The 60s; a time most people remember to be full of partying, overrun with tacky Afros, stoned hippies, and cheap lava lamps. However, even in the happiest of times, no matter how peaceful the world seems, you can always count on a minority being mistreated. During the 60s, this was happening right here in Canada, specifically in Residential Schools. These institutions were designed to assimilate native children into Canadian society, but in reality, they more often than not became host to the mutilation of the native people's rights, all in the name of the gods that every man, woman, and child of Canada worshipped. Richard Wagamese's book, Indian Horse, focuses on this aspect of Canadian history. The story follows the life of Saul Indian Horse, an Ojibway child whose life became filled with tragedy and pain; he was constantly being stabbed in the back by the people he trusted most, all because he was born with a different skin color. However, who in this tragic life of his hurt him the most? Undoubtedly, Father Leboutilier caused Saul the most pain in his life; subjecting him to a variety of abuses. These actions caused a multitude of…
The 1885 Uprising is one of the defining moments in Canadian Aboriginal Peoples’ history. Though the historical account of this series of events, which led to the prosecution of many Aboriginal leaders, seems to be biased from both the official reports and Stonechild’s account, the political position of the Native Peoples was set back for many years because of these historical incidents.…
Native Americans have been in Canada for an estimated 50 000 years. They were a simple people who traded and hunted and lived in Canada in harmony with the land. Then Europeans came and decided that their ways of life were wrong, barbaric and had to be changed. Europeans did this by extermination, acculturation and assimilation. The government of Canada likes to believe and tell people that this is all part of a darker past and that unequal treatment of the native people no longer exists today, but this is not true. There are examples of native people and communities being treated unfairly today. In this essay I will use the example of Attawapiskat, a Cree community in northern Ontario. I will give three reasons for my claim that the community in Attawapiskat is being treated unfairly by the government and then after each reason I will briefly compare that reason to “The Tipping Point” documentary we watched in class. The Attawapiskat is being treated unfairly because of inadequate housing, lack of government funding and…
This story is important because it situates Indigenous people within the historic and contemporary nation building processes of Canada and connects their original claim to the land with the the colonial injustices of Europeans. In depicting Europeans as a settler population within Canada, Indigenous people are able to redefine their identity as intrinsically linked to their original land rights. This identification conflicts with the Eurocentric portrayal of Indigeneity, which treats Indigenous Canadians as Other. In addition, this self-segregation by Indigenous populations “…implies a high degree of solidarity among group members” (Rosenberg, 24). This is crucial in creating political unity and achieving collective political aspirations.…
The unnamed narrator in Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell- Tale Heart” and the chambermaid in the Grimm Brothers “The Goose Girl” both possess strikingly similar characteristics. Both show aggression and use violence to get what they want but are very careful of how they go about it and covering it up. In Poe’s story, the unnamed narrator kills an elderly man that he is caring for because the old man has a foul looking eye that is covered with a white film. This is what is slowly driving him insane but afterwards he ingeniously decides to hide the body incase someone heard the noise of the olds man body. This is so he does not get arrested for his murder and when the police do stop they believe his story and do not suspect anything, until he gives them a reason. The chambermaid on the other hand forcefully and violently makes the princess, who she knows wont stand up for her self, switch places with her simply because she wants to live the life of the princess. She also makes the princess swear to secrecy so she never has to worry about her true identity being unveiled. Later, she cleverly kills the princess’s talking horse, which was the only witness to what happened between the chambermaid and the real princess’s.…
This book uses historical evidence pf the issues caused by racism throughout history and the substantial wedge between whites and blacks. The progression of racism in the US is greatly seen in this story as…
Rose’s Story is a book about the struggles one woman faced through most of her adult life, all while trying to remember her past and also while trying to raise a family of her own. The main character of the story, Rose herself, goes through the “system” so many times having to deal with one medical professional after another, social worker after social worker, case manager after case manager. The story however, starts off with Rose painting what her childhood was like: parents putting her into the system, extended stay at Chatwood (a mental hospital for children to be specific) and what life was like for her overall growing up as a kid.…
J.R. Miller’s article entitled “Victoria’s “Red Children”: The “Great White Queen Mother” and Native-Newcomer Relations in Canada” was published in July 2008 in the Native Studies Review, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p1 -23. The article examines how even though First Nations people suffered tremendously during Queen Victoria’s reign, they maintained their strong allegiance to the Crown mostly due to their kinship mentality. Miller notes that slowly but noticeably, by the end of Victoria’s reign the Great White Queen’s Red Children were beginning to adjust their rhetoric to use the Crown and imperial government at Westminster as counterweights against national and provincial governments within Canada that were oppressing them.…
In this essay, the articles ‘Listen to the north’ by John Ralston Saul and ‘Which ‘Native’ History? By Whom? For Whom?’ by J.R. Miller will be analyzed, specifically looking at each authors argument and his appeal to ethos, logos and pathos. In the first article, ‘Listen to the North’, author John Ralston Saul argues that current Canadian policy when it comes to our north, and the people that reside there, is out of date and based on southern ideals that hold little bearing on the realities that face northern populations. He suggests instead that the policies and regulations should be shaped by people who know the territory and it’s needs, namely people who live there. In the second article, ‘Which ‘Native’ History? By Whom? For Whom?, Author Jim Miller discuses conventions in recording native history, focusing on an area he refers to as native-newcomer history. He discusses topics such as who should be recording said history, and for whom it should be intended, as evidence in the title. Both of these articles provide arguments that appeal to ethos, logos and pathos, but it is my opinion that John Ralston Saul makes a more convincing argument to his audience in ‘Listen to the north’ than Jim Miller makes in ‘Which ‘Native’ History? By Whom? For Whom?’.…
One of the most contentious issues in Canada's history is that of the Metis. Some people feel this unique group of people does not deserve any sort of recognition, whereas others believe their unique history and culture is something to be recognized and cherished. The history of the Metis people is filled with struggle; not only struggles against other powers, but also a struggle for self-identification. Despite strong opposition, the Metis people of Canada have matured as a political force and have taken great strides towards being recognized as a unique people.…
Barker, J. (2008). Gender, Sovereignty, Rights: Native Women 's Activism against Social Inequality and Violence in Canada. American Quarterly, 60(2), 8. Retrieved fro m http://search.Proquest.com.Ez proxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/61688929?Acc ountid=15182.…
From Canadian history, we can observe discrimination against Indigenous population. The discrimination took a part in various ways. One of the biggest discrimination Indigenous people faced and are still facing is violation of basic human rights, separation of families with no consent, and abuse of power and authority of the ones who are suppose to protect them. In this essay, I will argue that Indigenous rights of Canada can be advanced through proper education in and outside of Indigenous communities and better representations in the government of Canada. To end stigma and racism against Indigenous people, it is important for the general public to be properly informed about the history of Indigenous people and the values that they stand for.…
The First Nations of our land have endured hundreds of years of suffering. Ever since the first significant European contact the indigenous people have been treated as sub-humans; savages with no religion, intelligence, or right to live (Scott, Duncan). This general idea has carried through-out the history of our supposedly great country; Canada. This essay will examine the residential school system. It will then relate the Canadian Government’s actions in response to residential schools, good and bad. Overall, it will focus on the way in which these effects are represented through a literary text.…
This literary analysis will define the testimonial point of view of Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis through a First people’s perspective on emotional and sexual abuse in Kiss of the Fur Queen by Thomson Highway. Champion and Ooneemeetoo witness European religious values as a means of eradicating their identity as Natives in Canadian culture. Highway narrates the lives of two indigenous boys as testimonials to the first-hand experiences of indigenous peoples in the European colonization process, which sought to change the names and physical and sexual abuse the boys into losing their identities as First…
Racism, just another ultimate example of Conflict theory as it creates that separation, the void of having Functionalism. If the wealthy, as well as corporations, preserve the void between us all, they keep their power over the American society.…