Differences and similarities between First Nations and Inuit of Canada.

A few weeks ago, I was asked about the differences and similarities between First Nations and Inuit of Canada.

Faced with a daunting list of seemingly unrelated similarities and differences between First Nations and Inuit people, one may feel confused about them.

So, I propose to look at some of the main differences while exposing some of their similarities.



In my mind, the challenge resides in making this clear for my readers. It has to be integrated into a meaningful discourse derived both from observation but more particularly, from published knowledge. Wikipedia is excellent for reading on this subject.

To my way of thinking, the best way to observe these similarities and differences is through rituals and ceremonies meant to bring clarity. Many speak with great clarity about that.

The obvious differences

The obvious differences include the fact that there are no road to get out of most of the Inuit communities except by plane, skidoo or VTT; there are few shelters for battered women and their children; and so far, there is no resident family court judge in any of the communities; the other difference is that Inuit are not on reserves, they are on their land.

The word “indigenous'' is the umbrella under which both First Nations and Inuit qualify.
Besides other ethnic descriptors, Indigenous peoples are most often divided into legal categories based on their relationship with the Crown (state).

The Indian Act

In Canada, First Nations are subject to the Indian Act. Their members are Status Indians or First Nations. Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in the country, the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation had 22,294 members in September 2005, but many have a membership below 100 persons.

Each First Nation is typically represented by a band council chaired by an elected chief, and sometimes also a hereditary chief. As of 2013, there were 614 bands in Canada.

Membership in a band is controlled in one of two ways: for most bands, membership is obtained by becoming listed on the Indian Register maintained by the government. As of 2013, there were 253 First Nations which had their own membership criteria, so that not all Status Indians are members of a band.

Bands can be united into larger regional groupings called tribal councils. Another emerging type of organization in British Columbia is chiefs' councils, such as the St'at'imc Chiefs Council, which unites bands not included in tribal councils with those in tribal councils. Bands also typically belong to one or more kinds of the provincial council or similar organization. The pan-Canadian Assembly of First Nations, formerly called the Native Indian Brotherhood, is chaired by a leader elected by each band having one vote.

Bands are, to an extent, the governing body for their Indian reserves. Many First Nations also have large off-reserve populations whom the band government also represents, and may also deal with non-members who live on a reserve or work for the band.

Differences between their legal and social situation

Non-Status Indians, Métis, and Inuit people are not part of the system of band governments and reserves, and this is one of the major differences between their legal and social situation and those governed by band councils.

However, the courts have ruled that constitutional reference to "Indians" (section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867) applies to the Inuit (Re Eskimos 1939) as well as Métis and Non-Status Indians (Daniels v. Canada 2013), but their relations with the federal government are not governed by the terms of the Indian Act.

The first difference is political

Section 91 (clause 24) of the Constitution Act, 1867 gives the federal government the sole responsibility for "Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians". The government inherited treaty obligations from the British colonial authorities in Eastern Canada and signed treaties itself with First Nations in Western Canada (the Numbered Treaties).

The Indian Act of 1876

It also passed the Indian Act in 1876 which governed its interactions with all treaty and non-treaty peoples.

Members of First Nations bands that are subject to the Indian Act with the Crown are compiled on a list called the Indian Register, and such people are called Status Indians.

Many non-treaty First Nations and all Inuit and Métis peoples are not subject to the Indian Act.
The second difference is geographic

First Nations, most of their population live in British Columbia in the West and Ontario in the East. There are hundreds of First Nations bands who live all across Canada.

First Nations peoples settled and established trade routes across what is now Canada by 500 BCE–1,000 CE. Communities developed each with its own culture, customs, and character.

If we are to list First Nations by geography, and not forgetting that people are nowadays very mobile:
In the northwest were the Athapaskan, Slavey, Dogrib, Tutchone, and Tlingit.

Along the Pacific coast were the Tsimshian, Haïda, Salish, Kwakiutl, Heilsuk, Nootka, Nisga’a, Senakw, and Gitxsan.

In the plains were the Blackfoot, Káínawa, Sarcee, and Peigan.

In the northern woodlands were the Cree and Chipewyan.

Around the Great Lakes were the Anishinaabe, Algonquin, Iroquois, and Huron.

Along the Atlantic coast were the Beothuk, Maliseet, Innu, Abenaki, and Mi’kmaq.

Many Aboriginal civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks that included permanent urban settlements or cities, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture and complex societal hierarchies. These cultures evolved and changed by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries). (Wikipedia)

Whereas bands are governed by head chiefs, the Inuit are led by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the National Voice of Canada’s 60, 000 Inuit who live in 53 communities across Canada. This voice is a regional government composed of several members on a board.

Our first people

First Nations comprise 62% of all Indigenous Canadians whereas only 5% of all Aboriginal Canadians are Inuit.

First Nations are the first people who lived in North America from Atlantic to Pacific below the Arctic.

Three-quarters of the Inuit in Canada live in 53 communities across the northern region of Canada. They claim that the Inuit arrived some 4,000 years ago on the North American continent. They came much later than other indigenous peoples.

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous people of Canada, who mainly live in the northern part of the country, including Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut; some of them live in the Northwest Territories and Yukon. Alaska (US) and Greenland are also home to the Inuit outside of Canada. They all speak Eskimo languages. The Arctic is their home for most of them and the coastal edges of Canada and on islands of Canada’s far North.

Governance

In terms of political development, self-government in Nunavik has been Quebec’s other “quiet revolution,” unfolding slowly but steadily since the signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Land Claims Agreement in 1975.

Under the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement (JBNQA) – the Kativik Regional Government (KRG), which has limited municipal government powers, the Kativik School Board (KSB), and Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services (NRBHSS) were created into a new Nunavik regional government structure.

Today Inuit continue to maintain their unique culture within their distinct homeland. Despite modern influences and conveniences, Inuit have retained their language (Inuktitut), their core knowledge and beliefs.

The family is the foundation of Inuit culture and the family is surrounded by a larger social network that includes the rest of the community, even the region. Inuit families are large and interconnected as intricate bonds are formed through childbirth, marriage, and adoption.

Since the 1970s and early 1980s, satellite television and radio signals have brought world events and popular programming into Inuit homes. DVDs, video games, and Internet access are also widely available.

Despite all of the modern amenities, however, thousands of years of tradition still shape the nature of the communities. Hunting is still one of the most important aspects of Inuit culture and lifestyle. Despite the availability of store-bought food, Inuit continue to rely on country food as a source of nutrition and clothing.

Inuit cherish their youth, elders and the generation between them. Elders are given the utmost respect in any community because of their knowledge and wisdom, which they, in turn, teach to younger generations.

Their continuous contribution has kept the Inuit tradition alive. Many families leave permanent communities during the spring and summer to set up camps. This is an important part of the Inuit tradition. Far from modern distractions, the young are immersed in their language, developing their skill and helping to ensure the long-term survival of the culture.

Petition to empower the mothers and to reduce placements of the children

Like all that matters, we have to make the connections with what we can all do to help. The petition which I carry is to be given to PM Justin Trudeau in the hopes of restoring dignity but also their rights to stable families and harmonious communities. Policies and practices that reflect longstanding and deeply embedded mother-blaming culture and father invisibility ideologies which shape child protection systems must be updated by considering the Inuit way of raising children.