There are ten major ways that the new Indian Act affects eligibility for status and band membership. In all cases the relevant sections of the new Indian Act are referred to in brackets.

1. Status/Band Membership Distinctions
(S.4.1 & S.6)

2. Who is Entitled to Status (S.6)

In the future, there will be two separate lists kept for the purposes of the Indian Act, one for registered Indians (called the Indian Register) and one for Band members (Band Lists). DIAND will keep the Indian Register and will also maintain a Band's membership List unless the Band takes control over membership itself.

There are at least 13 different ways for a person to be entitled to status as a registered Indian.

If you fall into one of the 13 categories listed below, you are entitled to apply for status. People in the first 8 groups also have an automatic right to Band Membership and will receive Band membership upon application for status. People in groups 9-13 are only entitled to registered status and will not receive Band Membership automatically.

Enttlement to Status and Band membership

1. Those people already on the Indian Register or on a Band List, whether or not they were or are entitled" legally to have their name on the list (s.6 (1)(a));

2. Those people who were entitled to be registered Indians under the lndian Act before April 17, 1985, whether or not their name actually appeared on a Band List or the Indian Register (s.6 (1)(a));

3. Anyone who belongs to a group that is declared by the Federal cabinet after April 17,1985 to be an Indian Band (s.6 (1)(b));

4. Women who lost status by marrying a man who was not a registered Indian (s.6 (1)(c));

5. Children who lost status when their mother was enfranchised
   for marrying a man who was not a registered lndian (s.6(1)(c));

6. Children caught by the "double-mother rule" because their mother and father's mother were not status Indians before their marriage (s.6 (1)(c));

7. Illegitimate children whose registration as status Indians was rejected because their mother was status but their father was not or because they were female children of only one status parent (s.6 (1)(c));

8. Anyone born on or after April 17,1985 both of whose parents are entitled to status and to Band membership on the same Band, whether their parents are alive or not (s.6 (1)(f));

Entitlement to status but not to immediate Band membership

1. Any Indian who voluntarily enfranchised, including wives or dependent unmarried children who lost status because of a man's enfranchisement (s.6 (1)(d));

2. Anyone who lost status for residing outside the country for more than 5 years prior to 1951 without consent of an Indian agent (s.6 (1)(e)(i));

3. Anyone wno lost status as a result of becoming a lawyer, doctor, minister or university graduate before 1920 (s.6 (e)(ii));

4. Anyone both of whose parents are entitled to be registered for any reason under the new Indian Act, whether their parents are alive or not (s.6 (1)(f)), and;

5. Anyone who has only one parent who is entitled to status under any of the previous categories whether that parent is alive or not (s.6 (2)).

3. Who is Not Entitled to Status
(S.6 & S.7)

Not all people of Indian descent are entitled to be registered as Indians, and not all Indians who once lost status or whose parents lost status are entitled to reinstatement. People in this group include the following:

A. Some Grand-Children caught by the "Cu1-Off" Rule

Most Indians who once lost status will be able to be registered and so will their children. However, many of their grand-children will not be entitled to registration, even though one of their parents is entitled. This is because the federal governmet decided to impose a "2nd generation cut-off" rule for reinstatement, a rule based on a person's descent from someone who either had or was entitled to status before Bill C-31 or from someone who was ommitted or deleted from the list of registered Indians before Bill C-31 was passed.

The rule affects all Indian children in the future in some way, since it either means that they won't be allowed status or they will not be allowed to pass a right to status on to their children depending on who their child's other parent is.

Basically, the rule works by stating that a child can only gain status if at least one parent is in categories 1-12 above. This would mean for example that if one of your parents is in category 13 and the other parent is not entitled to be registered at all, then you would not be entitled to registration yourself. However, if both your parents are in category 13, then you are entitled to status under category 12 and you can pass on status to your child no matter who your child's other parent is.

B. Indians who took "Half-Breed Scrip"

The old Indian Act excluded Indians who had taken half-breed scrip and also excluded their descendents. Bill C-31 ends this denial for the future but it does not give any right to these people now to apply for registered status unless they are entitled for some other reason.

C. Some Women who once gained status by marriage and then lost status, as well as their children.

Women who gained status originally by marriage and then lost status cannot be reinstated unless one of their parents also lost  status and is eligible for reinstatement. The children of such women are also excluded unless their fathers have status or lost status and are entitled to be registered.

Even though this clause is supposed to exclude only women and children of non-lndian descent, some Indian women and their children will be affected since not all Indian women who once gained status by marriage and then lost it are entitled to be registered under the new Act (for example if they are caught by  the Half-Breed Scrip rule or the 2nd generation cut-off rule).

The special case of Indians who were never registered

In some cases Indians were simply left off Band Lists when registration was first carried out in their area or for some other reason were never registered (this often happened at birth). In other cases whole Indian communities were missed in the registration process or were for some other reason never recognized. These people and their children may be entitled to status under the new Indian Act, but Bill C-31 doesn't set up any clear and simple process to allow them to be registered.

The Minister has stated that he may be able to register these people, either by recognizing their communities for thefirsttime as Bands or by setting up a process to find out why they were originally left off the Band Lists and then allow them to be registered under the new Indian Act.

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples has proposed a number of ways of setting up these processes, including a Registration Commission and a special Commission to look into communities which have never been recognized as Bands.

In the meantime, if you were originally left off a Band List or the Indian Register and you believe that you should have been registered, fill in an application form indicating that you are claiming status under Section 6(1)(a) of the Act and provide all the details that you can gather to show how andwhy you were originally omitted from registration. If you are the child or grand-child of someone in this situation, you may also apply under one of the other sections of the Act. Be sure to provide all the details of your case and the details of your parent or grand-parent who was originally omitted from registration.

4. Entitlement to Both Status and Band Membership (S.6)

There is no "probation" or "waiting" period for receiving Band Membership for people in groups 1 to 8 as described on page 5. Status and band membership are received immediately and in full once an application form is filled out and accepted by the Registrar.

There is one exception to this rule. If you do not apply for status and Band membership before your Band adopts its own membership code, then you will probably have to apply for Band membership to the Band itself. You will still apply for status to the Registrar, but once a Band adopts a code it is in full control of its Band membership list.

However, even if you have to apply to the Band for membership, the Band cannot normally delay or refuse you memership if you have the right to it under the Indian Act.

The right to Band membership of those in groups 9 to 13 described on page 5 is dependent upon what their Band does within the next 2 years regarding control over membership. There are three possibilities:

1. If their Band does not adopt its own membership code within two years, then they will become band members on June 28, 1987.

2. If their Band decides to leave control over membership to the Department of Indian Affairs before June 28,1987, then they will become band members as of the date the Band notifies the Minister of its decision.

3. If their Band adopts a membership code before June 28,1987, they must apply for membership to the Band and satisfy the rules of the Band membership code.

Did you really lose your status?

Some women may believe they lost status by marrying non-lndians or non-status Indians but in fact never went through the formal "enfranchisement" process or for some other reason never had their names struck off a Band List and the Indian Register. If your married name or maiden name is on the Band List or the Indian Register you are already a status Indian and a Band Member whether or not you were entitled to be one before April 17,1985.

One other situation is important to know about if you were ever denied status because of "illegitimacy". In the past, DIAND often insisted that any child of an illegitimate marriage could be stripped of status. However, in a recent court case it was decided that male children of male, status Indian fathers were entitled to status even if they were born out of marriage. Not all children in this situation were reinstated before Bill C-31 however, so you may be entitled to status under Section 6 (1 )(a) of the Act even if you do not now have registered status.

Some Bands are taking the position that people in these situations are not entitled to status or Band Membership. So it is important that you apply to the Registrar to have your status under S.6 (1 )(a) re-confirmed. (Just use the application form for reinstatement and clearly state that you are seeking to have your entitlement to status under S.6 (1)(a) of the Act re-confirmed.)