Prejudice And Racism Against First Nations People

As with any race or culture there will be racism and discrimination no matter what and with the First Nations it's no different. So were going to talk about what was racist and how it affected the First Nations people through time.

So let's start from the beginning. Racism against First Nations people began soon after European settlement in North America. As the importance of First Nations contributions to the fur trade and their value as allies began to decline, so did too the positive view of First Nations people in the eyes of the colonialists. The First Nations people became less "noble savages" and became just savages. This change in perspective about First Nations people is apparent as early as first contact with Christopher Columbus.
Columbus initially viewed First Nations people as generous and docile, but as they began to resist the gifts of colonization and progress brought by Columbus, they quickly became viewed as cannibalistic savages.
There is no aspect of First Nations culture and life that was untouched by racism. Another thing is the Canadian government historically viewed First Nations people as children, no part of First Nations life fell under their own control. For example, First Nations systems of government and law were replaced by European systems of governance. It was not until 1960 in Canada First Nations people were not allowed to vote and it was illegal for First Nations people to drink alcohol. First Nations religious practices and languages were outlawed, and the education of their children was taken out of their hands. First Nations children were taken away to be educated in the residential schools in order for them to be assimilated into mainstream Canada. It was made illegal for First Nations to file land claims or to enlist the help of lawyers to pursue land claims. Hunting and fishing rights were taken away, their means of livelihood left entirely
under the control of the government. First Nations were not able to decide whether an individual was a member of their tribe, and until 1951 were unable to even leave reserves without a pass. All of this was just ridiculous and not needed.

Now we're going to talk about stereotypes that the natives faced the following stereotypes were drunken Indian, lazy Indian, dumb Indian, dirty Indian, gasoline huffing Indian, useless Indian, gambling Indian, thieving Indian, heathen Indian, welfare Indian, Indian giver, poor Indian, uncivilized Indian, treacherous Indian, Chief Squaw, Indian time, and perhaps most relevant, the humourless Indian. Those were all negatives i found and the only two i found that were somewhat positive were the loyal Indian and the resourceful Indian. Now i know that stereotypes are everywhere and they are involved with all races and cultures but i did find a lot stereotypes against the native people. These stereotypes make the natives feel demeaned and worthless when compared to other cultures, as it would to anyone. I feel that all the stereotypes against the natives are wrong and cruel.

Something else that is huge that has affect the first nations for generations is Residential schools.
Residential schools have caused so much pain and suffering through the past and present generations of first nation people. Residential Schools caused a lot of the anti depressants problems native people suffer from today aka the use of alcohol and drugs not even mention the suicide rates. One of the biggest problems with the residential school survivors is the fact that none of them knew how to properly raise a child, they had zero patience because that's all they knew. Residential schools never taught the kids how to be loving parents all they taught them was to be violent. This took a big hit on the survivors children because a lot ended up committing suicide because they were depressed and thought their parents hated them. Residential Schools have caused a lot of pain for native people and the Canadian government should be
ashamed.

These negative feelings of the first nations have led to horrible behaviours within First Nations communities, including violence, high rates of incarceration, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse a lot of these behaviors/actions have come from Residential schools. Estimates say that as many as 80% of First Nations families have experienced family violence. Rates of incarceration are also extraordinarily high for First Nations people. While First Nations people only form 5% of the population of Canada, they make up 40% or more of the prison population. In the face of these incarceration rates for First Nations peoples, it is interesting to note that the majority of First Nations cultures had no prisons and no need for prisons. In addition, suicide rates among First Nations cultures are over twice as high as that of other Canadians 34 deaths per 100,000 for Canadians, versus 14 deaths per 100,000 for First Nations people with rates being higher for males than females. Rates also vary between First Nations cultures as well. First Nations people in usually suffer from a type of depression called anomic depression, in which they feel useless and helpless. To finish this off, the negative effects of racism and discrimination has hurt the native people greatly and me and many others hope that racism and discrimination will be extinguished. But sadly that won't be for a long time to come. Until it does all we can do is hope.