| A | B |
|---|
| Affirm | To validate and express commitment to something |
| Collective Identity | The shared identity of a group of people, especially because of a common language and culture |
| Collective rights | Rights and guaranteed to specific groups in Canadian society for historical and constitutional reasons. These groups are: First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples; and Francophones and Anglophones |
| First Nations | The umbrella name for the diverse Aboriginal peoples who have collective rights that are recognized and protected in Canada’s constitution. The constitution refers to First Nations as “Indians”, in keeping with the name used at the time of negotiating Treaties |
| "Indian" | Europeans used the word “Indian” to describe the First Nations of North America, although these peoples were diverse and had many names for themselves. Many First Nations prefer not to use the word Indian to describe themselves |
| Annuity | an annual payment. Under the numbered Treaties, annuities are mostly symbolic today. Example: the members of Treaty 8 each receive $5.00/ year (just like McNab) |
| Autonomy | authority to make decisions |
| Entrench | fixing firmly within |
| Indian Act | federal legislation related to the rights of First Nations peoples (“status Indians”), first passed in 1976 and amended several times. |
| Inherent Rights | rights with origins in fundamental justice. |
| Publicly funded | paid for by taxes and provided by government |
| Reserve | land for the exclusive use of First Nations |
| Sovereignty | independence as a people, with a right to self-government |
| assimilate | become part of a different cultural group |
| ethnocentrism | the belief that one's culture is superior to all other cultures |
| Official languages minority | a group that speaks one of Canada's official languages and does not make up the majority population of a province or territory |
| Anglophone | a person whose first language is English |
| Francophone | a person whose first language is French |
| official language community | one of the groups in Canadian society whose members speak an official language. |
