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OTTAWA—Charles Sawphawpahkayo wanted to get married.

To do that, the man from a reserve near Duck Lake, Sask. now known as Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation would need to travel to the bigger town of Battleford, about 140 kilometres away as the crow flies.

Before he could leave, however, Sawphawpahkayo, presumably an adult, would need the written authorization of the local Indian agent, who signed the required permission slip—issued by the Department of Indian Affairs – on June 3, 1897.

The agent granted him 10 days away from the reserve.

The yellowed document is one of many featured in a new documentary film called The Pass System, for which director Alex Williams spent five years piecing together a dark and little-known chapter of Canadian history that had the federal government – fully aware it was acting without any legal authority – forbid First Nations in the prairies from leaving their reserves.