The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, referred to by its applied title under the Federal Identity Program as Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, (French: Affaires autochtones et du développement du Nord canadien, AADNC) is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for policies relating to Aboriginal peoples in Canada, that comprise the First Nations (Indians), Inuit and Métis. Its headquarters are in Terrasses de la Chaudière in downtown Gatineau, Quebec.
Pursuant to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Act, the term "Indian" remains in the department's legal name, although the term "Aboriginal" is used in its applied title under the Federal Identity Program. The term "Indian" refers to Status Indians defined by the Indian Act. The term "Indian" is the legal term used in the Canadian Constitution and federal statutes. However its usage outside such situations has fallen into decline as has the term Eskimo and the term "First Nations" is often used in non-legal contexts. The term "Aboriginal" is commonly used when referring to the three groups of indigenous peoples as a whole. It is also used by Aboriginal people who live within Canada who claim rights of sovereignty or Aboriginal title to lands. The department is overseen by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, currently John Morris Duncan.
Read more about Aboriginal Affairs And Northern Development Canada: History, Department Mandate, Organization, "The Nunavut Project"
Famous quotes containing the words aboriginal, affairs, northern, development and/or canada:
“John Eliot came to preach to the Podunks in 1657, translated the Bible into their language, but made little progress in aboriginal soul-saving. The Indians answered his pleas with: ‘No, you have taken away our lands, and now you wish to make us a race of slaves.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program. Connecticut: A Guide to Its Roads, Lore, and People (The WPA Guide to Connecticut)
“Every new development for the last three centuries has brought men closer to a state of affairs in which absolutely nothing would be recognized in the whole world as possessing a claim to obedience except the authority of the State. The majority of people in Europe obey nothing else.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“The northern sky rose high and black
Over the proud unfruitful sea,
East and west the ships came back
Happily or unhappily....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The highest form of development is to govern one’s self.”
—Zerelda G. Wallace (1817–1901)
“I fear that I have not got much to say about Canada, not having seen much; what I got by going to Canada was a cold.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)