Indigenous terminology

Watch the following video to better understand how to appropriately and respectfully discuss Indigenous people in Canada.

Understanding common terminology

Aboriginal: Refers to the various Indian tribes indigenous to the Americas before contact with Europeans, or any persons descended from those first inhabitants. Indians, Inuit and Métis are identified as Aboriginal Peoples of Canada in the Constitution Act of 1982, Sec. 35(2).

First Nations: Refers to a politically autonomous band under The Indian Act, a nation of First Peoples.

Indian: Used to describe those who are defined as Indians within the meaning of the Indian Act.

Indigenous: Refers to all inhabitants indigenous to North America before contact with Euro-Canadians, and their descendants. Indigenous Peoples is a collective noun for First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Inuit: A culturally distinct Indigenous people in northern Canada.

Métis: People born of or descended from both European and Indian parents. The Métis National Council defines Métis as “a person who self-identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal Peoples, is of historic Métis Nations ancestry and who is accepted by the Métis Nation.”