Editing First Nations in Canada (section)

==Terminology==
{{See also|Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982}}
Collectively, First Nations (Indians),<ref name="one"/> Inuit,<ref name="ICCcharter">{{cite web |title=ICC Charter |work=ICC International |date=3 January 2019 |publisher=Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada |url=https://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/icc-international/icc-charter/ |access-date=December 21, 2019}}</ref> and Métis<ref>{{cite web |title=Métis Nation Citizenship |url=https://www.metisnation.ca/index.php/who-are-the-metis/citizenship |website=MétisNation.ca |access-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221190348/https://www.metisnation.ca/index.php/who-are-the-metis/citizenship |url-status=dead }}</ref> peoples constitute [[Indigenous peoples in Canada]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]], or "[[first peoples]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=First Peoples |website=The Canadian Atlas Online |url=http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/themes.aspx?id=first&lang=En |publisher=[[Canadian Geographic]] |access-date=October 9, 2009 |archive-date=October 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008025709/http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/themes.aspx?id=first&lang=En |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''First Nation'' as a term became officially used by the government beginning in 1980s to replace the term ''Indian band'' in referring to groups of Indians with common government and language.<ref name="Institute2014">{{cite book|last=Longboat|first=Dianne|editor=Jean Barman, Yvonne Héubert & Don McCaskill|title=Indian Education in Canada, Volume 2: The Challenge|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdqJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|year=1987|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-4524-3|pages=41, Note 2|chapter=First Nation Control of Education: The Path to our Survival as Nations}}</ref><ref name="gibson5">{{cite book|last=Gibson|first=Gordon|title=A New Look at Canadian Indian Policy: Respect the Collective, Promote the Individual|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWkWXRcqCM4C&pg=PA21|year=2009|publisher=The Fraser Institute|isbn=978-0-88975-243-6|pages=21–22}}</ref> The First Nations people had begun to identify by this term during 1970s activism, in order to avoid using the word ''Indian'', which some considered offensive.<ref name="Terminology Guide">{{cite web |title=Terminology Guide: Research on Aboriginal Heritage |publisher=Library and Archives Canada |page=11 |date=2015 |url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/Documents/Terminology%20Guide%20%20Aboriginal%20Heritage.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Terminology |website=IndigenousFoundations.Arts.UBC.ca |url=https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/terminology/ |access-date=2019-12-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Sheila M. |title=Words First: An Evolving Terminology Relating to Aboriginal Peoples in Canada |website=TERMIUM Plus |publisher=[[Public Works and Government Services Canada]] |date=2015-10-15|url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/favart/index-eng.html?lang=eng&lettr=indx_autr8O0AtFJSwmcY&page=96ZhAVsLVncU.html}}</ref> No legal definition of the term exists.<ref name="Terminology Guide"/>

Some Indigenous peoples in Canada have also adopted the term ''First Nation'' to replace the word ''band'' in the formal name of their community.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014642 |title=Terminology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813194248/http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014642 |archive-date=August 13, 2012 |publisher=Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development Canada |access-date=April 12, 2012}}</ref> A band is a "body of Indians (a) for whose use and benefit in common lands ... have been set apart, (b) ... moneys are held ... or (c) declared ... to be a band for the purposes of", according to the ''[[Indian Act]]'' by the [[Canadian Crown]].<ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title=Indian Act|abbr=R.S.C.|year=1985|chapter=I-5|section=2|subsection=1|link=https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-5/page-1.html}}</ref>

The term ''Indian'' is a misnomer, given to Indigenous peoples of North America by European explorers who erroneously thought they had landed in the [[East Indies]]. The use of the term [[Native Americans in the United States|''Native Americans'']], which the government and others have adopted in the United States, is not common in Canada. It refers more specifically to the Indigenous peoples residing within the boundaries of the US.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hill |first=Liz |url=http://www.americanindian.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=shop&second=books&third=DoAllIndiansLiveInTipis |title=National Museum of the American Indian |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |year=2007 |access-date=October 9, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703022007/http://americanindian.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=shop&second=books&third=DoAllIndiansLiveInTipis |archive-date=July 3, 2009}}</ref> The parallel term ''Native Canadian'' is not commonly used, but ''Native'' (in English) and {{lang|fr|Autochtone}} (in [[Canadian French]]; from the Greek {{lang|grc-Latn|auto}}, own, and {{lang|grc-Latn|chthon}}, land) are. Under the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]],<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Royal Proclamation of 1763 |wslink=Royal Proclamation of 1763}}</ref> also known as the "Indian ''[[Magna Carta]],''"<ref>{{cite web|last=Wilson|first=W.R.|url=http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/pp/ppa.html|title=The Royal Proclamation of 1763|year=2004|access-date=October 9, 2009}}</ref> [[the Crown]] referred to [[Indigenous peoples]] in [[British North America|British territory]] as tribes or nations. The term ''First Nations'' is capitalized. Bands and [[nation]]s may have slightly different meanings.

Within Canada, the term ''First Nations'' has come into general use for Indigenous peoples other than [[Inuit]] and [[Métis]]. Outside Canada, the term can refer to [[Indigenous Australians]], [[Tribe (Native American)|U.S. tribes]] within the [[Pacific Northwest]], as well as supporters of the [[Cascadia (independence movement)|Cascadian independence movement]]. The singular, commonly used on culturally politicized [[Indian reserve|reserves]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}, is the term ''First Nations person'' {{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} (when gender-specific, ''First Nations man'' or ''First Nations woman''). Since the late 20th century, members of various nations more frequently identify by their [[Indian tribe|tribal]] or [[Nationality|national]] identity only, e.g., "I'm [[Haida people|Haida]]", or "We're [[Kwantlen First Nation|Kwantlens]]", in recognition of the distinct First Nations.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mandel|first=Michael|title=The Charter of Rights & the Legalization of Politics in Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0x-FQgAACAAJ&pg=PA354|year=1994|publisher=Thompson Educational|isbn=978-1-55077-050-6|pages=354–356}}</ref>