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.…
She showed how her knowledge from Western schooling pushed her to learn more about Indigenous knowledge and how both forms can have a strong impact on the world. Also, it took a vast amount of strength for Gehl to overcome her position in society according to the Indian Act and fight against the government to achieve for herself, the good life. In this book, many topics are touched upon that bring to surface the problems within the Canadian government and the issues the government imposes onto the Aboriginal population. Lynn Gehl in Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit proves that sexism within the Indian Act of 1876, racialization and discrimination, colonialism through unfair treaties and denial of traditional Aboriginal land are all issues that affect the lives of the Aboriginal community and make their struggle towards Aboriginal status and mino-pimadiziwin much greater. In my analysis, I will show how racialization, discrimination, and colonialism has affected the Indigenous community and how sexism has both directly affected women in the Aboriginal community and Gehl in the process of achieving Indian…
Deiter, Connie and Darlene Rude. From the Fur Trade to Free Trade: Forestry and First Nations Women in Canada. Ottawa: Status of Women Canada, Saint-Lazare, Quebec,2008. http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.macewan.ca/lib/macewanpubpolicy/docDetail.actio…
Born in 1948 in Fort Rae, Northwest Territories, Georges Erasmus grew up to be a major political figure and hero of the aboriginal peoples in his career. As a political activist and member of the Assembly of First Nations Erasmus carried forth a legacy of being a “Native rights Crusader” (CBC, 2014); but what does it mean to be a native rights crusader? Georges Erasmus made a lifelong contribution to the welfare of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. As the president of the Dene nation, Erasmus pushed for self-government of the First Nations Peoples in Canada. During this time, Georges Erasmus rose through the political structure of the Assembly of First Nations.…
In today’s modern Canadian society every group is fighting for their rights to be heard, acknowledged and more importantly respected. In Canadian history one group has had to fight harder than anyone else to receive a voice to be heard and that is the Aboriginals. The question that needs to be asked is, do they really have a voice at all? Throughout this paper I will highlight three areas of aboriginal political uprising, First the history, secondly successful initiatives for the betterment of aboriginals and finally unsuccessful actions in the political landscape.…
This story, in reflecting the values of the Indigenous populations within Canada as connected to access to the land, can be linked to a variety of movements within the local political landscape of Canada such as, the idle no more movement and the recent opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline development. All of which are concerned with the issue of Indigenous land…
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 government needs to help repair these reserves to create better living conditions as well as create programs to assist the survivors of residential schools with their emotional and psychological issues that were created from the human rights abuses they faced. The aboriginal people of Canada are owed more than an apology for what was done to them for generations. A number of broken families and lost lives cannot be fixed from the monetary compensation they received. The Canadian government has not done enough to ensure the rights of aboriginals are protected. With the signing of the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous, there is hope for the future improvement and protection of these rights. Allowing for the past and current issues to be corrected and never repeated. It is the responsibility of Canada to recognize the abuses and create changes to protect these rights. It is up to future generations to understand the human rights abuses of the past and ensure that the future will never hold similar conditions for any group of people. The Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission set forth by Harpers government will provide this opportunity as it seeks to educate all Canadians of the Human…
The relocation of the Inuit families violated their human rights as the relocation was imposed on the Inuit against their own wishes and that the Inuit suffered great hardship in the High Arctic. However, the government claimed the relocation was conducted to improve the living quality of the Inuit. Even with seemingly good intentions, the relocation of the Inuits was a violation of human rights and it undermined Canada’s self-identification as a human right respecting nation. To begin with, the lack of efficient information and effective communication led to the violation of the Inuit’s freedom of choices and movements when the Canadian government made the decision to relocate the Inuit. The relocatees considered that the relocation was imposed on them against their own wishes.…
Prior to the Oka Crisis, land disputes between Natives and other citizens of the country had been widely ignored by the government. Since the Oka Crisis was so large scale it attracted a lot of attention. The Natives could not be marginalized by the government because of the Canada wide reaction drawn by the shocking events. This meant that the Mohawk nation was given a full and most importantly fair trail, over the land dispute. The reaction to the proposal was extreme, but is an almost inevitable outcome after hundreds of years of inequality. The Canadian government was forced to listen to the Natives side, which improved relations because it is one of the first times that there was equal treatment of FNMI and whites. Though the crisis brought about an equal treatment, it is important to acknowledge that there is still much room for improvement between relations, treatment and reconciliation given. The Oka Crisis was necessary for FNMI rights to be recognized, and for the improvement and development of their government…
First Peoples have been treated with repugnant unfairness for centuries around the globe. They are even unable to escape this malicious inequality in one of the world’s most diverse and multicultural countries, Canada. Canada’s progress in the advancement of the rights of First Nations who live on the country’s own soil is disgracefully slow. This atrocious behaviour “on a number of occasions has been criticized in international forums for the miserable conditions that affect… First Nations peoples, conditions that are comparable to those of developing countries” (“Prejudices”). Canadian Aboriginals have been treated with the utmost disrespect in their native country.…
In Peter Russel’s work he identifies that a majority of First Nations Canadians “identify with Canada and have an allegiance to it, but they also identify with a historic nation (Russell 232)”. Then there are causes being presented that conflict with the loyalty and dedication to their historic nations and culture, should a banner of Canadian nationalism present itself, it is likely the former will prevail (Russell 232). During the conferences and documented by the video “Dancing Around the Table” there were two quotes that spoke true and emphasized the frustrations of the First Nations people, “the exercise now is not about frank and open discussion, or understanding and appreciation of other peoples’ concerns on the basis of respect and dignity, it has become all of a sudden the question of power and who exercises it (Bulbulian “Dancing Around the Table”).” Just a day after Premiere Rene Levesque confirms that this is a problem, however that it needs to be the First Nations people who are responsible in acquiring power to appropriately negotiate as equals, because it is ultimately the political process (Bulbulian “Dancing Around the Table”). Considering these words were said by one of Quebec’s premiers spoke volumes, because the two groups that possess a dual sense of national identity is both the Quebec and First Nations people (Russell 232). The concerns mentioned by the First Nations representative which is only later confirmed by Rene Levesque demonstrates that what was now occurring, was a dance around the table. There was no genuine or real desire to meet the demands and concerns of the First Nations people, rather than an attempt to humouring them and integrating them into Trudeau’s vision for Canada. This feeling is later confirmed a representative stating that,…
The European settlement had a devastating impact on the entire Aboriginal population, not only those who died from disease and violence. This is despite the fact that some white settlers, including colonial government officials and Christian missionaries, tried to help Indigenous people. These people believed that the Aboriginal people were primitive and uncultured, and that without their help they would die out. Their somewhat misguided attempts to help the Indigenous people are known as paternalism. Paternalism means looking after someone and taking care of their interests in the belief that they cannot do it themselves.…
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 government of Canada was not fair to the First Nations because they sent them to residential schools and told them to change their beliefs. About 100 years ago, if you were to think back on to how the government (white people) treated the First Nations community, you might be very shocked.…