Bill C-31

• Since the mid-1800s, government policy had dictated that First Nations women automatically lost their Indian "status" if they married non-Indigenous men.
• Many First Nations members, especially women, criticized this section of the Indian Act as blatant discrimination.
• By the 1980s, criticism of this aspect of the Act was widespread throughout Canadian society.
• After a series of 1970s court challenges attacking this loss of status for First Nations women, the government consulted with First Nations leaders on how best to amend the Act.
• Parliament passed Bill C-31 in 1985. This was an amendment to the Indian Act that:
• Removed discriminatory practices
• Eliminated the links between marriage and status
• Gave individual bands greater control in determining their own membership
• Defined two new categories of Indian status
• Distinguished between band membership and Indian status
• While the government would continue to determine status, bands were given complete control over membership lists.
• Through this amendment, over 60,000 Indigenous people regained their lost status.