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Impact of assimilation policy on aboriginals
Aboriginal people and the effect of assimilation of culture pdf
The effect of assimilation on indigenous people
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Duncan Campbell Scott was a well-known man due to him being a Canadian bureaucrat, a poet and prose writer in 1920. Duncan Campbell Scott was a man who lead the Department of the Indian Affairs, he believes the key to fix the Aboriginals was by assimilating them through education. On that day the Parliament changed the Indian act and required all children between the age of 7 and 15 to go to school, the goal of the school was to civilize the children so that they would fit in the Canadian society. Children were forced to leave friends, family, and their homes, also were instructed to speak English and weren’t allowed to speak their first language. If someone did disobey those rules there would be severe consequences for instance being harsh
The Calder Case was the spark that led to the Canadian government recognizing Aboriginals and their rights. Firstly, the aboriginals used the Calder Case to inform the government that they were taking away their rights. The Calder Case was launched after the Attorney General of British Columbia declared “that the Aboriginal Title, other wise known as the Indian Title, of the Plaintiffs to their ancient tribal territory...has never been lawfully extinguished.”1 The statement made by the government claimed that the Aboriginal Title did not exist in the eyes of the law and before the Calder Case, it allowed them to ignore Aboriginal land rights all over the country. In addition, The Calder brought the issues the Aboriginals were facing with land claims to the attention of the Canadian government. “According to Kainai Board of Education The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada where the court ended up rejecting the native's claims after being split on it's validity. However, the Supreme Court of Canada's recognition required new respect for Aboriginal land claims.”2 The Supreme Court of Canada's recognition of the Calder Case benefited the Aboriginals as the government was...
Known as one of one of the founding fathers of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald helped shape our country into what it is today. During the early 1800s, significant people and events aided the development and growth of Canada. Born on January 11, 1815, Macdonald worked tirelessly to join the provinces of Canada together into one country. He was the first prime minister of Canada, fought for confederation and will continue to be remembered for his contribution to Canadian history. Sir John A. Macdonald is significant to Canadian history because he created the North West Mounted Police, initiated the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and helped Canada achieve confederation and come together as a country.
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was a prominent figure in Canada in the 1960s. Pearson was Canada's most significant post WWII prime minister because of his government's many innovations that still benefit Canadians today. He fostered Canadian nationalism, which continues to the present day, promoted equality throughout Canada – equality that now thrives as part of Canada's identity – and he introduced many social services that are still implemented today.
The history of Canada was flooded with many influential and incredible events, particularly during World War 1 and World War 2. During the 20th century, Canada got more involved in worldwide events. It was a very important period for Canada; it was where they gained their independence and progressed as a country. After this century, Canada was considered an important and powerful country. The three main 20th century events in Canadian history are the battle of Vimy Ridge, the change of woman’s rights and the battle of Juno Beach.
Lester B. Pearson has made many accomplishments throughout his life. He was the representative from Canada in the United Nations. He was the prime minister of Canada through 1963-1968. During his time of being Prime Minister, and even before, he has impacted Canada quite strongly. He is a very significant man because of the way he established Canadian Identity culturally, socially and through global relationships. He was the man who introduced ways to change Canada in order to improve lives.
“To kill the Indian in the child,” this was one of the many atrocious quotes which were spoken during the peak of residential schools from 1913 to 1932. Residential schools were government-sponsored, church ran schools established to assimilate Aboriginal children into Euro-Canadian culture. This quote means what it simply says, to remove the Indian culture out of a child. There were many quotes which outlined the goals of residential schools in Canada; some of them as shown in source II for example, were made by Duncan Campbell Scott, the Deputy Superintendent General of the Department of Indian Affairs between 1913 and 1932. The quote depicts his Eurocentric views towards the Indians and his intentions on what to do with them. The first Source
This was simply because the aboriginals lived a completely different lifestyle compared to European Canadians. Evidence to support this was the statement written by Duncan Campbell Scott, who used to be head of Indian Affairs in Canada from 1913 to 1932. This opinion was shared by many Canadians. Scott wrote that “They are a weird and waning race...ready to
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
The Indian act, since being passed by Parliament in 1876, has been quite the validity test for Aboriginal affairs occurring in Canada. Only a minority of documents in Canadian history have bred as much dismay, anger and debate compared to the Indian Act—but the legislation continues as a central element in the management of Aboriginal affairs in Canada. Aboriginal hatred against current and historic terms of the Indian Act is powerful, but Indigenous governments and politicians stand on different sides of the fence pertaining to value and/or purpose of the legislation. This is not shocking, considering the political cultures and structures of Aboriginal communities have been distorted and created by the imposition of the Indian Act.
The Canadian and American governments designed a residential school system to assimilate Indigenous children into Western society by stripping them of their language, cultural practices as well as their traditions. By breaking these children’s ties to their families and communities, as well as forcing them to assimilate into Western society; residential schools were a root cause of many social problems, which even persist within Aboriginal communities today.
The Indian Residential schools and the assimilating of First Nations people are more than a dark spot in Canada’s history. It was a time of racist leaders, bigoted white men who saw no point in working towards a lasting relationship with ingenious people. Recognition of these past mistakes, denunciation, and prevention steps must be taking intensively. They must be held to the same standard that we hold our current government to today. Without that standard, there is no moving forward. There is no bright future for Canada if we allow these injustices to be swept aside, leaving room for similar mistakes to be made again. We must apply our standards whatever century it was, is, or will be to rebuild trust between peoples, to never allow the abuse to be repeated, and to become the great nation we dream ourselves to be,
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.
Both Hart and Anaquod were subjected to the cultural assimilation and social isolation that was part of the Canadian government’s policy to “kill the Indian in the child.” Where the goal to transform Indigenous children into productive members of society shifted to abuse and the church and government covering up the secrets of abuse is sitting on a blurred line. On June 11, 2008, the current Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, made a statement of apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools, on behalf of the Government of Canada for the previous government’s actions. “The government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes and we apologize for having done this,” Harper said. “We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many lives and communities and we apologize for having done this.” Harper noted that many former students have died and are unable to hear the government’s
Tensions that exist between distinct groups of people or races break relationships and connections going on to create a rupture in Canada’s continuity. These cases are downplayed and the negative impacts of such tension on individuals are often subliminal. A recurring example of strain includes the Canadian government’s relationship with Aboriginals and the native peoples of Canada. Through the historical use of residential schools, cultural genocide, institutionalized and ongoing racism, and lack of support for Aboriginal communities, First Nations have been continually put at a disadvantage compared to other ethnic groups in Canada. The list of problems expands to encompass the lack of Aboriginal representation in the community and House of Commons, and the lack of input methods for those who voice their concerns. This is especially apparent for Aboriginal communities in Manitoba that have been on a boil water advisory for many years. These facets of our interaction with Aboriginals have slowly broken our connection with them. Throughout the years, the Canadian government repeated demonstrated a lack of respect and refusal to cooperate with Aboriginals. This lost voice in Canadian society has caused a divide in Canada. However, not all conflicts take place in such a large geographic area, but instead are centralized in certain places. In British Columbia and the West Coast of Canada in the early 1900’s, discrimination and racism was rampant against new Asian and Chinese immigrants. This led to the formation of the Asiatic Exclusion League which organized riots and reinforced the ideology that the Chinese were dirty, “bred like rats”, and took jobs away from the locals. As a result of their peculiar custom, habits, and ways of life, they were treated subpar to other Canadians and discriminated against by the local population. This led to the Chinese
The Indian Act was an attempt by the Canadian government to assimilate the aboriginals into the Canadian society through means such as Enfranchisement, the creation of elective band councils, the banning of aboriginals seeking legal help, and through the process of providing the Superintendent General of the Indian Affairs extreme control over the aboriginals, such as allowing the Superintendent to decide who receives certain benefits, during the earlier stages of the Canadian-Indigenous' political interaction. The failure of the Indian Act though only led to more confusion regarding the interaction of Canada and the aboriginals, giving birth to the failed White Paper and the unconstitutional Bill C-31, and the conflict still is left unresolved until this day.