Essay On Aboriginal Land Rights
Aboriginal people have been fairly successful in having their issues addressed after 1980. While there remains many issues that have not been dealt with, a number of the major problems related to Aboriginal rights have been fixed.
Aboriginal land rights saw an improvement after 1980. There are two different types of land claims - comprehensive claims and specific claims. Comprehensive claims give Aboriginal people the right to claim land because their ancestors once owned it. Specific claims give the right to claim land due to the government not fulfilling an obligation under a treaty. An example of a comprehensive land claim case is the Nisga’a group. In 1991, the BC government recognized the Nisga’a right to self-government. In 1996, the Nisga’a gained a portion of their former land, some of the profit from salmon fisheries, their own municipal government and police, and a $196 million reimbursement from the government. Another example of land claims is when the Inuit were given control of Nunavut. While these were considered to be great successes in the progress of Aboriginal land claims, there are still some issues with it. For the Nisga’a in particular, they only got a small fraction of the land that they used to own. Another general problem with Aboriginal land claims is that in order to claim back land, the group must prove that they ever owned it in the first place. This process can be difficult and lengthy, and there are many Aboriginal groups today that are still attempting to prove that they owned land.
Next, Aboriginal self-government rights were made better after 1980. In 1982, the Assembly of First Nations was formed in order to represent dealings made with the federal government. Something that the Assembly helped achieve was Aboriginal rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Bill C-31 gave Aboriginal councils the power to decide who could live on their reserves. In the past, these decisions were made by the Department of Indian Affairs in
the federal government. Aboriginal self-government improved quite a lot in recent years, although they still do not have much power in general.
Thirdly, Aboriginal social issues have been improved since 1980, but there are still lots of issues that need to be dealt with. An important and controversial issue was residential schools. Many Aboriginal people had stories of abuse of their times at a residential school, including Phil Fontaine, the Grand Chief of the Manitoba Assembly, who spoke publicly of his physical and sexual abuse at his residential school. Many others also began to speak out of their negative experiences. After 1980, the majority of residential schools were closed, although the last government-owned school shut in 1996. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched to investigate claims from Aboriginal people about the residential schools. Everyone who attended a residential school was eventually given money, and a public apology from the government was made. However, some believe that it is still not enough. Other than residential schools, there are other social issues related to Aboriginals that remain relevant today. There are higher rates of poverty and homelessness among Aboriginal people, and they have a lower quality of life in general. Quality of life may have improved compared to the past, but there are many issues that are not being addressed to the capacity that they should be.
All in all, while there have been many positive steps made in terms of addressing Aboriginal issues, the extent to which these issues have been addressed is only moderate. There are still a number of problems that have yet to be fully dealt with. However, given the recent increased attention towards Aboriginal rights, it seems likely that these lingering issues will soon be addressed.
Aboriginal land rights saw an improvement after 1980. There are two different types of land claims - comprehensive claims and specific claims. Comprehensive claims give Aboriginal people the right to claim land because their ancestors once owned it. Specific claims give the right to claim land due to the government not fulfilling an obligation under a treaty. An example of a comprehensive land claim case is the Nisga’a group. In 1991, the BC government recognized the Nisga’a right to self-government. In 1996, the Nisga’a gained a portion of their former land, some of the profit from salmon fisheries, their own municipal government and police, and a $196 million reimbursement from the government. Another example of land claims is when the Inuit were given control of Nunavut. While these were considered to be great successes in the progress of Aboriginal land claims, there are still some issues with it. For the Nisga’a in particular, they only got a small fraction of the land that they used to own. Another general problem with Aboriginal land claims is that in order to claim back land, the group must prove that they ever owned it in the first place. This process can be difficult and lengthy, and there are many Aboriginal groups today that are still attempting to prove that they owned land.
Next, Aboriginal self-government rights were made better after 1980. In 1982, the Assembly of First Nations was formed in order to represent dealings made with the federal government. Something that the Assembly helped achieve was Aboriginal rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Bill C-31 gave Aboriginal councils the power to decide who could live on their reserves. In the past, these decisions were made by the Department of Indian Affairs in
the federal government. Aboriginal self-government improved quite a lot in recent years, although they still do not have much power in general.
Thirdly, Aboriginal social issues have been improved since 1980, but there are still lots of issues that need to be dealt with. An important and controversial issue was residential schools. Many Aboriginal people had stories of abuse of their times at a residential school, including Phil Fontaine, the Grand Chief of the Manitoba Assembly, who spoke publicly of his physical and sexual abuse at his residential school. Many others also began to speak out of their negative experiences. After 1980, the majority of residential schools were closed, although the last government-owned school shut in 1996. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched to investigate claims from Aboriginal people about the residential schools. Everyone who attended a residential school was eventually given money, and a public apology from the government was made. However, some believe that it is still not enough. Other than residential schools, there are other social issues related to Aboriginals that remain relevant today. There are higher rates of poverty and homelessness among Aboriginal people, and they have a lower quality of life in general. Quality of life may have improved compared to the past, but there are many issues that are not being addressed to the capacity that they should be.
All in all, while there have been many positive steps made in terms of addressing Aboriginal issues, the extent to which these issues have been addressed is only moderate. There are still a number of problems that have yet to be fully dealt with. However, given the recent increased attention towards Aboriginal rights, it seems likely that these lingering issues will soon be addressed.