Families whose ancestors gave up Indigenous status sue for rights return

VANCOUVER — A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Federal Court says the Canadian government wrongfully denies people status under the country’s Indian Act if their ancestors “voluntarily” 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 “being deprived of the benefits” of status under the act.

The claim says they all have “at least one direct ancestor” who was “enfranchised” under Canadian law, where they gave up their status and received the rights and privileges of Canadian citizenship.

The lawsuit says their “family history of enfranchisement” means they and their children and grandchildren are not eligible to register for status, depriving them of “tangible economic, educational, and health benefits of Indian status.”

The claim says the federal government has already “conceded” that the act’s registration provisions are unconstitutional in a legal challenge filed by Sharon Nicholas and Nicole Nicholas in B.C. Supreme Court, a case heard earlier this year with a decision pending.

The claims says it is “misleading” to refer to enfranchisement as voluntary because it was often done “under considerable duress” because it spared their children from residential schooling, and women and children were also automatically enfranchised if their husbands or fathers applied.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.

The Canadian Press