A group of women who are officially 'Status Indians' are fighting for their right to live in and participate in the life of the Cold Lake Indian reserve in Alberta, including the right to vote for new Chief and council. The women are officially excluded because they married non-aboriginal men, reports The Winnipeg Free Press.
Until 1985, if an aboriginal woman married a non-native man, she lost her status as an Indian and all the rights that went with it. A man who married a non-native woman kept his status. That year the federal government amended the Indian Act with Bill C-31 to fix the inequity. But the law hasn't helped Agnes Gendron, Nancy Scanie, Lillian Shirt or thousands of other aboriginal women across Canada who still are known as "C-31s." They and their children have been kicked off reserves and cannot get access to schools, medical or other services available to those living on reserve. And they can't vote out those who don't recognize them.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but given that the same rule does not apply to aboriginal men who married non-aboriginal women, this seems a straightforward case of blatant sexism. Despite repeated protests, the reserve continues to exercise its right to exclude these women, and in so doing, deny them the ability to participate in their own culture.
