Indigenous Issues In Canada

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.

In addition to that, children experienced both physical and mental abuse while in residential schools where over 6000 children also died while enrolled. This had a lasting effect on the indigenous populations where families and individuals had difficulty coping with the event. For instance, once children left the residential schools, many of them were turned away from their communities and some chose not return because they had lost their indigenous culture and identity which allowed them to connect with others.

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

on. For example, as we looked at in class, the Amazon forest is home to several tribes whose land is being used for its natural resources by different manufacturers (Indigenous People of the Amazon Rainforest, 2013). These individuals have been inhabiting the Amazon rainforest for centuries where they have a rich culture and many of them choose to live just like their ancestors did. The problem with this situation is that the rainforest has allowed these indigenous groups to live in a sustainable environment where they are protected from the outside world and are able to hunt fish and continue on with their way of living and traditions (Indigenous People of the Amazon Rainforest) .

However, with these companies coming in, they are disturbing these indigenous groups and a similar situation occurred when Europeans were colonizing different countries comes into play. The reason for this being is that although these indigenous groups have been living on the land for years, they still do not have the “rights to the land” as delgarded by the countries. This issue is of significance because it’s still going on to this day and many indigenous groups living in the Amazon rainforest struggle with it. In Addition to that, it’s crucial that we learn about colonization and the impact it had on different indigenous groups. For example, in class we looked at the Tasmanian peoples who lived in Australia, but more specifically we looked into Truganini who was the last full-blooded Tasmanian. The Tasmanian peoples represents the significant impact that colonization had on different indigenous groups. Where they were ripped off their culture and heritage since it was the europeans goal to “civilize” the Tasmanian

peoples. By doing so, they decreased the population of the Tasmanian people and eventually all Tasmanian people were annihilated out of existence. It’s important that we bring importance and acknowledge past events in history in order to ensure that the same mistakes do not reoccur. Colonialism affected Indigenous peoples terribly and life during Post-Colonialism was just as horrible. Indigenous people were seen as insignificant and violations were made to their culture, traditions and way of living.