{"id":110215,"date":"2026-11-04T09:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T14:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=110215"},"modified":"2026-11-04T09:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T14:28:12","slug":"abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Abolishing Indian Act not a \u2018get out of jail\u2019 free card: Rama chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Danielle Pitman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, OrilliaMatters.com To abolish or not to abolish? To let it be or not to let it be? That is the question when it comes to the &#8220;archaic&#8221; Indian Act. \u201cIt\u2019s a complex piece of legislation,\u201d Chippewas of Rama First Nation Chief Ted Williams said of the legislation that has returned to the spotlight in recent weeks. The Indian Act applies to more than 600 First Nations across Canada in various stages of development. A lot of conversation is required because even considering one part of the legislation leads to other sections that need to be addressed, said Williams. Despite being surprised by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew\u2019s statements last week, Williams agrees the Indian Act is outdated. \u201cIt\u2019s an archaic piece of legislation,\u201d he&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F11%2F04%2Fabolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Danielle Pitman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, OrilliaMatters.com To abolish or not to abolish? To let it be or not to let it be? That is the question when it comes to the &#8220;archaic&#8221; Indian Act. \u201cIt\u2019s a complex piece of legislation,\u201d Chippewas of Rama First Nation Chief Ted Williams said of the legislation that has returned to the spotlight in recent weeks. The Indian Act applies to more than 600 First Nations across Canada in various stages of development. A lot of conversation is required because even considering one part of the legislation leads to other sections that need to be addressed, said Williams. Despite being surprised by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew\u2019s statements last week, Williams agrees the Indian Act is outdated. \u201cIt\u2019s an archaic piece of legislation,\u201d he... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F11%2F04%2Fabolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abolishing Indian Act not a \u2018get out of jail\u2019 free card: Rama chief - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abolishing Indian Act not a \u2018get out of jail\u2019 free card: Rama chief - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Danielle Pitman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, OrilliaMatters.com To abolish or not to abolish? To let it be or not to let it be? That is the question when it comes to the &#8220;archaic&#8221; Indian Act. \u201cIt\u2019s a complex piece of legislation,\u201d Chippewas of Rama First Nation Chief Ted Williams said of the legislation that has returned to the spotlight in recent weeks. The Indian Act applies to more than 600 First Nations across Canada in various stages of development. A lot of conversation is required because even considering one part of the legislation leads to other sections that need to be addressed, said Williams. Despite being surprised by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew\u2019s statements last week, Williams agrees the Indian Act is outdated. \u201cIt\u2019s an archaic piece of legislation,\u201d he\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-04T14:28:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Abolishing Indian Act not a \u2018get out of jail\u2019 free card: Rama chief\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-04T14:28:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":552,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/abolishing-indian-act-not-a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-rama-chief\\\/\",\"name\":\"Abolishing Indian Act not a \u2018get out of jail\u2019 free card: Rama chief - 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To let it be or not to let it be? That is the question when it comes to the &#8220;archaic&#8221; Indian Act. \u201cIt\u2019s a complex piece of legislation,\u201d Chippewas of Rama First Nation Chief Ted Williams said of the legislation that has returned to the spotlight in recent weeks. The Indian Act applies to more than 600 First Nations across Canada in various stages of development. A lot of conversation is required because even considering one part of the legislation leads to other sections that need to be addressed, said Williams. 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