Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Indian Act
Know Your Rights
Criminal Law
Child Protection
Fair Decision Making
Indigenous Peoples have unique rights.
They have rights under Canadian law, international law and their own Indigenous laws, including Inherent Rights, Aboriginal Rights, Treaty Rights, Constitutional Protections, and rights under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This site does not attempt to explain the laws of distinct Indigenous Peoples. Not because they are not foundationally important but because as an organization that deals with Canadian law it is outside of the work the Public Legal Education Association does explaining Saskatchewan and Canadian laws. Here we look at the rights of Indigenous Peoples recognized by Canadian law and Canadian laws that impact Indigenous communities.
Indigenous Peoples
The term Indigenous Peoples is a blanket term and includes First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples. Over the years the colonizers who came to what is now Canada used many different words to refer to these Peoples from savages to natives then Aboriginal or First Nation and now Indigenous. While the term Indigenous is used on this site as concise way to refer to these Peoples, the original inhabitants where never one big group. They were and continue to be distinct Nations.
NEW IN PRINT!
See our new print resources under "Legal Information for Indigenous Communities" at Order Resources.
Inherent Rights
Indigenous Peoples have Inherent Rights because they were already living in what is now Canada before this land was colonized.
Aboriginal Rights
The laws of the colonizers who came to what is now Canada recognized the rights of the original inhabitants. These rights continue to be recognized and are called Aboriginal Rights.
Saskatchewan's Treaties
Treaties are formal agreements between the Government of Canada and First Nations.
Constitutional Protections
The Constitution is the highest law of all Canadian laws. It recognizes and affirms the “Aboriginal and Treaty Rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada”.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the Inherent Rights of Indigenous Peoples across the world.
