The aims of the organization are to protect and advance the aboriginal and treaty rights and interests of First Nations in Canada, including health, education, culture and language.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of regional Indigenous organizations were formed in Canada, such as the Grand Indian Council of Ontario and Quebec, and the Allied Tribes of B.C.

After World War II, additional provincial and territorial organizations were founded and continued to expand their memberships in an effort to assert their rights to land and to protect their cultures.

With further development and led by Jim Sinclair, in 1993 it became the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), representing urban and off-reserve Métis, non-status and status Indians.

In that, the Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien, had proposed abolition of the Indian Act, rejection of Aboriginal land claims, and assimilation of First Nations people into the Canadian population, with the status of other ethnic minorities, who were largely descendants of immigrants, rather than as a distinct group reflecting Indigenous peoples history in North America.

The NIB gained consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1974, until such time as an international Indigenous organization could be formed.

When the World Council of Indigenous Peoples was formed on Nuu-chah-nulth territory the following year, under the leadership of George Manuel, it took the place of the NIB at the United Nations.

In 1978, in an effort to enable more opinions to be heard, NIB President Noel Starblanket organized an "All Chiefs Conference" on Indian Self-Government.

[12] In early 2013, the press reported that documents revealed that the AFN had been operating together with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to provide information and conduct surveillance on members of First Nations communities.

This was in response to their joint concerns over disruptions due to mass protests over issues of sovereignty, land claims, and related tensions.

The Star reported that heads of the RCMP, and of the Ontario and Quebec provincial police met in the summer of 2007 with AFN national chief Phil Fontaine to "facilitate a consistent and effective approach to managing Aboriginal protests and occupations.