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Canadian and American culture
Colonization in Canada and indigenous people
Indigenous people in canada history
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Each and every one of the world's many nations is unique in its own way. No two nations are the same in terms of the way they live. Whether it is driving on the right or left side of the road, pronouncing words a certain way or using hand gestures to communicate different meanings, each nation of the world has something that allows it to stand out. This uniqueness can come from certain religions, cultural practices, geography, history or from a multitude of other reasons. Despite this, a unique nation usually gains its originality and identity from its people. The way the people interact, live, work, play and have come to exist dictate how others perceive them as a culture. Canada is a provocative country with a divergent population. Each individual culture brings a meaningful element of intangibility that sets us apart as one of the most interesting and exclusive places to live in the entire world. Canada's identity spurs from its original founding people; The French, English and Aboriginals. To understand Canada is to understand the history and culture of each people to know what it truly means to be Canadian. Early Canada was a three way affair with Aboriginals, British peoples and French peoples playing a part in its creation. Over time, each has played a significant role in the development of Canada as a unique state.
Firstly, the founding members of Canada must be discussed. Aboriginals were the first inhabitants of Canada. The aboriginal people are thought to have migrated to Canada via a land bridge that connected it to East Asia over 16,000 years ago. Likely to have been Siberian, these people pursued the migration patterns of animals they hunted and dispersed throughout Canada. Tribes such as the Inuit (Arctic), Hu...
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Goebel, Ted. " The Late Pleistocene Dispersal of Modern Humans in the Americas" Science Magazine. 319. (2008). 14967-1501. Print.
Innis, Harold A. The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2001. Print.
Papillon, Martin. "Aboriginal Peoples and Quebec: Competing or Coexisting Nationalisms?" Ottawa: University of Ottawa. Print.
Poutanen, Dr. Marry Anne. "Aboriginal Peoples in Northern North America before Contact" CANS 200. Strathcona Anatomy and Dental Building, Montreal. 9 Sept 2013.
Poutanen, Dr. Marry Anne. "The Conquest as Rupture and Continuity" CANS 200. Strathcona Anatomy and Dental Building, Montreal. 16 September 2013
"The Vikings and Canada." Canada History. The Government of Canada, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Although Quebec is in Canada, a majority of Quebecers do not identify with the national identity of Canada. Both societies create a sense of identity as well as nationalism (Hiller, 295). Hiller mentions two approaches to assessing Canadian identity; the unitary approach and the segmentalist approach (Hiller, 277). The unitary approach suggests that society consists of people who regardless of their ethnic back ground, identify as belonging to the national society, while the segmentalist approach concentrates on groups and communities that share racial, linguistic, occupational, or cultural similarities (Hiller, 28). While most Anglophones are more unitary or pan-Canadian, Quebec heavily identifies with the segmentalist approach. This dissimilarity of identity perspective may be problematic for the country, at the same time however, it can also be viewed as a struggle where contradictory parties find a way to compromise and reshape Canadian society together (Hiller, 277). Canada’s former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau made it his objective to unite Quebec with the rest of Canada. In 1969 Trudeau’s government implemented Bill C-120, otherwise known as the Official Language act, which made French an...
Government of Canada. Legacy of Sir John A Macdonald. 29 Apr. 2005. Library and Archives Canada. 29 May 2011
Until the 16th century, Aboriginal people were the only inhabitants of what is now Canada, hence, they were an independent and self-governing people till the Europeans had the capacity to dominate Canada's original inhabitants and possessors (Elias 1). The European Invasion brought about The 1876 Indian Act, which was developed over time through separate pieces of colonial legislation regarding Aboriginal peoples across Canada such as the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869. In 1876, these acts were consolidated as the Indian Act (Hanson). This essay aims to explain how the Indian Act tried to destroy the Aboriginal culture through residential schools and unequal recognition of women, successive acts,
"Conflict and Change." Exploration, the Fur Trade and Hudson's Bay Company - History. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .
McClurken, J. M. (2009). Our people, our journey: the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
Rynard, P. (2001). Ally or colonizer?: The federal state, the cree nation and the james bay agreement. Journal of Canadian Studies, 36(2), 8.
Generations of native people in Canada have faced suffering and cultural loss as a result of European colonization of their land. Government legislation has impacted the lives of five generations of First Nations people and as a result the fifth generation (from 1980 to present) is working to recover from their crippled cultural identity (Deiter-McArthur 379-380). This current generation is living with the fallout of previous government policies and societal prejudices that linger from four generations previous. Unrepentant, Canada’s ‘Genocide’, and Saskatchewan’s Indian People – Five Generations highlight issues that negatively influence First Nations people. The fifth generation of native people struggle against tremendous adversity in regard to assimilation, integration, separation, and recovering their cultural identity with inadequate assistance from our great nation.
The special thing about this war was that part of it was over the influence of the territory later Canada (Upper Canada history, 2011).... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved May 15, 2014, from McCord Museum website: http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&tableid=11&elementid=105__true&contentlong. Official voting results -.
Canada likes to paint an image of peace, justice and equality for all, when, in reality, the treatment of Aboriginal peoples in our country has been anything but. Laden with incomprehensible assimilation and destruction, the history of Canada is a shameful story of dismantlement of Indian rights, of blatant lies and mistrust, and of complete lack of interest in the well-being of First Nations peoples. Though some breakthroughs were made over the years, the overall arching story fits into Cardinal’s description exactly. “Clearly something must be done,” states Murray Sinclair (p. 184, 1994). And that ‘something’ he refers to is drastic change. It is evident, therefore, that Harold Cardinal’s statement is an accurate summarization of the Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationship in
government, t. p. (n.d.). Quebec Nationalism - Quebec History. Faculty.marianopolis.edu. Retrieved May 27, 2012, from http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/events/natpart4.htm
The Indian Act no longer remains an undisputable aspect of the Aboriginal landscape in Canada. For years, this federal legislation (that was both controversial and invasive) governed practically all of the aspects of Aboriginal life, starting with the nature of band governance and land tenure. Most importantly, the Indian act defines qualifications of being a “status Indian,” and has been the source of Aboriginal hatred, due to the government attempting to control Aboriginals’ identities and status. This historical importance of this legislation is now being steadily forgotten. Politically speaking, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal critics of the Indian act often have insufferable opinions of the limits of the Indian Act’s governance, and often argue to have this administrative device completely exterminated. Simultaneously, recent modern land claim settlements bypass the authority of the Indian Act over specific groups.
“ Canada 's national obsession seems to be its own identity.” For many years Canada has feared the increasing influence of its North American neighbors on its culture - the United States . It has become a matter of growing concern for the people of power and influence in Canada to maintain their separate cultural identity and to promote their own cultural norms. Gaetan Tremblay presents his views on this topic and does this from the perspective of a person living and working in Quebec.
Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.
... middle of paper ... ... Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina. Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) (2013).
...ils and new directions: papers of the third North American Fur Trade Conference. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1980.