Residency Snapshot: The 1969 White Paper

In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Minister of Indian Affairs Jean Cretien hoped to replace Canada’s Indian Act by putting forward a document known as the White Paper.
 
The intent of the White Paper was to turn First Nations people into Canadian Citizens by eliminating Status Indians, and by simultaneously turning all reserve lands into private lands for open sale.
 
This plan for was seen as a way to extinguish First Nations.
  
The White Paper also created fear among the Iroquois that Canada would no longer recognize Indians if they did not speak their language, dress in their own traditional clothing and had less than 50% blood quantum.
 
The White Paper was just one of many modern signs that warned First Nations to defend their rights, speak their languages and encourage their people to marry other First Nations - as well as to determine who can live on their territories.

There is no doubt that the White Paper was a major contributor to the movement to create laws in Kahnawà:ke that better reflect our philosophies.