Who are you calling Indian? – Macleans

Who are you calling Indian?
The number of those with ancestry but no ‘status’ is growing fast

JOHN GEDDES | June 25, 2008 |

Who is a real Indian? It’s a wince-inducing question. For starters, there’s that word — Indian. Replacing it with Aboriginal or First Nations person, though, is hard if the question is asked in the context of Canadian law, since the reply comes down to how the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs interprets the Indian Act provisions on who qualifies as a registered Indian. Beyond the problematic proper noun, there’s something deeply troubling about the notion that such a question should be posed at all. Does anyone really have any right to define anybody else’s racial identity? Is anybody qualified to offer even a tentative reply?

http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20080625_12461_12461