Dive into Canada's history with a piece that sparks critical conversation. The racist "Gradual Civilization Act" of Canada serves as a profound reminder of structural inequalities, which we must confront and overcome together. 
 
The Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 was a racist, sexist piece of legislational garbage that aimed to strong-arm Indigenous people into renouncing their Indian status in exchange for full Canadian citizenship — a process called "enfranchisement." 
This had particularly damaging gendered impacts for Indigenous women, stripping them of their rights, autonomy, and status; when an Indigenous woman married a non-Indigenous man, she automatically lost her Indian status and was expelled from her home reserve. Women stripped of status were then left in legal limbo: not recognized as citizens with full rights, nor as Indigenous people with treaty protections.
 
An enfranchised woman could no longer: own or inherit land, live in her community or receive services, or be buried in her own ancestral territory. Her children were also denied status, cutting entire family lines out of the nation’s legal and cultural fabric. These multi-generational harms resulted in an ugly undercurrent of de-humanization, kicking off a cycle of discrimination and marginalization that persists to this day. The MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) is a stark reminder of how disgustingly evil the effect this government agenda had.
 
By highlighting this important dialogue, The New Provocateur aims to craft jewelry that not only adorns but also educates. Our art-jewelry is about driving us collectively toward open-mindedness and change.