Registration on Indian Register Under the Indian Act

Note the date the Indian Act Registration Sections were amended by Bill C-31 is April 17, 1985. When registering on Indian Register under the Indian Act the following must be determined:

Persons born before April 17, 1985 AND are/were entitled under pre-1985 Indian Act are
registered under Section 6(1)(a) of present Indian Act. These are persons who were registered
or entitled prior to April 17, 1985.

Persons born after April 17, 1985 AND persons born before April 17, 1985 who are entitled BECAUSE of Bill C-31 amendments registration entitlement is determined under Section 6(1) (b) to (f) OR 6(2) of present Indian Act depending on both parent(s) information:

6 (1) Person has full registry entitlement. In most cases both parents are registered or entitled to be registered under the Indian Act OR person was entitled or registered under pre- 1985 Indian Act. Persons registered under 6(1) can pass “status” entitlement to their children.

6 (2) Person has ONE parent who is registered under Section 6(1) of the Indian Act. In this case the other parent is Non-Indian or not shown on birth document or not registered.

Any person who is registered under Section 6 (2) of the Indian Act, cannot pass “status” entitlement onto their children unless the other parent of the child is a registered Indian.

—-CALCULATION OF ENTITLEMENT CATEGORY—-

The following chart may be used for entitlements which arise as a result of the amendments to the Indian Act which came into effect April 17, 1985.

Since the “degree” of the entitlement to Indian status of a child will be dependent on the entitlement of BOTH parents, it is important to identify both parents in order to determine the entitlement of a child to registration under the Indian Act. Where a birth document does NOT name the father, statutory declarations from the parents should be obtained where the natural father may admit or deny paternity before a determination as to entitlement can be made. The result of such research will help assess the entitlement under Section 6(1) or 6(2).