Genealogy and Family History

How to Begin

Guides

Researching Your Aboriginal Ancestry at Library and Archives Canada

Part I: Researching Your Aboriginal Genealogy at Library and Archives Canada

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Membership and Commutation Files

The membership files document all aspects of membership including acceptance, re entry, refusal, transfer, loss of status by marriage and so on. A commutation is a legal action provided for in the Indian Act by which an Indian woman who married a non Indian relinquished her right to annuities or any other regular cash payments by accepting a lump sum payment, ending in this way her financial connections to a band. Most of these records are arranged by the name of the agency; the names of bands are also mentioned in some descriptions.

Inventory descriptions relating to membership and commutation can be obtained from the ARCHIVED - General Inventory database using the keywords "membership" or "commutation" at the series and government records levels, and file information can be obtained from the ARCHIVED - Government of Canada Files database using keywords such as the names of bands or agencies as explained in Part II of this guide.

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