on-reserveadv.adj.
/ˌɒnrᵻˈzəːv/, U.S. /ˌɔnrəˈzərv/, /ˌɔnriˈzərv/, /ˌɑnrəˈzərv/, /ˌɑnriˈzərv/, Canadian English /ˌɒnrəˈzɜrv/, /ˌɒnriˈzɜrv/ North American (now chiefly Canadian).
A. adv.
On a designated reserve for a North American Indian people. Cf. off-reserve adv.
ΚΠ
1882 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Indian Affairs (U.S. Dept. Interior) 92 The tribe numbers 228 persons on reserve.
1935 Amer. Rev. Tuberculosis Aug. 184 Many Indians who live on reserve and ‘take Treaty’ have various admixtures of white blood.
1987 I. B. Cowie Future Issues Jurisdict. & Coordination between Aboriginal & Non-aboriginal Govts. iii. 37 Most Status Indians resided On-Reserve and the federal government provided most basic services.
2017 E. J. Hedican First Nations of Ont. App. A. 165 The Chapleau First Nation webpage..indicates a total registered population of 337 persons, 73 of whom live on-reserve.
B. adj.
Located on, inhabiting, or relating to land which forms part of a designated reserve for a North American Indian people; = on-reservation adj. at on- prefix 2. Cf. off-reserve adj.
ΚΠ
1959 Stud. Population Indian Ancestry Manitoba (Dept. Agric. & Immigration, Manitoba) 1 iv. 90 The Department of Citizenship and Immigration, through the regional supervisors of the Indian Affairs Branch already provides an employment service for on-reserve Indians.
1995 K. Brock in D. M. Brown & J. W. Rose Canada: State of Federation vii. 147 The on-reserve population in Manitoba tends to have the lowest incomes in the province.
2016 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 26 May a6 Perhaps the most pressing issue, when it comes to Canada's aboriginal people and its education system, is the long-standing crisis of underfunded on-reserve schooling.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adv.adj.1882