Hundreds of Innu Descendants Lose Status in Federal Registry Purge
More than 700 members of the Essipit Innu community in Quebec have had their names struck from the Indian Register — and now they're taking the federal government to court to get their status back.
The 738 individuals are all descended from two women: Christine Kichera and Adelaïde Matshiragan. The federal Office of the Indian Registrar removed them from the register in what has become one of the largest mass removals of Indigenous status in recent memory.
What Is the Indian Register?
The Indian Register is the official record maintained by the federal government under the Indian Act that tracks individuals recognized as having Indian status in Canada. Registration determines access to a range of rights and benefits, including band membership, certain tax exemptions, and eligibility for federal programs.
Being struck from the register doesn't just affect paperwork — it can sever a person's formal legal ties to their community, their heritage, and services they may have depended on for years.
The Legal Challenge
The affected individuals and their community are now challenging the federal decision in court, arguing the removal was unjust and discriminatory. The case centers on how the Indian Registrar interpreted lineage rules under the Indian Act — rules that have long been criticized for encoding outdated and colonial definitions of Indigenous identity.
The Indian Act's status rules have been amended multiple times over the decades, most notably through Bill C-31 in 1985 and Bill S-3 in 2017, which attempted to restore status to those who had lost it — particularly women and their descendants — due to gender-based discrimination. But critics say the legislation still contains loopholes that allow the government to deny status on narrow technical grounds.
For the Essipit Innu, the removals feel like history repeating itself.
A Community's Identity at Stake
The Essipit Innu Nation is located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Like many First Nations across Canada, the community has spent decades navigating a federal registration system that many Indigenous leaders say was designed to shrink the number of status Indians over time — not protect Indigenous identity.
Having 738 members suddenly stripped of their recognized status is a significant blow to a community that numbers in the hundreds. For those affected, the legal fight is both personal and political: they're not just defending a line on a government form, but their right to be recognized as who they are.
Broader Context
This case arrives at a moment when the federal government has repeatedly pledged to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada. Court challenges like this one put those commitments to the test — and force Ottawa to reckon with the ongoing harms embedded in the very legislation it continues to administer.
Indigenous rights advocates are watching the case closely. The outcome could set a precedent affecting other communities whose members face similar registration disputes.
The case has not yet been scheduled for a full hearing, but with 738 people named as affected parties, it is shaping up to be a landmark moment in the ongoing legal battle over who gets to be recognized as Indigenous under Canadian law.
Source: CBC News. Original reporting by CBC Montreal.
