From the CBC regarding the documentary 'The Pass System':
"Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of residential schools and their impacts on First Nations people. But many have not yet heard about another system of segregation — one that often kept First Nations confined to their communities.
The pass system was in effect for 60 years on reserves across western Canada. Any First Nations person who wanted to leave their community, for any reason, had to have a pass approved by the reserve's Indian agent that they would carry with them, stipulating the leave's purpose and duration.
... Williams said the pass system came into effect after the North-West Rebellion in 1885.
"It was an illegal... system that was put in place as a temporary 'security measure' after the events of 1885 that stuck around for over 60 years," he said.
... Williams said although the pass system is believed to have ended around 1941, it may have continued in different ways after that.
"Indian agents were judges, and First Nations weren't citizens until 1960 so official means of resistance were very difficult."
As Williams dug deeper into the topic, he discovered why so few people have heard of the pass system. He found a letter from 1941, "in which the director of Indian Affairs at that time said, 'Send us all your passbooks and they may be destroyed.'"
While doing research for the film, Williams spent time in the National Archives looking for documentation, but only found two passes.
"So there's enormous questions about the record-keeping process," he said. "Also, I think we have to take into account, that many people were not interested to understand the emotional impact of these and other systems on First Nations people."
"Passes" to come and go is disturbingly reminiscent of slave passes for leaving plantations. It's not surprising that the corrupt Canadian government tried to destroy all evidence. No doubt if it weren't for a few pieces which slipped through the cracks, cakers today would try and claim that it 'never happened' and is an 'urban myth'.
Further information:
“No rebel Indians should be allowed off the Reserves without a pass signed by an I.D. official.The dangers of complications with white men will thus be lessened & 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."-- (Public Archives of Canada, RG 10, Vol. 37 10, file 19,550-3) The "justification" for the system.
"In 1885, the Department of Indian Affairs instituted a pass system. No outsider could come onto a reserve to do business with an Aboriginal resident without permission from the Indian agent. In many places, the directives were interpreted to mean that no Aboriginal person could leave the reserve without permission from the Indian agent. Reserves were beginning to resemble prisons."-- (Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples) According to the Royal Commission a few people "interpreted" the pass system incorrectly and it was all just a "misunderstanding", eh?
"Parents required passes to visit their children interned at residential schools. Controlling parents’ access to their children aided and abetted the government’s policy of removing “the Indian from the child”. Agents were encouraged to only provide a pass to visit children in school no more frequently than four times a year; if a child were ill, and that information shared with the parents, additional passes might be issued."
More from the CBC:
"Very little is known about the pass system. It was a troubling piece of Canadian policy, put in place in 1885 to control the movements of First Nation people, and enforced until the 1940s.
It required all First Nation people living on reserve to get written permission from an Indian agent when they needed to leave their community If caught without a pass, they were either incarcerated or returned to the reserve.
Introduced on the cusp of the North West Rebellion, led by Louis Riel, the policy was supposed to be temporary, used to prevent another uprising. In fact, the policy remained in effect for nearly 60 years.
... Williams was researching the mistreatment of First Nation people when he stumbled upon information about the policy, with roots in his home province of Saskatchewan.
He told CBC he was shocked to find out that the policy stood in direct conflict with the promises made under the treaties, and decided to take it upon himself to piece together as much information as he could."
In 1893 the North-West Mounted Police protested the pass system, likely because they were in part responsible for enforcing it when it had no legal basis in law. Indian Affairs commissioner Hayter Reed overruled the police, even after admitting the policy was not legal.
For the most part Natives didn't resist, because the Indian Agents essentially controlled their lives and to make trouble was to risk their business, livelihood and even freedom.
"One of the biggest hurdles Williams faced when making the documentary was finding proof that the pass system actually happened.
According to Williams, in the 1950s there was an attempt to destroy all records of the pass system, held at the Battleford, Sask. Indian Affairs office. The few remaining documents were suppose to be sent to the dump, but were saved by brothers Don and Doug Light.
"It's plausible that this sort of thing was widespread, so when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission talks about missing documents, that's in part what they're talking about — where are these records?"
... And because little is being done to uncover these policies, and prove their existence, their damage to people and communities has yet to be uncovered. "To me the economic impacts are incalculable … the impact to people's dignity is of course the most important thing" said Williams."
It sure makes you wonder what other evidence the Canadian government has hidden or destroyed, and what myriad of sins go unknown.
From the Leader Post:
"According to Statistics Canada, in 1941, 67 per cent of Saskatchewan residents lived in rural areas. The Second World War was raging and although First Nations could volunteer to serve they were not allowed to leave the reserve without a pass issued by the local Indian agent.
“It was segregation,” said Alex Williams a documentary filmmaker and a former Saskatoon resident. “Reserves were open-air prisons.“
He spent five years researching and compiling information for his film, The Pass System.
... The pass system was implemented shortly after the North West Rebellion of 1885 and remained in place until 1941 when it was replaced by the permit system which remained in place until the 1960s.
“It came about in a package of recommendations that were made for the — and I am quoting here — ‘the future management of Indians,’ ” said Williams. “It was proposed by Hayter Reed and then signed off by Edgar Dewdney and went up to his boss and went all the way up to (the prime minister John A.) MacDonald. I mention MacDonald because he says, ‘It’s in the highest degree desirable to adopt it’ even though he knows the system is not legal and has no basis in law.”
Those caught off-reserve without a pass could be jailed up to 60 days, said Williams.
He said people may wonder why First Nations would adhere to the restriction, but it must be all put into context.
“They had their children,” said Williams.
During this time period, the Indian residential school system was in full swing and there were no social programs so many were dependent on rations to survive, which were controlled by the Indian agent.
Shauneen, said it’s important to tell this story because it sheds light on an entire system that was designed to exclude First Nations people from participating in Canadian society and that oppressive system is the root of today’s social issues that plague First Nations and First Nations people."
Underneath the article is a comment by Barry Lester Ryder:
"I remember as a child living on the Reserve during this time period. We were totally dependant on the Indian Agent who lived on our Reserve. He controlled every aspect of our lives and we became wards of the govt. A simple journey into town was difficult and was viewed as a highlight. I grew to admire the the outside world and what they had. Things have sure changed today but the past is still ingrained in my mind and affects the way I look at life. Reconciliation is needed by everyone and that provides hope to the lingering difficulties facing First Nations."
Website for the documentary: The Pass System
I tip my hat to you sir, and to all others than expose the rot, hypocrisy and corruption of Canada - past and present!
