Intoxication Criminalized

The criminalization of liquor use both on and off reserve constituted an additional means for the canadian government to assert control over Indian bands, as well as implement surveillance and policing of Indigenous people on the Plains. Following the introduction of liquor as a trading good (please see database entry entitled: Emergence and Prohibition of Alcohol as a Trade Commodity on the Plains for further information on this subject), and combined with the devastating effects of fierce fur trade competition, several Indigenous communities were affected by alcoholism, as well as many other social ills such as poverty, displacement, suicide, etc. Many of these social issues were directly caused by rapid socio-economic changes. Using this situation as a justification for imposing a ban on liquor sales and intoxication in Indigenous communities, the government added yet another tool of control and subversion to its policies regarding Indigenous people. The roots of Indigenous over-representation in the justice system begin during this period, as many communities faced substance abuse crises, but were not given any tools to properly solve these issues. Rather, Indigenous people were fined, and sometimes sent to jail. -------------- The federal policy also stems from Eurocentric views that position Indigenous people as morally inferior to non-Indigenous people, and more easily prone to succumb to temptations from moral vices such as gambling and alcohol abuse. Racist attitudes about Indigenous people informed many federal policies, including other bans such as the ban on cultural practices like the potlatch and the ban on gambling. Please see database entry entitled: Indian Act Amendment - Ability to Arrest for Gambling or Intoxication for further details on this subject.