“See for themselves to the administration of their own affairs”
Until the early nineteenth century, the British mainly sought the military support of First Nations. After the war of 1812, they gradually engaged in another policy, that of “civilization”: from the 1830’s onwards, this program lead to several laws controlling Aboriginal life and aiming at their better integration into the white society. Traditional political structures were quickly affected by this change. In 1869, the Canadian Parliament adopted measures to abolish the traditional system of chiefs and replace them with elected band councils, but it was not until the late 1890s that Ottawa managed to impose them in the province of Quebec. This system still exists today, the powers of band councils having however been extended after 1951, with the adoption of a new Indian Act. The purpose of this article is to study the implementation and operation of band councils examining a particular example, the case of Pointe-Bleue’s Innu reserve (Mashteuiatsh).