In Canada, an Indian band (French: bande indienne ), First Nation band (French: bande de la Première Nation ) or simply band , is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the Indian Act (i.e. 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, and many have a membership below 100 people. Each First Nation is typically represented by a band council ( French : conseil de bande ) 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.
32-475: The Strathcona Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia , Canada . It was created on February 15, 2008, encompassing the northern and western portions of the former Regional District of Comox-Strathcona . The partition left the new Strathcona Regional District with 91.6 percent of the former Comox-Strathcona's land area, but only 42.1 percent of its population. Its current territory has
64-571: A chief councillor: this individual is not necessarily a hereditary chief or leader, though some are. Although the current policy of the Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) is to treat band governments as largely autonomous, under the Indian Act band council resolutions have no effect unless endorsed by the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations . In addition to
96-569: A chiefs council may include bands that belong to one or more tribal councils and also individual bands that belong to none. For instance, the St'át'timc Chiefs Council serves as a common voice for all Stʼatʼimc and formally does not acknowledge Crown sovereignty. In other provinces, where treaties already exist, a treaty group or treaty association is composed of bands already signatory to existing treaties, such as Treaty 6 and Treaty 8 . There are also organized groups of Indian descent whose Indian status
128-624: A dozen bands. CSFS was originally a part of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council but is now a separate organization. Its members include bands that are not members of CSTC. During treaty negotiations, such as those attempted by the BC provincial government in the form of the British Columbia Treaty Process , bands claims are coordinated and negotiated, if negotiated, by treaty councils. The composition of these may correspond to
160-457: A land area of 18,243.66 km (7,043.92 sq mi), it had a population density of 2.6/km (6.8/sq mi) in 2021. This article about a location on the South Coast of British Columbia , Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Regional districts of British Columbia The Canadian province of British Columbia is divided into regional districts as
192-472: A land area of 18,329.948 km (7,077.232 sq mi) and a 2016 census population of 44,671 inhabitants. There are 21 named Indian reserves within its territory, with a combined 2016 census population of 1,579 and combined land area of 16.444 km (6.345 sq mi). The District's head offices are in Campbell River, British Columbia . During a transitional period, much of its administration was carried out by
224-605: A means to better enable municipalities and rural areas to work together at a regional level. These divisions also serve as the province's census divisions . Regional districts came into being via an order of government in 1965 with the enactment of amendments to the Municipal Act . Until the creation of regional districts, the only local form of government in British Columbia were incorporated municipalities, and services in areas outside municipal boundaries had to be sought from
256-635: A politically active group with no legally recognized band government in Canada. Some of their members have federally recognized Indian tribal status (in the US) and ongoing land claims in British Columbia . In addition to tribal councils and special-purpose service organizations, bands may form larger organizations. The largest is the Assembly of First Nations , which represents the chiefs of over 600 bands throughout Canada. There are also some regional organizations. The Chief of
288-559: A regional district is under the control of the provincial government, or in the case of national parks and offshore waters, the federal government. Indian reserves located within the boundaries of regional districts are likewise excluded from their jurisdiction and infrastructure, and there are varying levels of collaboration between First Nations governments and regional district boards. Regional districts are governed by boards of directly and indirectly elected directors. Municipalities appoint directors to represent their populations (usually
320-595: Is Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami . The self-governing territory of Nunavut is inhabited primarily by Inuit. The status of the Métis remains unresolved but has been the subject of negotiations in the early 21st century, which has resulted in the Métis Nation Framework Agreement between various Métis organizations and Canada. These have been negotiated as recently as 2019, for instance, by the Métis Nation of Ontario ,
352-512: Is an exception as treaties in most of the province have not been completed. There the treaty councils have been formed in order to negotiate future treaty claims. Another emerging type of organization in British Columbia is the chiefs' council, such as the St'át'timc Chiefs Council . These councils unite bands that are not included in tribal councils with those that are in tribal councils. Bands also typically belong to one or more kinds of provincial council or similar organization. They also belong to
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#1732844065084384-612: Is not recognized by Canada. These are often the descendants of bands considered by Canada to have become extinct. Such groups have no official existence but may nonetheless have some degree of political organization. The Sinixt , who are now based mostly in Washington state as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation , but have a small group of representatives based at Vallican , BC, are an example. They are
416-719: The Chiefs of Ontario serve as the provincial-level organization; in Saskatchewan, the provincial-level grouping is the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations . From a constitutional point of view, not all indigenous people are First Nations people. In addition to Indians, the Constitution (section 35.2) recognizes two other indigenous groups: the Inuit and the Métis . The national Inuit organization
448-612: The Comox Valley Regional District , based in Courtenay, British Columbia but it is now self-administered. It is governed by a board of directors comprising representatives from each of the 5 municipalities and 4 electoral areas within its boundaries. It is anticipated that the board will expand to include representatives from some of the First Nations governments within its boundaries following treaty settlements. Most of
480-629: The Discovery Islands are within the Strathcona Regional District, while a few of the southernmost ones are in the Powell River Regional District . As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , the Strathcona Regional District had a population of 48,150 living in 21,227 of its 23,017 total private dwellings, a change of 7.8% from its 2016 population of 44,671 . With
512-656: The AFN is referred to as the National Chief . The AFN also has a Vice-Chief for each region. In British Columbia, the First Nations Summit represents 203 bands in the province that are engaged in treaty negotiations with Canada and British Columbia. An older organization, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs , represents the bands that reject the current British Columbia Treaty Process . Some bands belong to both. In Ontario,
544-571: The Inuit ( Reference Re Eskimos 1939) as well as to Métis and non-status Indians ( Daniels v. Canada 2013), but the relations of these groups with the federal government are not governed by the terms of the Indian Act . In Canada, the elected government of a First Nations band consists of a chief and councillors. Many bands, especially in British Columbia , control multiple Indian reserves , that is, multiple parcels of land. Although bands have considerable control over their reserve land, legally neither
576-426: The administrative convenience of Canada, or by consensual alliances between such groups, some pre-dating the Indian Act . The functioning of a band is controlled by the Indian Act , the legislation that defines the position of status Indians . The band government is controlled by a chief councillor and council. The number of councillors is determined by the number of band members, with a minimum of two in addition to
608-478: The band itself nor its members hold aboriginal land title . Rather, the land is held in trust for the band by the Crown . The term band is historically related to the anthropological term band society , but as a legal and administrative unit the band need not correspond to a band in this sense. Some bands draw their members from two or more ethnic groups due to the disruption of traditional ways by colonization and/or
640-474: The band. Non-status Indians , Métis , and Inuit are not part of the system of band governments and reserves. This is one of the major differences between their legal and social situation in relation to the federal government and that of First Nations governed by band councils. The courts have ruled that constitutional reference to "Indians" ( section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867 ) does apply to
672-656: The chief and council system mandated by the Indian Act , some bands have a traditional system of government that retains considerable influence. In some cases the two systems have come to an accommodation, such as the Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en . In other cases the two are in conflict. Two or more bands may unite to form a tribal council . Tribal councils have no independent status; they draw their powers entirely from their member bands. What powers are delegated to
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#1732844065084704-402: The chief councillor. The Indian Act specifies procedures for the election of the chief councillor and council. Some bands make use of a policy provision (called 'custom election', which allows them to exempt themselves from these requirements in order to follow traditional procedures for the choice of leaders. This is a matter of controversy. Proponents argue that it allows First Nations to adapt
736-418: The externally defined system to their traditions. Sometimes this means that 'hereditary' leaders become the chief councillor. Opponents argue that custom systems are frequently not traditional and that, traditional or not, they are unfair and undemocratic and have the effect of preserving the power of corrupt cliques. In many cases they exclude women and also exclude hereditary leaders. The term "Chief" refers to
768-716: The local tribal council, such as the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council vs the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Treaty Council. But in that particular case American tribal governments belong to the former tribal council but not to the treaty council. Others, such as the Maa-nulth Treaty Association or the Temexw Treaty Group , span different tribal councils and individual bands, covering more than one ethnic group. Another organization called
800-493: The mayors), while residents of unincorporated areas (which are grouped into electoral areas ) elect directors directly. The votes of directors from municipalities generally count more than the votes of directors from electoral areas, and larger municipalities have more votes than smaller ones. For example, both North Saanich and Metchosin appoint one director to the Capital Regional District board of directors, but
832-556: The newly amalgamated City of Abbotsford, bringing the regional district's role into question; similarly, the remnant of Dewdney-Alouette would be dominated by Mission. Given the rapid growth being experienced in the Fraser Valley at the time, which was expected to continue for the foreseeable future, the creation of the Fraser Valley Regional District was seen as the best option. The Comox–Strathcona Regional District
864-522: The pan-Canadian Assembly of First Nations (formerly called the Native Indian Brotherhood), chaired by a leader elected by the bands, each chief having one vote, rather than at-large by individual band members. 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; it may also deal with non-members who live on reserve or work for
896-643: The province or through improvement districts. Similar to counties in other parts of Canada, regional districts serve only to provide municipal services as the local government in areas not incorporated into a municipality , and in certain regional affairs of shared concern between residents of unincorporated areas and those in the municipalities such as a stakeholder role in regional planning . In those predominantly rural areas, regional districts provide services such as land use planning , building inspection , solid- waste management , and some responsibility for community fire protection . Most land nominally within
928-401: The tribal council and which services are provided centrally by the tribal council varies according to the wishes of the member bands. In addition to tribal councils, bands may create joint organizations for particular purposes, such as providing social services or health care. For example, in the central interior of British Columbia, Carrier Sekani Family Services provides social services for
960-502: The vote of North Saanich's director counts three times as much as the vote of Metchosin's appointee. The first regional district was established in 1965, and the then-final regional district was established in 1968. The following regional districts were dissolved in December 1995 and amalgamated largely into the newly formed Fraser Valley Regional District : The western half of Dewdney–Alouette, consisting of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows,
992-1004: Was abolished in February 2008 and replaced by two successor regional districts: Comox Valley and Strathcona . The Peace River–Liard Regional District was created October 31, 1967, when the regional district system was first being established. On October 31, 1987, it was split into the Peace River Regional District and the Fort Nelson–Liard Regional District , which since has become the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality . First Nations government (Canada) Bands can be united into larger regional groupings called tribal councils . A treaty council, or treaty association, has additional meaning and historically in most provinces represents signatory bands of treaty areas. British Columbia
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1024-670: Was incorporated into the Greater Vancouver Regional District (now Metro Vancouver ). Mission and the unincorporated areas east to the Chehalis River were incorporated into the Fraser Valley Regional District. This amalgamation took place due to the western part of Dewdney–Alouette having become essentially a suburb of Vancouver and the thought it would be better served by being within Metro Vancouver. The Central Fraser Valley RD would be nearly completely dominated by
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