Making Sober Citizens: The Legacy of Indigenous Alcohol Regulation in Canada, 1777-1985

From the late eighteenth century on, the British tried to regulate the sale of alcohol to Aboriginal peoples. Once colonial Canadians acquired responsibility for Aboriginal affairs, they promoted assimilation. Aboriginal peoples would become citizens, but they had to demonstrate sobriety first. The 1876 Indian Act entrenched complete prohibition: Indians could drink only after they ceased to be Indians. After the Second World War, most Aboriginal leaders demanded access to alcohol as part of their campaign for equality without assimilation. Many non-Aboriginal Canadians supported these efforts. Some argued on the basis of justice, while others, ironically, claimed that equal access would promote assimilation. In the 1950s, the federal government began to dismantle Aboriginal liquor prohibition, but the government remained committed to assimilation until the 1970s. By the 1980s, court decisions and the Charter of Rights made Aboriginal-specific liquor legislation untenable, and the federal government transferred that responsibility to band councils.