It refers to a specific legal identity of an Aboriginal person in Canada. (a)
With the creation of it this year, the Canadian government developed criteria for who would be legally considered an Indian. (b)
Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are classified as “Status Indians” are registered under the Indian Act on the Indian Register– a central registry maintained by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada which goes under this acronym. (c) Status Indians are issued a status card that contains information about their identity , and their registration number and this.
(d)
(e) are wards of the Canadian federal government, a paternalistic legal relationship that illustrates the historical imperial notion that Aboriginal peoples are “children” requiring control and direction to bring them into more “civilized” colonial ways of life.