Regulatory Framework on Aboriginal Peoples
According to Section 9.6 of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Final Report, (1993)
"The control of sales of alcohol to Indians had been a feature of colonial legislation long before the Indian Act and had been ardently requested by many Indian nations because of the destructive social consequences of drunkenness
in Indian communities. Both before and after Confederation penal sanctions were imposed on the sellers of alcohol. However, legislation was passed in 1874 making it an offence punishable by one month in jail for an Indian to be intoxicated on- or off-reserve. Failure to name
the seller of the alcohol in question could lead to an additional 14 days’ imprisonment. These provisions became part of the 1876 Indian Act, supplemented by the prohibition on simple possession of alcohol by an Indian on-reserve. The later 1951 Indian Act revision made
one exception to the provisions by allowing an Indian to be in possession of alcohol if in a public place and in accordance with provincial law. It was still an offence to be drunk, however. No non-Indian could have been convicted of a similar offence. In the Drybones case the
Supreme Court of Canada finally struck down the off-reserve intoxication offence for contravening the equality provision of the Canadian Bill of Rights.93 These provisions have been eliminated from the contemporary version of the Indian Act, and control over intoxicants
on-reserve has been transferred entirely to the band and band council.”
General
Indian Act, Sections Related to Alcohol After 1996
United States
International