Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Current unfair treatment of native americans
Governemnt policies towards native americans
Aboriginal poverty in canada essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Current unfair treatment of native americans
Idle No More: A Critical Exploration of the Six Demands of Idle No More And the Importance of Meaningful Action by the Federal Government On October 15th 2013 the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, released a statement upon the conclusion of his visit to Canada. In his statement, Anaya reveals that “from all I have learned, I can only conclude that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country” (2013:8). Even though Canada was one of the first countries to extend constitutional protection to the rights of indigenous people, Canadian aboriginals experience a well-being gap. Aboriginal teens are more likely to commit suicide; Aboriginal women are eight times more likely to be murdered than non-aboriginal women; housing conditions on reserves are akin to third world countries and Aboriginals experience a disproportionately high incarceration rate (Anaya 2013). Amidst the wealth and prosperity of Canada, the gap between the quality of life of Aboriginal Canadians and non-aboriginal Canadians is disturbing. Residential schools, systemic-racism, and the repression of Aboriginal heritage and tradition have resulted in a deeply engrained distrust among aboriginals towards the government. Over the last few decades the Canadian government has tried through a variety of initiatives and policies to reconcile with Aboriginal communities. Court victories and greater constitutional recognition of Aboriginal peoples suggest that the Canadian government has recognized their past mistreatment of Aboriginals and have taken steps towards reconciliation. Even with a federal policy geared towards the recognition of past wrong-doings, Aboriginal court victori... ... middle of paper ... ...er-American Court of Human Right in Light of the United Nations Decleration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”Wisconsin International Law Journal. Vol. 7 No. 1. Retrieved Nov 28th 2013 from http://works.bepress.com Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1996. Report of the Royal Commission on Aborigonal People, Volume 1, Looking Forward, Looking back, Ottawa: Minister of Supply Services Scoffield, Heather. Pipeline industry drove changes to Navigable Waters Protection ACT, Documents show. The Star, February 2th 2013. United Nations A. 2008. Frequently Asked Questions: Decleration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Retrieved November 29th 2013 from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/FAQsindigenousdeclaration.pdf United Nations B. 2008. United Nations Decleration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Retrieved Novemeber 29th 2013 from WWW.UN.Org
Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall. The Justice System and Aboriginal People: Child Welfare. n.d. - n.d. - n.d. The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter14.html.
Canada has been constantly acknowledged as a nation of different people from different part of the world (MacDonald 66). Our great nation is recognized as a very diverse country filled with unity, which continues to encourage people from other part of the world to come and live in Canada. Although its been constantly considered as one of the top countries in the UN Human Development Index, Aboriginal peoples classified together with residents of Panama, Belarus, and Malaysia in terms of their economic and social possibilities (qtd. in MacDonald 66). In a special report by James Anaya, claimed that Canada has issues in regards to the circumstances surrounding indigenous people of the nation, and Aboriginal petitions continues to be unsettled, and therefore resulted to an excessive amount of lack of confidence among Aboriginal peoples towards the government (qtd in MacDonald 66).
Glen Coulthard’s “Resentment and Indigenous Politics” discusses the politics of recognition that are currently utilized within Canada’s current framework of rectifying its colonial relationship with Indigenous peoples. Coulthard continues a discussion on reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and the state that recognizes the three main methods of reconciliation: the diversity of individual and collective practices to re-establish a positive self relation, the act of restoring damaged social and political relationships and the process in which things are brought to agreement and made consistent.
This again shows the traumatic effects of residential schools and of cultural, psychological, and emotional upheaval caused by the intolerance and mistreatment of Aboriginals in Canada. Settlers not only displaced Aboriginal people from their land and their homes, but they also experienced emotional trauma and cultural displacement.
LaPrairie, C. (1995). Community justice or just communities? Aboriginal communities in search of justice. Canadian Journal of Criminology. 37 (4), 521-535.
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.
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.
“In about half of the Dominion, the aboriginal rights of Indians have arguably been extinguished by treaty” (Sanders, 13). The traditions and culture of Aboriginals are vanishing at a quick pace, and along it is their wealth. If the Canadian Government restore Native rights over resource development once again, Aboriginals would be able to gain back wealth and help with the poverty in their societies. “An influential lobby group with close ties to the federal Conservatives is recommending that Ottawa ditch the Indian Act and give First Nations more control over their land in order to end aboriginal poverty once and for all” (End First). This recommendation would increase the income within Native communities, helping them jump out of
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
Justice has began to commence for many of Canada’s Indigenous people now that considerably one of our Nation’s darkest secrets has been spilled. The Residential School system was a collection of 132 church-run, government-funded boarding schools that was legally required for all Indigenous Canadian children. Canadian Residential Schools ran up until 1996 and, for decades, the secrets from within the walls of the institutions have been hidden. But now, the truth has finally come to light.
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.
Do you know that despite Canada being called multicultural and accepting, Canada’s history reveals many secrets that contradicts this statement? Such an example are Canadian aboriginals, who have faced many struggles by Canadian society; losing their rights, freedoms and almost, their culture. However, Native people still made many contributions to Canadian society. Despite the efforts being made to recognize aboriginals in the present day; the attitudes of European Canadians, acts of discrimination from the government, and the effects caused by the past still seen today have proven that Canadians should not be proud of Canada’s history with respect to human rights since 1914. First, is because of the attitudes of European Canadians towards aboriginals, which were mostly cruel and inhumane.
Before European contact in North America, Aboriginal Women held traditional roles in society and in family life. Different beliefs and social codes were introduced to the Aboriginal society when non-Aboriginal contact arrived in what is now Canada. They brought with them their ideologies about patriarchal social codes and the goals of assimilating and civilizing of the Aboriginals. Colonialism has damaged Canadian Aboriginal women’s roles through imposition of patriarchy and the act of marginalization.
Its important to recognize that many of the challenges Aboriginal women face are directly linked to each other, for example the low socioeconomic status as discussed above puts them at risk for experiencing abuse and violence. In a study by Daoud, Smylie, Urquia, Allan and O’Campo (2013)
The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission. (1999). The Justice System and Aboriginal People. Winnipeg: Manitoba Government.