To persuade settlers to move west, the government provided them with deeds to land, as well as a sense of economic and political stability. In doing so, the government negotiated treaties with the First Nations, restricting them to reserves in exchange for promises of education, funding, and supplies. At first, the people resisted and argued for a more equal terms that respected their traditions, values, and self-governance, but suffering from losing their traditional partners and sources of livelihood, many First Nations felt they had no choice but to agree to the treaties in order to survive. As the First Nations moved onto reserves, losing lands and resources, they were also in danger of losing their identities. The danger of losing their identities was heightened by the Canadian government’s policy of assimilation – a process meant to absorb one people into the culture of another. In 1876, an annual report from the government stated the following:
“Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle that the aborigines are to be kept and treated a s wards or children of the State… Every effort should be made to aid the Red man in lifting himself out of his condition of tutelage and dependence, and that it is clearly our wisdom and our duty, through education and every other means, to prepare him for a higher civilization by encouraging him to assume the privileges and responsibilities of full citizenship.” (Indigenous Foundations UBC)
This report clearly reflected the belief that the government held the First Nations people inferior and incapable of looking after their own affairs, and the refusal to give up their lands and cultures was a refusal to take on the responsibilities of full citizenship. In 1876, the Indian Act centralized the laws governing First Nations in Canada, from taxation to land use to defining who was, or was an not Indian (Frideres, 21). The Indian Act isolated the First Nations on reserves and became controlled by Indian agents. Aboriginal peoples were still not allowed to vote in Canadian elections or access the court system to recover their lands. Hence, the Aboriginal peoples became marginalized, they were not permitted to integrate into the Canadian society with their identities intact, and with their population decimated, and it became next to impossible for Aboriginal peoples to improve their conditions or quality of life.
Through the enactment of a series of additional laws, and despite the opposition of First Nations, the Canadian government still set out to “civilize” the First Nation peoples. Forcing them to give up their own identities and take on the culture way of life of the dominant class. In order to do this, the government decided for Aboriginal children to be separated from their families and parents and be sent to residential schools. Residential schools’ primary objectives were to “remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture” (Indigenous Foundations UBC). The first residential schools were set up in the 1830’s. After 1879, the government decided that a formal residential school system be run by the churches. During these times, the system forced children to be separated from their families, and forbade them to speak their own language. If these rules were broken, children were severely punished. During the 1920s, it became compulsory for all Aboriginal children over the age of seven to be sent to residential schools, which, in many cases, thousands of kilometers away from their homes. By 1931, there were 80 residential schools built across Canada. The health effects of the residential schools were devastating. Children died of tuberculosis and other diseases that swept through the poorly ventilated schools. Many children were also verbally, psychologically, physically, and sexually abused (Canadian Encyclopedia).
As the public began to understand the devastating impacts of the Residential School System on Aboriginal children, the government began phasing out compulsory residential school education in the 1950s and 1960s (Indigenous Foundations UBC). It was the general belief of government authorities at the time that Aboriginal children could receive a better education if they were transitioned into the public school system. Residential schools, however, persisted as a sort of boarding school for children whose families were deemed unsuitable to care for them. Children growing up in conditions of suppressed identity and abuse tend eventually to experience psychological and emotional problems. For many apprehended children, the roots of these problems did not emerge until later in life when they learned about their birth family or heritage.
The first of a series of responses to the to Indian claims started with the 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy (Frideres, 31). During this time, the government proposed an approach that it said would lead to equality of opportunity. This paper would end the special legal relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state and dismantling the Indian Act. The government’s intention was to achieve equality among all Canadians by eliminating Indian as a legal status. By doing so, Aboriginal peoples simply become citizens with the same rights, opportunities and responsibilities as other non-Aboriginal Canadians. This policy that the government proposed was considered discriminatory due to its application only towards the Aboriginal peoples and not to Canadians in general. The white paper stated that “removing the unique legal status established by the Indian Act would ‘enable the Indian people to be free – free to develop Indian cultures in an environment of legal, social and economic equality with other Canadians’” (Indigenous Foundations UBC).
In response to the White Paper, Aboriginal people across Canada were shocked. The paper failed to address concerns raised by their leaders. Many saw that the White Paper contained no provisions to recognize and honour First Nations’ special rights, or to recognize and deal with historical grievance such as title to the land and Aboriginal and treaty rights or to facilitate meaningful Indigenous participation in Canadian policy making (McMillan, 323). The White Paper did acknowledge the social inequality of Aboriginal peoples in Canada, however, many Aboriginal peoples viewed the new policy as the culmination of Canada’s “long-standing goal to assimilate Indians into mainstream Canadian society” (Indigenous Foundations UBC). It is not hard to think this when the government put policies in place that make the Aboriginal people feel marginalized and feel that they are forced in to the mainstream ways of Canadian society.
While the government presents inadequate actions towards the Aboriginal peoples, non-Aboriginal Canadians are becoming more aware of the injustices that have, and are occurring to Aboriginal peoples as well as the richness of Aboriginal cultures. Despite the countless oppressive forces that continue to burden many Aboriginal people, their communities are making strides along their healing path. These oppressive forces can be traced back in history, such has forced relocation, but these forces have a great impact on these communities. The legacy of poverty for Aboriginal people in urban centres continues today. According from a 1996 Census, data showed that Aboriginal areas were more than twice as likely to live in poverty in contrast to non-Aboriginal people. To put into statistics, n average, 55.6% of Aboriginal people living in Canadian cities were poor in 1995 (Aboriginal Issues). For example, in cities like Regina where there is a larger Aboriginal population, Aboriginal people accounted for 24% of the poor, 52.1% of all Aboriginal children were poor in 2003 (Ontario Fed. Of Indian Friendship Centres). To this day, many reserves do not have the resources or money that it would take to raise the standard of living out of third-world conditions. Despite the fact that there is poverty among Aboriginal peoples in Canada, many Aboriginal people and communities are attempting to make poverty a part of the past. In some instances Aboriginal are finally being offered opportunities out of poverty. For example, non-Aboriginal Canadians support this by working with others who are working to “support Native/non-native reconciliation, lending financial or other forms of support to indigenous organizations lobbying the government for Native self-government, or advocating for greater funding for specific programs related to inequality and Aboriginal peoples” (Aboriginal Issues).
In response to the lack of government attention towards the Native communities, Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat declared a hunger strike on December 11, 2012. Her hunger strike put the problem of Attawapiskat back in the national headlines. The question now is what did the strike accomplish? Although she did succeed in creating a spike in interest in some broader aboriginal issues, her “stubbornness and overplaying her hand have nullified much of the goodwill she initially gained for the First Nations issues with the general population” (Huffington Post). She was also unsuccessful in uniting the First Nations leadership to negotiate from a position of strength with the Prime Minister, she has done the exact opposite. Furthermore, The Assembly of First Nations has also been weakened. Divisions are much more evident and seems that it would be more difficult to get the chiefs to accept any agreements that the Prime Minister reaches. Too many chiefs staked out their positions in from of the national media. In other words, not much has changed. Far too many politicians make the mistake of letting “their ego and a belief in their own press clippings stand in the way of common sense. It took 44 days for common sense to prevail” (Huffington Post). Now that her strike has been resolve, it remains debatable if Chief Spence accomplished very much. Time and history will be the final judge on that point.
To this day, Aboriginals continue to struggle yet very little is being done about their situation. The government played a great role in shaping their lives from what was to what is now. From the days of colonialism, the Aboriginal peoples have been marginalized and been forced to assimilate into mainstream Canada through the method of Residential schools. This is evident in to the social, economic and political inequities ever since the beginning of the European settlers and been neglected by the government. Throughout, these inequities still present themselves through the history of the Canadian Aboriginals; from the White Paper protest to the Hunger Strike that was recently declared. It is evident that there as been inadequate response from Canadian government. Although they have programs that support the Native communities, it feels as though that is is the only response to these struggles from the Canadian government. There is not enough support or facilitation to ensure that the Native communities are well-off to live in a free country and have their traditions and culture be part of their lives.
Works Cited/Reference Page
Frideres, James S., and René R. Gadacz. Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.
Reed, Kevin, Natasha Beeds, and Barbara Filion. Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. Toronto: Pearson Canada, 2011. Print.
McMillan, Alan D., Eldon Yellowhorn, and Alan D. McMillan. First Peoples in Canada. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2004. Print.
"Indigenous Foundations UBC." Indigenous Foundations UBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.
"Huffington Post." Keith Beardsley: What Did Spence's Hunger Strike Accomplish? N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.
"Aboriginal Issues." Centre for Social Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.
"Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres." Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.
"The Canadian Encyclopedia." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.
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earltheduke (student)
