Aboriginal People In Canada

Aboriginal people are the natives of Canada; the people who lived here before anyone else settled. Therefore, when new settlers arrived they sometimes had to fight to get what belonged to them. This has not changed today. After the 1980s, Aboriginal people have only been somewhat successful in having their issues such as self-government, social conditions, land claims, and residential schools addressed.
Self-government is one of the issues that the First Nations have been moderately successful in having addressed. In 1982 The Assembly of First Nations were made to represent First Nations. It was because of them that the rights of the First Nations were written into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Additionally, Bill C-31 was introduced.
This provided bands the opportunity to decide who lived on their reserves. These have been small but strong successes. However, they are not without their setbacks. Aboriginal bands want more power and a stronger self-government. This is not possible at this time because the boundaries of the self-government are yet unknown. Self-government could affect land claims as well as the fact no one is aware of how it would work in practice. Not all of their problems with the issue of self-government were addressed, but the Aboriginals still had their problems addressed to a moderate extent.
Social conditions are yet another issue Aboriginal people face.
This issue has still not been majorly addressed. The federal government launched a study to determine the quality of life of Aboriginals, along with the issue they face. The report concluded that big changes needed to be made by the government in order for them to have a good relationship with the Aboriginals. Solutions to the problems they faced were also addressed. The First Nations had their issue with social conditions addressed; the government is aware of the problem. The problem, however, lies in the fact that almost nothing has been done. Strategies have been presented but how many of them have succeeded, and how many have actually been tested. Later, The Assembly of First Nations launched a similar report. It showed how much progress Canada had made with the issue. The report concluded that 1 in 4 First Nations children were living in poverty compared to the 1 in 6 national average. First Nations were shown to have a lower rate of graduating high school and higher unemployment rate. Canada was also one of the only countries to reject the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Aboriginal People. It is obvious, that much is still left to be done; therefore the Aboriginal people have only met minor success in this
area.
Land claims are a highly disputed issue that First Nations have met moderate success in terms of having it addressed.
There are two types of land claims; comprehensive, and specific. Comprehensive land claims are hard to prove, and specific land claims involve the government signing a treaty with the Aboriginal people, but never going through with the deal. One of the biggest land claims in Canada was to the Inuit in Nunavut. They were given 2 million square kilometers of land. The Inuit were given control of Nunavut's land. Another claim was by the Nisga'a. They fought to get the rights to the land they lived on are were the first to file a land claim with the government. In 1996, they were given a portion of land that they claimed ownership to. They were also given control of the forest, some profits from fisheries, and hydro development. The Nisga'a also got their own municipal government and police force. They were one of the first successes of Aboriginal people getting their native land back. Therefore it is fair to say Aboriginals have succeed to a moderate extent in getting this issue addressed. It is not like this for everyone. Comprehensive land claims are hard to prove, and some Aboriginal people are still fighting for their land
today.
Lastly, Aboriginal people have had a great success in getting the issue of residential schools addressed. After Phil Fontaine, the Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba, spoke out about his experience with abuse in residential schools, more people came forward. Only years after he spoke out, the last government operated residential school was closed. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an apology on behalf of the government for residential schools 18 years after Phil Fontaine's speech. Although more needs to be done to heal the wounds of the ones hurt in these schools, Aboriginal people have experienced a great success with this issue.
Aboriginal people struggled and still struggle today to have their issues addressed by the government. The difference now is that there are more people listening and willing to listen to these concerns. Overall, Aboriginal people have had their issues moderately addressed.