Indian Register
Canadian official record of those registered under the Indian Act
The Indian Register is the official record of people registered under the Indian Act in Canada, called status Indians or registered Indians. Indigenous people in Canada registered under the Indian Act have rights and benefits that are not granted to non-status Indians. Benefits include the granting of reserves and of rights associated with them, an extended hunting season, easier access to firearms, an exemption from federal and provincial taxes on reserve, and more freedom in the management of gaming and tobacco franchises via less government interference and taxes.
Those registered are provided with an Indian status card upon request, which serves as proof of registration as a status Indian, and facilitates access to certain benefits and cross-border travel with the United States.
History
In 1851 the colonial governments of British North America began to keep records of Indians and bands entitled to benefits under treaty. For 100 years, individual Indian agents made lists of members who belonged to each band. In 1951, the current Indian Register was established by amendment of the Indian Act, and the many band lists were combined into one.
In 1985, the Indian Act was amended again with the goal of restoring First Nations status to people who had lost it through discriminatory provisions of the act, and to their children. Over 100,000 people who had lost their status in this way were added to the register.
Registration under the Indian Act ("Indian status")
The list is maintained by Indigenous Services Canada.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Indian Register” as canadian official record of those registered under the Indian Act. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as canadian official record of those registered under the Indian Act. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2095049. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1851, 1951 and 1985.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Indian Register”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Indian Register primary sources, Indian Register archive and Indian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Indian Register”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Indian Register” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.