Abstract

This thesis examines colonial relations in Canada by investigating the imposition of Indian Act band government in western Canada with specific reference to Kainai (Blood) systems of leadership and authority in the late 19 ^th and early 20^th centuries. The research for this thesis is comprised of archival research that investigates the development and implementation of the band government provisions under the Indian Act and a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with elders and other authorities from the Kainai (Blood) and Piikani (Peigan) First Nations regarding systems of leadership and authority, decision-making, and the operation of band councils. The Indian Act system of band council government, which remains an important but little studied aspect of Canadian Indian policy, was designed to displace traditional forms of Aboriginal leadership with an elected Chief and council and implicitly sought to undermine Aboriginal political systems, circumscribe Aboriginal autonomy, and subject Aboriginal peoples to an increasingly oppressive administrative control. As such, band government can be situated as a part of a colonial enterprise that sought to recreate the lives and circumstances of Aboriginal peoples. The theoretical perspective for this thesis is derived from the anthropology of colonialism which maintains that past colonial practices have continuing social and political consequences and focuses attention on the cultural dimensions of the colonial encounter. In this regard, Indian Act band government, reflecting the enduring projects of governance of protection, civilization, and assimilation, can be understood as a colonial institution that strove to restructure political relations within Aboriginal communities and place Aboriginal peoples more firmly under the regulatory authority of Canadian state agencies. Nevertheless, Indian Act band government remained, at least partially, an Aboriginal institution as well. Aboriginal peoples participated in band council elections. Chiefs and Band Councillors brought their own conceptions and expectations about leadership and authority to these positions and often worked to improve conditions on the reserve, advance grievances, and challenge Indian Affairs policy. It is asserted that band government, as a contested institution, became a site of struggle that both Indian Affairs officials and Aboriginal leaders attempted to invest with their own conceptions regarding the proper exercise of political authority in First Nations communities. With respect to the Kainai during the early reserve era, although informal elections that conformed to the terms of the Indian Act were held to replace Chiefs that had died, it would appear that traditional means of selecting leaders were still important within the community. After the turn of the 19 ^th century, Indian Affairs officials exhibited a greater willingness to influence the selection of Chiefs and often allowed vacancies to stand in abeyance if they disapproved of the candidates. During this period, the Kainai Chiefs became embroiled in a series of political confrontations that essentially represented efforts to resist the regulatory intrusions of the Indian Affairs administration and exert a measure of political autonomy. Kainai leaders used their positions as elected Chiefs to confront and challenge Indian Affairs regarding the disposition of lands and resources on the Blood reserve and more broadly to engage department officials in a debate over the nature of leadership and political authority on the Blood reserve.