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.
The creation of the Residential Schools is now looked upon to be a regretful part of Canada’s past. The objective: to assimilate and to isolate First Nations and Aboriginal children so that they could be educated and integrated into Canadian society. However, under the image of morality, present day society views this assimilation as a deliberate form of cultural genocide. From the first school built in 1830 to the last one closed in 1996, Residential Schools were mandatory for First Nations or Aboriginal children and it was illegal for such children to attend any other educational institution. If there was any disobedience on the part of the parents, there would be monetary fines or in the worst case scenario, trouble with Indian Affairs.
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
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 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).
It is critical that we study indignity in order to bring awareness and importance to the indigenous issues that took place in the past and to ones that continue to this day. Not only that, but it’s important that we learn from history in order to ensure that the same mistakes and events do not reoccur. For instance, it’s crucial that we learn about the past of residential schools in Canada and the effects it had on indigenous children and their families. During the 19th and 20th century, Indigenous Children were torn apart and forced into a cultural genocide were they had their identity taken away from them. The government’s goal was to “kill” the Indigenous identity inside of every child and make them more custom to the European Canadian society.
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
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
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.”
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
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.
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.
Reflecting back on the knowledge I had previous to the course about First Nations people, was nothing compared to the knowledge I have now. It is upsetting reading my reflection because; I am able to see how inaccurate information is being taught about the First Nations culture. It refers to them as people who are addicted to alcohol and poor. In reality, our culture is the one that