Winnipeg -- Margaret Wente wrote that Bill C-31 allowed those who married off-reserve to regain their status and that status became "worth having" after the Tsawwassen First Nation struck a profitable deal (Tsawwassen Treaty Takedown - June 21). The reality of the Indian Act and Bill C-31 was that prior to it being passed, first nations women lost their first nations status if they married someone not registered as an Indian under the Indian Act.
This was part of a racist, sexist policy of assimilation, and was changed because of some brave first nations women who took the issue to international human-rights forums. Being able to regain status is about more than a cash payout: It means being allowed to live on one's homelands (women who lost their status because of marriage were not allowed to live on reserve); it means these women and their children have access to their community and cultural heritage; it means access to aboriginal languages spoken mainly in communities; it means access to the Non-Insured Health Benefits program; it means more than I can explain in a brief letter to the editor.
Please remember that first nations men were not stripped of their status for marrying non-first nations women; in fact, these women were granted status as Indians.