paper, the Government of Canada hoped to solve the ‘Indian problem’ which had become noticeable and problematic in the decades following World War Two. In seeking the equality required of a ‘just society’ the White Paper promised to give First Nations equality by removing all unique designations of native rights from legislation. In essence, it was a new version of the same type of assimilationist policy that had existed since the early nineteenth century. Under the circumstances of the late 1960s, however, such a proposal met great opposition. Native peoples who had gained confidence and who were supported by newly established precedents from this important decade rejected the White Paper in a feat of native nationalization and unity that had never before existed and which signified a new departure in the native-government relationship. ...