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.…
The Indian Act of 1876 was designed to control the First Nations people. Major highlights of how this Act unfolded included the First Nations people to sign specific agreements which were commonly known as “The Numbered Treaties”. Children of First Nations’ families were kidnapped and put in residential schools and were forced to learn a new language and to practice a new religion. Later on, the Canadian Government changed the Indian Act to ban traditions and celebrations such as the potlatch. It is without a doubt that the Indian Act should be revised, because they should’ve treated the First Nations’ with respect, they should have kept their promise to the Natives and should’ve also not taken the advantage of the First Nations’ knowledge…
In Michael Downey’s article, Canada’s “Genocide”: Thousands taken From Their Homes Need Help, he explains that the apprehensions of Aboriginal children between the 1960’s and 1980’s has implicated serve damage to a mass amount of First Nations people.…
Aboriginal people, the first nations amongst Canada, being outnumbered for years had been put under a situation in which hindered in the continuation of their identity alone. Although with the years in its withstanding, the importance of the events and all of the occurrences make a part of the strength and downfall to the native population. Through the hardships, it’s definitely evident that there were many aspects towards cultural differences, as well as social differences. In that sense, a strong conflict theory had definitely been present. Regardless of other factors, the conflict theory would best describe the situation with aboriginals as there was a big stretch of power differential and humanity amongst these people was definitely non-existent. Aboriginals fell under a lot of inequality and pressures of succeeding obstructed their ways of life.…
Research Paper: Aboriginal issues Elisse Ostrovsky Multicultural countries such as Canada are designed with good intentions; uniting people of different cultures and giving refugees a safe place to live. Unfortunately this system creates inequality, often resulting with acts of discrimination within a society. The First Nations in particular have suffered from this and Aboriginal living has been made difficult by the Canadian society since the establishment of the state. At the present time, acts of discrimination toward Aboriginals have grown milder.…
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. This general idea has carried through-out the history of our supposedly great country; Canada. This essay will examine the residential school system in depth. It will then relate the Canadian Government 's actions in response to residential schools, good and bad.…
The roles of Aboriginal women have changed since the beginning of European contact . Once held in high regard as leaders and givers of life, Aboriginal women have been devalued not only because they are Aboriginal people, but also because they are women. (p.3)…
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…
The increasing status of Indigenous overrepresentation is a clear indication of the failures of the Canadian Criminal Justice System. When analyzing the historical and current situation of the relationship between Indigenous persons and the CJS it becomes apparent why the Supreme Court of Canada refers to this situation as the ‘Crisis in the Canadian Justice System’. Correctional Service Canada statistics have indicated that although Aboriginals represent approximately 2.8% of the total Canadian population, they account for 18% of individuals incarcerated in federal institutions (Proulx, 2000). The sad reality behind this evident overrepresentation is the understanding…
There are many hinders that first nations face asserting their culture and identity.one of the major problem is oppression. Aboriginal people, being a minority in Canada, they are oppressed a lot. If we observe from all the corners of their situation we find out that they are not having the same opportunities as the entire citizens do, their housing environment in reserves are so poor, the health conditions too, are so poor compared to the rest of Canadian citizens. Being an isolated population, aboriginal find it difficult to express themselves like others and assert their culture and…
The Canadian government has been treating Aboriginal as the “Other”, for hundreds of years and trying to assimilate them in the Euro-Canadian culture, lifestyle and Christianity. The reason why they never stopped can be due to syncretism which is the as the meddling of different religion (). That the Canadian government cared so much for a hundred of years, is that they felt that Aboriginal never truly assimilate into Christianity, that they only took the benefits and re-integrated into their beliefs systems of the Aboriginal religion. Causing the government to punish the Aboriginal even more with these laws, such as the Indian Act which were the final act which that made sure to stop Aboriginal to take part in their religious ceremonies and…
The report outlines the extensive issues that existed prior to the modern land claim negotiations processes, and some of the more recent efforts that the federal government has made in order to regain the trust of Aboriginal communities. This report is authorized by the Canadian government, who holds a wealth of specific details regarding land claim negotiations. In this respect, this source is about as reliable as it gets. The report fully outlines the specific and comprehensive land claim negotiations processes. This source will be instrumental to my understanding of the dialogue that occurs between the government and Aboriginal groups in land claim negotiations. As well, when working on my policy paper, I can refer to some of the legal literature referenced in this report, such as for example, The Indian Act. This can help me to obtain a firm grasp on the ways in which First Nations people have been marginalized in the past, and possible ways that the government can achieve reconciliation with…
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.…
As Canadians, we proudly wave our multicultural flag and try not act superior towards our American neighbours. Living in such a lush and accepting country, it is hard not to glance upon the maple leaf and feel some sense of nationalistic pride. Canada is generally an inclusive and safe country, however not everyone has the luxury of enjoying this level of comfort. The thought of our country ignoring the cries of violence against Indigenous women and girls, is downright absurd. The Canadian government has acknowledged the severity of the threats to Indigenous women and girls, but have no current plan in action to help these women. Indigenous women, especially in a respected country like Canada, have the right to be safe and free from violence.…
This article explores how indigenous people have been treated and are being treated in today’s social environments and it identifies what we have done and are doing to change the way we view indigenous people.…