21 SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE INCLUSION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN CANADA SYLVIA MOORE, ERIKA MAXWELL AND KIRK ANDERSON INTRODUCTION This chapter examines how government policies regarding social inclusion have impacted the Indigenous1 Peoples of Canada. Although Canada has embraced multiculturalism as a national identity, Aboriginal Peoples have remained largely outside of the multiculturalism discourse and inclusion policies. This chapter begins with a review of the government legislation that has established a system of social equity in the country but has excluded Indigenous Peoples. It then examines the Indian Act, which attempted to forcibly assimilate the First Peoples through ‘eliminat[ing] Aboriginal governments; ignor[ing] Aboriginal rights; terminat[ing] the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause[d] Aboriginal Peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in 1 The terms ‘Indigenous’, ‘First Peoples’, and ‘Aboriginal’ are used interchangeably in this paper. ‘Indian’ is the terminology of the Indian Act and is used specifcally in that context.