As one looks back to times when hardships fell on First Nations in respect to education, treaties, and the justice system what you will find written in this essay is a comparison to what was then and what is now. The world of the First Nation’s treaties questions ignorance of oral history, the way the treaties were upheld but not respected and the common agreements between Canadian government and aboriginal law. The ignorance is how the oral history of first nations was ignored and forgotten. The oral history states that the land was to be shared and not given away; it cannot be bought or sold. First Nations were placed on the land as guardians. The government ignored this oral agreement and made a written agreement that stated that the First Nations “ceded and surrendered” the land, stripping them of their claim to it. It wasn’t until modern day that the treaties have been recognised, oral and written. First Nations voices are finally being heard about their land, but still have negotiations going on to try and repair the damage that was done when the oral history was ignored, but it is still a low priority for the government. Secondly I am going to talk about First Nations education in the residential schools, modern day education, and how first nations lost their identity in the residential school system. Residential schools were funded by the federal government and ran by various churches. The residential schools removed first nation’s children from their homes and forced them into a schooling system that had lower standards of education than that of non-aboriginal schools. First Nations children were stripped of their identity once they arrived at the schools and taught “the proper Christian” way of life, not the way of their... ... middle of paper ... ... turn it would have been dealt with a little more severely than in today’s justice system. Today’s justice systems are a little more complex when it comes to dealing with these issues because of the issues with racism in the past. When the court systems today try to decided punishment a lot of factors are taken into consideration to avoid issues with capital punishment. But as the final perspective from a crowns point of view, capital punishment is un-acceptable because it requires the courts to take the final decision of someone’s life into their own hands and has been abolished since July 14th, 1976 except with certain circumstances regarding the nation defence act that were removed in 1998. As a conclusion summary to the ideas that were represented in this essay, the aboriginals in Canada were and are still are to certain degree victims of a predigest government.
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
Living in Canada, there is a long past with the Indigenous people. The relationship between the white and First Nations community is one that is damaged because of our shameful actions in the 1800’s. Unnecessary measures were taken when the Canadian government planned to assimilate the Aboriginal people. Through the Indian Act and Residential schools the government attempted to take away their culture and “kill the Indian in the child.” The Indian Act allowed the government to take control over the people, the residential schools took away their culture and tore apart their families, and now we are left with not only a broken relationship between the First Nations people but they are trying to put back together their lives while still living with a harsh reality of their past.
This paper will be addressing the difficulties that the First Nations face everyday, whether they are part of a non-Aboriginal community or simply in their own Reserves. It will also address what control the Canadian government has on the Aboriginal and their culture. No matter where these people are living, they face with certain discrimination from non-Aboriginal people everywhere they go. As a conclusion, the reader will have a better understanding of why it is important that the Aboriginals get a discrimination-free environment and treatment. They will also open their eyes that this is a matter of racism applied by everyone who fits in the ‘norms’ that society has created.
...sed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism resulting in oppression. As discussed above, the histories of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Native people are treated in modern Canadian society. As a result of the British invasion of Canada, the colonies that forced in the Aboriginal people into assimilation gave much grief that is reflected in their lives today. Presently, the state continues to shape the construction and social reproduction of racism, Racialization, and sexism as experienced by Aboriginal people in Canada through institutional and systematic racism. Today the failures of Canada's racist policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels poor education, unemployment, and culture oppression. Which poses the question: Canada: Whose home and native land?
The report was published in 1993 with the clear goal of “renewing the relationship between the Aboriginal and non Aboriginal peoples of Canada”. The commission was divided into five volumes; Looking Forward, Looking Back, Restructuring the Relationship, Gathering Strength, Perspectives and Realities, and Renewal: A Twenty-Year Commitment. Within each section, the commissioners proposed several recommendations that would help alleviate the tensions currently existing between the government and the Aboriginal Nations. What follows is a discussion of the most notable issues and recommendations presented within the commission which include the restructuring of the relationship between the Canadian government and Aboriginal communities, strengthening self governance, and supporting the social and economic development of Aboriginal communities by addressing issues of health, education, and family. Further, this paper will explore the relevance of the recommendations in the present political climate, as well as the challenges this commission has
Looking towards the world, the population of aboriginals isn’t that large. Canada’s government has promised many treaties, and has tried to pitch in by providing money to the aboriginals, but to this day, they have not fully affirmed the collective rights of the Aboriginals. They for sure have tried, but from what the world see’s, the government (especially the old Harper government) doesn’t find the long-term solution to the issues. They just try to settle it with some more money, without actually thinking of what could happen in the future. Collective rights are rights guaranteed to specific groups in canadian society. The First nations are a collective with collective rights. A really strong example of one way in which the government hasn’t
The Canadian Residential School system has left a lasting legacy on multiple generations of First Nations people across the country. Even in their old age, they are still affected by the efforts of the Department of Indian Affairs to assimilate the First Nations people into the new settler’s society. Cecile Kelto provided a first-hand account of what occurred within the walls of schoolhouse, and while it is quite emotional, she may not the picture that one many hope for as she believes that she ‘had it better’ than others that she went to school with . Her interview is still an important, though, as it shows that so much more was going on than just physical and sexual abuse because she was still traumatized by other factors that are identified
Furthermore, Indigenous children received poor education while in residential schools and this negatively affected the indigenous population since it lead to things such as unemployment, poverty, substance abuse and family violence (PostMedia News, 2015). Not only that, but residential schools significantly affected the indigenous culture and language because children were forced not to speak their languages of origin and were punished if chosen to do so (PostMedia News, 2015). This affected indigenous people for generations because many individuals who were in residential schools were unable to pass down their culture and language down onto their own children. This has left an imprint on the indigenous community for years. Moreover, It’s important to learn about the rights of Indigenous peoples because, for centuries they’ve had many things taken away from them such as the land they live
The Europeans and the Euro-Canadians have been dispossessing the First Nation People in more than one way since the arrival of the European colonizers. The Europeans have continuously framed the First Nations land owners in ways that served them economical power (Peters, 2000, p.46) The lands that the First Nation People occupy are very sacred to their everyday lives. Their identity, spirituality, laws, traditions, culture and their rights all arise with from the relationship they have with their land (CJPME Foundation,2014). If the land is taken away from them, they no longer have any of their culture or way of life anymore. Continuing today and due to the tentative First Nations Peoples, the Canadian government has engaged in a strong and constant effort to dispossess them of their land (Gordon, 2013).
Canada, a country that prides itself on equality and upholding human rights, has failed to fulfill its treaty obligation to Aboriginal people. The right to land and the right to self-determination are considered to be the two most significant Aboriginal rights of the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit in Canada. The right to land involves indigenous people right to have sovereignty over their land through ownership. Self-determination is an inherent right that people have to make their own decisions regarding their lifestyle, culture, and political independence. The objective of this research paper is to investigate the issue of Aboriginal land claims and Indigenous peoples’ right to self-government. Aboriginal people in Canada consider land to be part of their Aboriginal identity for the reason being that their culture is grounded in nature. Their culture is based on the strong spiritual connection to Mother Earth and they treat their environment with the utmost respect.
Understanding that the Aboriginal population is indeed a special population in Canada derives from the fact that there has been serious injustice since colonization in Canada, and that has built the foundation for the injustice we see today. For instance, we see injustice in the systematic discrimination against Aboriginal people. However this is interpreted through the perception that we see Aboriginal people as having lower status in society as a result of the statistic demonstrating higher rates of incarceration, lower education, and higher rates of addiction. These have not only added to injustice that natives will face but also the systematic
North American history is more often than not taught through one prevailing perspective. It is only until students reach post secondary, and choose to learn more about history, that the stories of minorities are finally heard. This essay will attempt to provide the other perspective of European conquest. European conquest of Indigenous lands, in North America from the 16th to 19th centuries, depicts an excruciating struggle for both settlers and Aboriginal peoples. When attempting to remove Indigenous peoples from their territory the settlers faced many complications due to the political, economic and military landscape they were advancing. Some of these Aboriginal forms of resistance included the knowledge of survival and language. Thus, the
Currently, Aboriginal peoples in Canada live in conditions of extraordinary poverty in a land of riches and wealth. Their are substandard and overcrowded, water often unsanitary and contaminated, population and in particular Aboriginal youth face staggering unemployment and rates of suicide, levels of health, income and education fall far below that of the rest of the country. With this being said after long years of oppression and discrimination, the Canadian government has made valiant efforts in the reconciliation of Aboriginal relations, however the resources and funds provided have proven to be insufficient, thus causing detrimental consequences.
First Nations and the way they are treated today differs from the way they were treated before. Today Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities and living together in harmony and are working together to fix any mistakes we made before.For example, our old Prime Minister Steven Harper apologized to the First Nations about the residential schools and the government puts no taxes on First Nation purchases and also gives them grants. First Nations are being accepted for who they and aren’t facing any type of racism or assimilation. Today there are many famous First Nations, Chief Dan George is an actor, poet, and activist. He was the first Aboriginal to be seen on T.V and in Movies, he was also nominated for the Acadamy Award for “Little Big Man.”
During the time spent in the course this year, I've gained so much knowledge about the First Nations culture. In the beginning of the course, I barely knew anything, with the information I have received it has opened me to the truth of my own culture, and the First Nations people's culture. It has been disappointing to find out that the information I was taught in elementary school about the First Nations people was false, and how much of it was just stereotyped. An important concept I learnt throughout the course is, the danger of a single story. This is because, I realized having only one viewpoint to a story can extremely limit the ideas we are able to obtain from it. Residential schools are extremely important in First Nations people's cultures past, as that is the cause of what almost took away their whole culture.