| A | B |
|---|
| constitution | a special set of laws that establish a framework of governance |
| affirm | To validate and express commitment to something |
| collective identity | The shared identity of a group of people, especially b/c of a common language and culture |
| collective rights | Rights guaranteed to specific groups in Cdn. society for historical and constitutional reasons. |
| First Nations | The umbrella name for the diverse Aboriginal peoples that are recognized and protected in Canada’s constitution. This is the largest Aboriginal group in Canada |
| Indian | Europeans used this term to describe the First Nations of North America, although these peoples were diverse and had names for themselves. |
| sovereignty | Independence as a people with a right to self-government |
| annuity | An annual payment under the Numbered Treaties, they are mostly symbolic today |
| reserves | Land for the exclusive use of First Nations |
| entrench | Fixing firmly within |
| patriate | To bring to a country something that belongs to the country |
| assimilate | Become part of a different cultural group |
| ethnocentrism | The belief that one’s culture is superior to all other cultures |
| Indian Act | Federal legislation related to the rights and status of First Nations peoples (“status Indians”), first passed in 1876 and amended several times. Also know as Bill C-31 |
| Bill C-31 | Also known as the Indian Act |
| Aboriginal | Includes First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples |
| treaties | Constitutionally recognized agreements between the Crown and Aboriginal peoples of Canada |
| Donald Marshall Jr. | Used a treaty from 1760 to challenge his rights to fish eel out of season and won |
| Nisga'a | Signed an agreement with the government of British Columbia in 2000 to establish the rights to more than 1900 square kilometres in B.C. and to govern themselves. |
| 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 of Canada as their first language |
| Canada's official languages | French and English |
| official language minority | a group that speaks one of Canada's official languages and that does not make up the majority population of a province or territory |
| official bilingualism | Canadian citizens have the right to conduct their affairs with the federal government in either official language |
| Manitoba School Act | abolished public funding for Catholic schools and made Manitoba an officially English-only province |
| Bill 101 | a controversial Quebec law that set down rules for protecting and promoting the use of the French language in Quebec |
| Metis | Canadians of European (French) and native decent |
| scrip | in Metis history, a document that could be exchanged for land and that was offered to the Metis at the time of the Numbered Treaties |
| Louis Riel | led the Northwest Resistance, which ended in military conflict between the Metis and Canada's government in 1885 |
| autonomy | authority to make decisions |
| Pierre Elliot Trudeau | Canada's PM when the Constitution of 1982 was signed |
| Constitution Act of 1982 | Consisted of the BNA. an amending formula and the Charter |
| amend | to change or alter |
| individual rights | the first half of the Charter sets out rights and freedoms that are necessary in a free and democratic society |
