In the aftermath of the North-West Rebellion, Indian Affairs instituted a pass system designed to confine Indians to their reserves in selected areas of the prairie west. Where the system was in effect, an Indian wishing to leave his reserve was required to obtain a pass, duly signed by the Indian agent and stipulating the duration and purpose of the leave. Indians without a pass, or in violation of the terms of the pass, were taken into custody by the police and summarily returned to their reserve. Lacking any basis in law, the system evolved as a form of local administrative tyranny, informally endorsed at the ministerial level of Indian Affairs. It aimed at a racial segregation meant to restrain Indian mobility, thereby minimizing friction with the white community, as well as ameliorating certain real or imagined problems, such as Indian prostitution, alcoholism and cattle killing.

From the beginning, the system was ineffectual. While Indians either ignored or openly defied the restrictions, the North West Mounted Police eventually came to the conclusion that, without legislative sanction, passes could not and should not be enforced. Faced with this situation, Indian Affairs by the early 1890s had no choice but to modify the scheme, both in substance and in intent. Although Indian agents continued to maintain the pretense that a pass was necessary for those wishing to leave the reserve, in practice passes were now granted almost on demand and for every conceivable purpose. The system was no longer meant to serve as an instrument of confinement, but merely as a means of monitoring Indian movement.