Constitution Act 1982
Topic: Settler Colonialism: Native Peoples of America and Australia · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Displacing Indigenous Peoples"
Meaning
The Constitution Act of 1982 was a Canadian law that accepted the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of native peoples. Aboriginal rights are rights that natives hold because they were the first people on the land. Treaty rights are rights promised in agreements signed with the government. The Act was won through organised native protest and marked Canada's constitutional way of setting right past wrongs.
Example
In 1969 the Canadian government announced that it would not recognise aboriginal rights. Native groups answered with organised demonstrations and debates. In 1982 the new Constitution Act accepted the very rights the government had earlier denied.
Don't confuse with
- Indian Reorganisation Act (1934): this was a US law, not a Canadian one. It gave natives on reservations the right to buy land and take loans.
Related concepts
- Indian Reorganisation Act
- Great Australian Silence
- Multiculturalism in Australia
- Mabo case
- Stolen Generations
- National Sorry Day