INDIAN ACT (1884). An Act further to amend The Indian Act, 1880. Together with: INDIAN ADVANCEMENT ACT (1884). An Act for conferring certain privileges on the more advanced Bands of the Indians of Canada, with the view of training them for the exercise of municipal powers.

FIRST NATIONS. POTLATCH OUTLAWED. Canada. Parliament.

Published by Ottawa: Brown Chamberlin, 1884

About this Item

Octavo (9 inches). 47 Victoria, Chapters 27 and 28 (Statutes of Canada). General title leaf with Royal coat of arms; caption title, pages 107-121, with an index for both Acts affixed to the recto of the first text leaf. Neatly extracted from a bound volume and expertly mended. Small repair to corner of general title leaf. The Indian Act, 1884 was a significant departure from traditional Native policy, and constituted a direct attack on Native culture. The Act prohibited the celebration of the west coast Native festival known as the Potlatch and the Native dance known as the Tamanawas, and anyone involved directly or indirectly with Potlatches or dances could face jail terms of between two and six months. The Potlatch was a complex ceremony practiced by west coast tribes in British Columbia that involved the gifting, feasting, and dancing as part of larger celebrations for important social and political events. The Tamanawas dances were equally complicated ceremonies involving supernatural elements and initiation rituals. Christian missionaries saw the sharing of wealth and food at Potlatches as excessive and wasteful and considered the Tamanawas dances to be symbolic of Native savagery and primitiveness, and together were viewed as obstructions to Native assimilation. During a period of intense official enforcement of the laws, a six-day Potlatch in 1921 in celebration of a wedding at Alert Bay, B.C. was raided by Indian Agents and 50 people were arrested. Hundreds of Potlatch items were confiscated (including valuable masks, costumes, and coppers) and 22 people were incarcerated for two months. The laws proved devastating to Native culture: they lost many important religious and historical artifacts and were prevented from passing down their cultural practices, traditions, and oral history. Restrictions on the Potlatch and Tamanawas dances continued for more than 65 years until they were repealed by the Indian Act, 1951. The Indian Advancement Act, 1884 conferred certain privileges for Indian Bands thought to be more advanced in their assimilation into white Euro-Canadian society, with the view of training them for municipal affairs. It gave Band Councils the power to levy taxes and extend their influence over policing and public health matters, but most bands refused to adopt the provisions. In the end, rather than educating and empowering Natives in self-government matters, the Act greatly enlarged the powers of the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs to direct all aspects of elections, and to summons, participate in, and adjourn Band Council meetings.

Seller Inventory # 074

Bibliographic Details

• Title: INDIAN ACT (1884). An Act further to amend The Indian Act, 1880. Together with: INDIAN ADVANCEMENT ACT (1884). An Act for conferring certain privileges on the more advanced Bands of the Indians of Canada, with the view of training them for the exercise of municipal powers.
• Publisher: Ottawa: Brown Chamberlin
• Publication Date: 1884
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • CANADA First Nations