Indigenous peoples have been in Canada since time immemorial. They formed complex social, political economic and cultural systems before Europeans came to North America. With colonization and white settlement, traditional Indigenous ways of life were forever altered. Colonial practices and policies, such as the Indian Act, pass system, reserves and residential schools, sought to control and assimilate Indigenous peoples. These have had historic and ongoing impacts on generations of Indigenous peoples. Such practices and policies, when combined with racism, acts of segregation, loss of land…