The Attawaspiskat Cree and Ojibwa are a first nations group living in parts of Canada, mainly northern Ontario. The main languages spoken by these first nation groups are Mushkegowuk Cree and Ojibway. I will compare and contrast the experience of the Attawapiskat Cree to Ojibwa in relation to the Canadian Government. This will include analyzing the treaties introduced by the government towards the Cree and the Ojibwa: in particular, treaty 9 will be discussed. In addition, to these treaties the government has divided the first nation community into two different groups: status-Indians and non-status Indians. Within these two groups further division has been accomplished by the allocation of lands know as reserves to status-Indians and independent ownership for non-status Indians. This allocation of lands in reserves for status-Indians and independent ownership for non-status Indian is based on the policies developed through dependent and independent tenure. The laws permitting only status-Indians to live in reserves have fragmented the community and changes in culture and traditions have been rapid since the arrival of the government.…
This idea “Vanishing Indian” became an important part of the creation of Canada. For instance, there was a false notion about ‘vanishing Indian’. This created image among many peoples that Indigenous community population…
Over the past few decades, there has been many distinct perspectives and conflicts surrounding the historical context between the Indigenous peoples in Canada and the Canadian Government. In source one, the author P.J Anderson is trying to convey that the absolute goal of the Indian Residential School system in Canada has been to assimilate the Indian nation and provide them with guidance to “ forget their Indian habits”, and become educated in the “ arts of civilized life”, in order to help them integrate into society and “become one” with their “White brethren”. It is clearly evident throughout the source that the author is supportive of the Indian residential school system and strongly believes that this system was beneficial to the integration…
The five key principles of the Canada Health Act ensure that every Canadian, regardless of their ability to pay, has timely access to health services that are medically necessary, and to ensure that no Canadian suffers undue financial hardship because they have to pay for health care bills. One of the key principles is accessibility, to provide Canadians with access to necessary healthcare services that is not impeded by financial or other barriers. Almost all health care indicators show that the health status of Canada’s Aboriginal people is lower than the health status of Non-Aboriginal Canadians. One of the reasons that Aboriginal people in Canada have lower health status is because the face elevated barriers to health care services;…
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 aboriginal population are one of the most violently oppressed groups in Canada’s History. Some say to advance as a society and reach an equal ground we have to move on looking to a bright future, but some would say to move on we need to address the issues caused by the past that still shadow aboriginal communities today. I firmly believe that to solve the problem, we must fully realise it. I am inclined to believe that this is the land God gave to Cain. “ - Jacques Cartier. This quote from famed Canadian explorer Jacques Cartier explains his thoughts on the land found by him and his crew. It started in 1534, Jacques Cartier a french explorer took one small step for man and pushed the Canadian indigenous 50 steps back. Exploring the St. Lawrence river, Cartier set base. One year later he would find what is now Montreal, welcomed with open arms by the Iroquois people who were already settled there. Cartier and his men would soon continue to search north America for gold and diamonds. Cartier set a standard for Canadian exploration and would be followed by many others. History paints Cartier as a hero, despite the accounts of murder, rape and other crimes committed by him and his crew members. Looking back to the quote, an underlying entitlement based on faith and status must be acknowledged in able to see why the problems are still…
The Royal Proclamation of 1763, and the Constitution Act, 1982 that reaffirmed the existing rights of Aboriginals, both establish that it is legitimate for Aboriginal self-government to be located at the national level. A nation-to-nation relationship shows the greatest respect for the sovereignty of the Aboriginal peoples and therefore have the greatest legitimacy. However, it would impossible for Aboriginal groups to make a direct transition from federal jurisdiction to full sovereignty, as they often lack the efficient capacity to self-govern, and there is no clear consensus among the rest of Canadians, about the form that self-government should take.…
Aboriginal peoples throughout the world have survived five centuries of the horrors of colonization and genocide. Today, they are emerging with new consciousness and vision. In Canada the old colonial order and its obsession with assimilation of Aboriginal peoples has been replaced by a new constitutional order that respects Aboriginal rights. The Supreme Court of Canada is now actively seeking to achieve the noble constitutional goal of preserving the integral and defining features of distinctive Aboriginal societies (Queen v. Coté, 1996, p.48). The Supreme Court has affirmed that the teaching of Aboriginal rights is a constitutional right in the new order. Chief Justice Lamer has declared:…
There is an affective colonialism on aboriginal women in Canada. The histories of colonization have forced aboriginal women out of their community and family support. The violence of cultural assault or physical brutality of residential schools. It is essential to make efforts towards ending of violence against aboriginal women in Canada. The aboriginal people have grown up in poverty. Many aboriginal women run in to racism and they may shut out of labor markets. Aboriginal women turn to drug trade and sex work to survive. Aboriginal woman in vulnerable positions that over expose them to violence. The residential school experience began with aboriginal children being forcefully removed formed their homes. Often in these schools…
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.…
Civilization occurs when a population is made up of people who are advanced in intellectual development, culture, and material. Not only do they have to be advanced in development, but they also have to maintain and progress towards healthy and safe standards of living. The first inhabitants of Canada, the aboriginals, belonged to many tribes, each with its own characteristics and background. They moved from area to area and as they did that, they were able to adapt to the new environment very easily. When the aboriginals are talked about today, they are commonly referred as savages and uncivilized, but in reality they were civilized people. Their tribes consisted of everything that we commonly find in a civilized society such as a form of a political system, roles and responsibilities, culture and religion, and a development in the field of technology and medicine.…
For my assignment I will be looking at Indigenous communities in Canada compared to the rest of the world. Today, over 4% of Canada’s population describes themselves as Indigenous. Indigenous people were the first people to live on what is now called Canada, they had their own culture, beliefs and lifestyle. When European settlers came to Canada in the 1800’s they assimilated the Indigenous people. Europeans convinced Indigenous people to sign treaties which still are the same ones that are used today. Indigenous communities face many challenges that stem from colonization and racism. In my maps I will illustrate life expectancy, Monthly income and unemployment rates. For my research on Indigenous people I found it to be very difficult to…
The state of health and health care for Canadian Aboriginal people is currently not improving, “Canadian Aboriginals tend to bear a disproportionate burden of illness; an outcome linked to their economic and social conditions [and] oppression” (Newbold 1998). European contact would forever change the course of life for the Aboriginals and their communities in Canada. It was only after the encounter between the old world and new world that two completely separate ecosystems had interaction between each other. Both worlds changed in radical ways through people, plants, animals, varmints and pathogens, this is known today as the “Columbian Exchange”. The New pathogens introduced to the Indigenous people who had no immunity, caused major depopulation up to 80 - 90% during the 1500’s. This completely changed the Indigenous people and posed as a massive threat to extinction of their population and culture. Contact between the Canadian Aboriginals and European voyagers brought in a mass amount of deadly and infectious diseases. Some of the diseases included smallpox, typhoid, the bubonic plague, influenza, mumps, measles, whooping cough, and later on cholera, malaria, and scarlet fever. Smallpox was a virgin soil epidemic, meaning that it was the first outbreak ever to the population that has had no previous experience with it. The Aborigines of the new world had no immunity to smallpox and the entire population was in danger of extinction. At around that time smallpox had a very high mortality rate which broke down the Aboriginal communities social mechanisms. This brought forth the break down of social the devices which were built within the Aboriginal culture, because the people were unable to hunt and gather food for the elders. This caused great knowledge loss as the elders in the Aboriginal community would perish from the disease. The greatest example of this is when Spanish explorer Cortez defeated the Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. Cortez, had only 500 soldiers going…
The history of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aboriginal people are viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more than three centuries are still grim realities today. Although the idea of rewriting history is an honorable one it is also an impossible one, but trying to rectify it isn't. In the film “Box of treasures” (1893), we learn about the creation of U’Mista Cultural Centre and how this is a great example of how Natives can begin to rebuild their identity and amend people’s views towards them.…