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Grade 8 · Social Studies · Unit 4 of 15

Treaties & the Indian Act

Agreements, reserves and laws, 1850–1890

What your child practises

What treaties are and why First Nations and the Crown often understood them differently, the Robinson and Numbered Treaties, what the Indian Act did, and how First Nations leaders acted to protect their people. This unit needs review with First Nations partners before launch.

Ontario Curriculum expectation: History A1.2, A1.4, A2.3, A3.3, A3.7 · legal status and rights of First Nations, the Robinson and Numbered Treaties, the Indian Act, differing perspectives and the actions of First Nations leaders

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is meant by saying a treaty is a “nation-to-nation” agreement?

    • It was made between two companies.
    • It was made between two churches.
    • It was made between two peoples, each with its own government and authority.
    • It was made between two towns.
    Show answer

    It was made between two peoples, each with its own government and authority.

    Hint: First Nations were nations with their own laws and governments.

  2. Question 2

    Under the Indian Act, what happened to First Nations women who married men without Indian status?

    • They gained extra rights.
    • They lost their own status.
    • They became chiefs.
    • They became citizens of a foreign country.
    Show answer

    They lost their own status.

    Hint: This rule was discriminatory, and later changes (1985) began to restore status.

  3. Question 3

    Which law passed in 1876 gave the government wide control over First Nations people's lives?

    • the National Policy
    • the Manitoba Act
    • the Indian Act
    • the Dominion Lands Act
    Show answer

    the Indian Act

    Hint: It combined and expanded earlier laws, and it still exists today in amended form.

  4. Question 4

    What did the Indian Act allow the government to do?

    • give First Nations control of all land
    • protect all Indigenous languages
    • end the need for treaties
    • decide who counted as “Indian” in law and control reserves, governance and education
    Show answer

    decide who counted as “Indian” in law and control reserves, governance and education

    Hint: The Act put many parts of life under federal control.

  5. Question 5

    Which of these is a way First Nations leaders acted to protect their people during this period?

    • giving up all rights
    • negotiating treaty terms and pressing for supports such as food, health care and farming help
    • ignoring the government
    • leaving all decisions to Indian agents
    Show answer

    negotiating treaty terms and pressing for supports such as food, health care and farming help

    Hint: Leaders used the negotiations to try to secure a future for their communities.

  6. Question 6

    Treaty 3, signed in 1873, covers part of which present-day region?

    • British Columbia's coast
    • northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba
    • Nunavut
    • the Maritime provinces
    Show answer

    northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba

    Hint: It was negotiated at the Northwest Angle with Anishinaabe leaders.

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