{"id":96139,"date":"2025-08-20T12:16:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=96139"},"modified":"2025-08-20T12:16:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:16:01","slug":"families-whose-ancestors-gave-up-indigenous-status-sue-for-rights-return-claim-deprived-of-economic-education-and-health-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/families-whose-ancestors-gave-up-indigenous-status-sue-for-rights-return-claim-deprived-of-economic-education-and-health-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Families whose ancestors gave up Indigenous status sue for rights return, claim deprived of economic, education and health benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Federal Court says the Canadian government wrongfully denies people status under the country\u2019s Indian Act if their ancestors \u201cvoluntarily\u201d gave up Indigenous status under laws that predate Confederation. Plaintiffs Charles Wesley, Christopher Wesley, Sharon Nicholas and Nicole Nicholas filed a statement of claim in Vancouver this month seeking damages from the federal government for \u201cbeing deprived of the benefits\u201d of status under the act. The claim says they all have \u201cat least one direct ancestor\u201d who was \u201cenfranchised\u201d under Canadian law, where they gave up their status and received the rights and privileges of Canadian citizenship. The lawsuit says their \u201cfamily history of enfranchisement\u201d means they and their children and grandchildren are not eligible to register for status, depriving them of \u201ctangible economic, educational,… <\/p>\n

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A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Federal Court says the Canadian government wrongfully denies people status under the country\u2019s Indian Act if their ancestors \u201cvoluntarily\u201d gave up Indigenous status under laws that predate Confederation. Plaintiffs Charles Wesley, Christopher Wesley, Sharon Nicholas and Nicole Nicholas filed a statement of claim in Vancouver this month seeking damages from the federal government for \u201cbeing deprived of the benefits\u201d of status under the act. The claim says they all have \u201cat least one direct ancestor\u201d who was \u201cenfranchised\u201d under Canadian law, where they gave up their status and received the rights and privileges of Canadian citizenship. The lawsuit says their \u201cfamily history of enfranchisement\u201d means they and their children and grandchildren are not eligible to register for status, depriving them of \u201ctangible economic, educational,... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nFamilies whose ancestors gave up Indigenous status sue for rights return, claim deprived of economic, education and health benefits - 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\/2025\/08\/20\/families-whose-ancestors-gave-up-indigenous-status-sue-for-rights-return-claim-deprived-of-economic-education-and-health-benefits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Families whose ancestors gave up Indigenous status sue for rights return, claim deprived of economic, education and health benefits - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Federal Court says the Canadian government wrongfully denies people status under the country\u2019s Indian Act if their ancestors \u201cvoluntarily\u201d gave up Indigenous status under laws that predate Confederation. 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