The “pass system” is a part of Western Canada’s history that our readers may not be familiar with. The system largely restricted Indigenous persons’ mobility rights. Following the North-West Rebellion, the pass system materialized as an effort by Indian Affairs to confine Indigenous peoples of Canada’s Prairies to their reserve. As such, in order for a person to leave their reserve, they were required to obtain a pass, which outlined the duration and purpose for their absence. The Indian Agent then approved or refused their absence. Those found outside of their reserve without a pass, or in violation of their pass, were subsequently taken into custody and summarily returned to their reserve. [1]
So where did this terrible system start?
On May 6, 1885, in a letter addressed to Edgar Dewdney, Major General Middleton advised the Indian Commissioner to “issue [a] proclamation warning breeds and Indians to return to their reserves and that all found away will be treated as rebels.”[2] Later that summer, Hayter Reed, recently “promoted” to Assistant Indian Commissioner, drafted a lengthy memorandum regarding the “future management of Indians” for Dewdney. Recommendation seven from this memorandum read as follows:
No rebel Indians should be allowed off the Reserves without a pass signed by an J.D. official. The dangers of complications with white men will thus be lessened, and by preserving a knowledge of individual movements any inclination to petty depredations may be checked, by the facility of apprehending those who commit such offences.[3]
The implementation of the pass system soon followed.
No basis in law
Aside from the obvious issue with restricting individual rights to mobility, a major issue of the pass system was that it had no basis in law, but was deemed rather as a “local administrative tyranny, informally endorsed at the ministerial level of Indian Affairs”.[4] Indigenous peoples who were meant to abide by this farce of a system fought against it by disobeying the restrictions imposed by the Indian Agent. Eventually, the North West Mounted Police chose to no longer enforce the passes, in the absence of legislative sanctions to backup the system. Hayter Reed acknowledged the absence of law in order to make the system enforceable, writing in a letter, “there has never been any legal authority for compelling Indians who leave their reserves to return to them.” He later wrote, “all we can do is to endeavour to keep the true position from the Indians as long as possible.” [5] By the early 1890s, Indian Affairs modified the substance and intent of the system, transitioning it to a form of monitoring movement of Indigenous peoples. This system continued until 1941 and was formally repealed in 1951. [6]
Residential Schools
The system also had an impact on mobility for Indigenous parents hoping to reunite with their children. Oral history from Elders who experienced the pass system firsthand recall its use in keeping families apart during this time, recollecting that “the pass system helped support the residential school system as Indian agents would often refuse to sign passes if they suspected they would be used to visit children there.”[7]
To our readers
Less than a hundred years ago, individuals were told to essentially “check in and out” with an agent. We ask our readers to imagine having to ask to leave their homes to go buy food from the supermarket - something that Indigenous persons living on-reserve were expected to do (see photo above). The pass system is another example of how Canada has, and continues to, restrict the rights of Indigenous people.
Until next time,
Team ReconciliAction YEG
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[1] Laurie F. Barron, “The Indian Pass System in the Canadian West, 1882-1935” (1988) 13:1 Prairie Forum at 25.
[2] Ibid at 27.
[3] Ibid at 28.
[4] Ibid at 25.
[5] Circles for Reconciliation, “The Pass System: Segregation in Canada”, (12 October 2016), online: http://circlesforreconciliation.ca/2016/10/12/the-pass-system-gathering-theme/.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
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