Note: Many statistics are from the 1991 Canadian Census, and the Aboriginal Peoples Survey (a follow-up to the 1991 Census).

What is the Aboriginal population in British Columbia?
According to Statistics Canada about 3.8 per cent of B.C.'s total population -- almost 139,655 people -- identify themselves as aboriginal. Of these, 25,575 define themselves as Metis and 740 define themselves as Inuit.

• Aboriginal people make up only 3.8 per cent of the total Canadian population.
• B.C. has 17.5 per cent of Canada's total aboriginal population.
• In 1996, there were 134,890 persons in BC who directly identified themselves as aboriginal, another 4,235 who did not identify as aboriginal but were “registered Indians” and a further 525 who were neither of the above but were members of an Indian Band
• In the 1991 census, 1,002,675 people in Canada reported aboriginal origins.
• There were 603,340 Status Indians in Canada in August, 1996.
• NOTE: In censuses before 1996, the identification of Aboriginal persons was derived from a question on ancestry, namely “To which ethnic or cultural group(s) did this person’s ancestors belong?" In 1996 Stats Can introduced the term "Aboriginal Identity" and stipulated that the 1996 “Aboriginal Identity” data should not be compared to the 1991 “Aboriginal Ancestry” data. For an explanation of terminology and differences between 1991 and 1996 results, contact the BC Stats Web site page at http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/cen96/facts/cff9610.pdf on the Internet or the Stats Can site page  http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/980113/d980113.htm. These sites also explains  in detail how BC aboriginal population statistics are arrived at.

Fifty-seven per cent of aboriginal people in B.C. are under 24 years of age. The aboriginal youth population is the fastest growing demographic group in the province.

This is the reverse of the elderly population. Aboriginals 55 years of age and over constitute only 7 per cent of BCs aboriginal population while non-Aboriginal people over the age of 55 account for almost 23 per cent of the non-Aboriginal population.

What are the most frequently spoken aboriginal languages in B.C.?
There are four language groups that account for over 85 per cent of the Aboriginal languages spoken in BC. The Aboriginal population reporting an Aboriginal mother tongue (defined as the first language learned in childhood and still understood):

Athapaskan (including Carrier and Chilcotin) -- 27.3 per cent
Wakashan (including Kwakwala and Nootka) -- 23.6 per cent
Salish -- 20.7 per cent
Algonquian (including Cree and Ojibway) -- 14 per cent
Amerindian 8.1%
Tsimshian 2.5%
Haida 1.4%
Kutenai 1.1%
Inuktitut 0.5%
Dakota 0.4%
Iroquoian 0.2%
Tlingit 0.1%

How many Tribal Councils are there in British Columbia?
There are 31 Tribal Councils in the province.

How many reserves are there in British Columbia?
BC has approximately 1,650 or 72 per cent of Canada's 2,300 reserves. Many of the reserves are small and only one-quarter were occupied in 1991.

What is the land area of reserves in British Columbia?
Reserve land accounts for 0.36 per cent (343,741 hectares) of B.C.'s total land. B.C. reserves account for 13 per cent of the total area of Canadian reserves (2,684,448 hectares).

How many Aboriginal people live on these reserves?
In 1991, 24 per cent of the Aboriginal population in B.C. lived on a reserve, down from 28 per cent in 1986.

BC is unique among the provinces in that over 25 per cent of the population on reserves do not have an Aboriginal ancestry. The majority of non-Aboriginal people living on reserves are on land leased from the reserves.

What does Registered or Status Indian mean?
A person recorded as an Indian in the Indian Register. Most registered Indians are members of an Indian band.

Who are Non-Status Indians?
Persons who are of Indian ancestry and cultural affiliation, but who are not registered as Indians under the Indian Act or persons who lost their right to be registered as Indians under the Indian Act before it was amended in 1985. Before June 1985 when changes were made to the Indian Act, these included, for instance, Indian women who married non-Indian men. The amended Act of 1985 entitles these people to be re-instated to Indian status and band membership. Métis and Non-Status Indians are not covered by the Indian Act. Métis and Non-Status Indians who want information about programs and services available to them should contact the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples or the Métis National Council.

What is an Indian Band?
A band is a group of Indians for whose common use and benefit, lands have been set apart and money is held by the Crown. It is a body of Indians declared by the Governor-in-Council to be a band for the purposes of the Indian Act.
(Source: Indian Act, R.S., 1985, c. I-5)

What is a reserve?
A reserve is land that is set aside for the use and benefit of a band. For definitions of commonly used terms refer to Glossary of Treaty-related Terms as used by the Province of British Columbia

Who can live on a reserve?
Any registered Indian -- who is also a band member -- may live on a reserve and use those lands as long as the band has not adopted a residency by-law which limits or regulates the right to live on the reserve. Forty percent of bands control their own membership lists.

There are certain privileges for residents of reserves. Ordinary residency on a reserve gives you the right to vote in most band elections. The personal property of a Registered Indian living on a reserve cannot be seized by anyone other than another Indian or the band.

What is a Land Claim?
Land Claim is a phrase used by federal and provincial governments to denote the struggle of Aboriginal people in Canada for recognition of their rights to traditional lands. Many Aboriginal people consider the term a misnomer as it suggests they are 'claiming' something that belongs to the governments, and some refer to the issue as the Land Question.

Do Registered Indian people pay taxes?
There are some taxes which Indians and bands do not pay. Under Sections 87 and 90 of the Indian Act, Indians and bands do not pay federal and provincial taxes on their personal and real property which is on the reserve. Some property, such as scholarships paid to Status Indians (registered or entitled to be registered) by DIAND, is always considered to be "situated on reserve" and therefore is not taxable.

Since income is personal property, as a Registered, or entitled to be Registered, Indian, you may also be exempt from paying income tax when the income is earned on reserve. For example, Registered Indians who work on a reserve do not pay federal and provincial taxes on their employment income.

Whether Aboriginal people pay provincial sales tax depends on where the goods are purchased. Provinces cannot tax Registered Indians on any goods they purchase on a reserve. Some provinces exempt goods that are purchased off-reserve but are delivered to, used or consumed on-reserve. Special rules may apply to some items such as automobiles and alcohol.