A History of the Indian Trust Fund

The Indian Trust Fund is an account that holds all the moneys collected, received, or held by the Crown for the “use and benefit” of First Nations. There is significant confusion, mythology and a lack of clarity around this fund. This video provides a short history and explanation of how the fund came to be.

This video was created as part of the Yellowhead Institute Cash Back Red Paper project. Picking up from Land Back, the first Red Paper by Yellowhead about the project of land reclamation, Cash Back looks at how the dispossession of Indigenous lands created a dependency on the state due to the loss of economic livelihood. Cash Back is about restitution from the perspective of stolen wealth.

Learn more Cash Back and the Indian Trust Fund: cashback.yellowheadinstitute.org.