The Pass System

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The Pass System is a Canadian documentary film released in 2015, focusing on the former Canadian government policy known as the pass system, which enforced the segregation of First Nations people on their reserves.

The film was extensively researched, directed, and produced by Alex Williams, with narration provided by Tantoo Cardinal. James Cullingham served as the executive producer, and Cris Derksen composed the music for the documentary.

With the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and the community, the film was produced in association with Tamarack Productions. Its premiere took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, as part of the 2015 Vancouver International Film Festival.

The Pass System initially aired on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network on April 13, 2016. Subsequently, it was broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's main network on June 19, 2016, at 1 p.m. [1] [2] [3]

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The pass system was a segregationist policy by the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), first initiated on a significant scale in the region that became the three prairie provinces in the wake of the 1885 North-West Rebellion—as part of a series of highly restrictive measures—to confine Indigenous people to Indian reserves—newly-established through the numbered treaties. The "Indian pass system"—introduced as a temporary emergency measure to quell First Nations resistance—was formalized and became permanent under successive federal governments. In archived correspondence between the three federal officials who were the "most prominent in the development and implementation of Indian policy" in the 1880s and 1890s—John A. Macdonald (1815–1891), Edgar Dewdney (1835–1916), and Hayter Reed (1849–1936), it was evident that they were all cognizant of the lack of a legal basis for the pass system, and that it did not respect treaty agreements.

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References

  1. Benjoe, Kerry (November 26, 2015). "First Nation reserves prior to 1960s were 'open-air prisons,' says Saskatoon filmmaker behind The Pass System". Leader-Post . Postmedia Network . Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  2. Deerchild, Rosanna (November 29, 2015). "The pass system: another dark secret in Canadian history". Unreserved . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. "The Pass System". VIFF. Retrieved 13 December 2015.