<p>150 years ago this month, the Indian Act became law — a sweeping piece of legislation that governed almost every aspect of First Nations’ lives — and has long been criticized as unfair, racist and “unquestionably sexist."</p><p><br></p><p>On this special edition of The House, Catherine Cullen explores the history of the discriminatory legislation with Bob Joseph, author of 21 Things You Might Not Know about the Indian Act and Janice Makokis, an Indigenous Legal Rights Scholar and associate professor at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The program also looks at current attempts to reform the Indian Act through Bill S-2, an amendment that would allow status to pass on indefinitely to future generations — eliminating the "second-generation cut-off." Dawn Lavell-Harvard, former national president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, explains how it would impact her own family, and Kitigan Zibi’s Nick Ottawa explains why First Nations are conce...