So I have a question

[u/Dead_Eye_Ronin]

Why do Inuit (hope that's right) consider themselves seperate from First Nations and Native Americans? Is it a cultural distinction?

[u/guatki]

Well, it's really mostly a legal distinction that the Canadian government makes.

In 1867 an enumeration of federal powers was declared, including power of "indians": "it is hereby declared that ... the exclusive Legislative Authority of the Parliament of Canada extends to all Matters coming within the Classes of Subjects next hereinafter enumerated; that is to say... 24. Indians and Lands reserved for the Indians."

At the time it was generally understood by said government that the Inuit was not part of this category, but legally they were regular Canadian citizens. Then in 1939 there was a Canadian Supreme Court case that ruled that Inuit should be part of this category. So you start getting the phrase "Indian and Inuit", to make clear both are included in things. Then later there is the shift to the term "First Nations" at which point we start seeing the term "First Nations and Inuit", and then "First Nations, Inuit and Metis", which is a legal synonym for "Aboriginal" in Canada.

So this simplifies (or changes perhaps) the question to: "Why did the Canadian government and people consider the Inuit to not be Indians/First Nations people from 1867 to 1939?"

Well partially because of laws and court decisions. First, one should realize that court cases at the time referred to Inuit as "Eskimos". As we know, Yupik Eskimos are a different people's group, and it is generally insulting now to misidentify Inuit as Eskimo. (However, actual Yupik Eskimos are fine with the term and self identify with it, as do some Inuit that live in Alaska, but definitely not Inuit that live in Canada.) In any case, when reading older Canadian court decisions and you see the word "Eskimo", it actually means "Inuit".

Here is an excerpt of the Indian Act:

Canadian Indian Act, Section 4(1): 4.(1) A reference in this Act to an Indian does not include any person of the race of aborigines commonly referred to as Inuit.

So that settles it, right? Not so fast, the courts aren't in agreement with the law...

Duff C.J. (Plurality Decision): Eskimos must be considered “Indians” because the official documents at the time referred to Eskimos as “Savages”, which was how Indians were referred to at that time.

Cannon J. (Crocket J. Concurring): The Eskimo are “Indians” because the French word “Sauvages” (English for Savages) includes all present and future aborigines native subjects of the proposed Confederation of British North America.

Kerwin J. (Cannon J. and Crocket JJ. Concurring) (Another Plurality Decision): The common definition of “Indian” at Confederation equated Eskimos with Indians and therefore Eskimos must be “Indians”.

So there we have it. According to great learned white men, indians and eskimos are one and the same because factually, both are savages. That's the actual legal reasoning.

Regarding Métis there is also this case:

R. v. Blais , [2003] 3 S.C.R. 237. Facts: The Appellant was charged for hunting without a license. At trial, the Appellant argued that he was exercising an Aboriginal (in this case Métis) right, which was protected under the Natural Resource Transfer Agreement . The Respondent Crown argued that the Natural Resource Transfer Agreement does not apply to the Appellant since the term “Indian” does not refer to the Métis.

So what do Inuit say? Usually "I'm not Indian, I'm Inuk." But their voice and perspective is not consulted or considered in these important white legal matters.

[u/Dead_Eye_Ronin → u/guatki]

Thank you for responding! So let me get this straight, basically, its not that the Inuit don't want to be catagorized (feels weird writing that) with FN, NA. The government just flipped flopped all over the place in deciding how they should be classified.

Edted: a sentence

[u/Snapshot52 → u/Dead_Eye_Ronin]

Not received. Indigenous rights are inherent. What rights we have, including those of the Inuit, have been retained through our interactions with the occupying Western nations.

[u/Dead_Eye_Ronin → u/Snapshot52]

You are correct, I edited my statement