The *really* inconvenient "Indians"

A case study of Identity and Confederation

Image: Newfoundland and Labrador Indigenous Tourism Association

There’s a Newfoundland law that might still be in force. It dates from before 1916 and makes it illegal for anyone to take an Inuit or Innu person from Labrador to display in an exhibit without the prior approval of Cabinet.

Across North America and in Europe in the 1800s, traveling shows displayed people from the around the world who were considered exotic or different from the locals. They were especially popular in Germany well into the 1920s and in both Canada and the United States, spectacles and circuses like Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show made millions annually.

There doesn’t seem to be any comparable Canadian law. That would make sense. Under the Indian Act, registered “Indians” weren’t citizens. They were wards of the Canadian government and there’d be no way to get to them unless it was with the permission of the federal government. Registered “Indians” couldn’t vote, had to live on a reservation, couldn’t own the land on which their house is located (and still cannot), nor could they exercise any other rights Canadian citizens took for granted at the time and take for granted today. This is something we’ll come back to a bit further on.