Aboriginal rights in Canada

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Noor Sharif

May 12, 2008

HUMR1001

Zaineb Amery

The Controversy of Colonization

The colonization of the Americas has its attributes as well as its failures. The innovations and technologies of the Americas would most likely have not been available today if it weren’t for the settlement of the Europeans. However, one could argue that more damage was done than positive effects. Christopher Hitchens asserts that “it is sometimes unambiguously the case that a certain coincidence of ideas, technologies, population movements and politico-military victories leaves humanity on a slightly higher plane than it knew before. The transformation of the northern part of this continent into “America” inaugurated a nearly boundless epoch of opportunity and innovation and thus deserves to be celebrated with great vim and gusto...” (Minority Report). While Hitchens has some truth to his argument, it is more significant that the negative effects of colonialism outweighed the positive outcome. The lives of aboriginals were distorted and changed overnight, communities of innocent inhabitants were invaded, and the rights of the aboriginals were violated. Hitchens cannot disregard all the suffering that came with colonization. He must also recognize that history could have had a more successful outcome if the indigenous population were included in the new world.

North American society developed with great energy and speed, as Hitchens argues, but the aboriginal people neither participated in nor benefited from this economic and technological progress. My argument is not so much that the Europeans should have never settled in America but more that they should have incorporated the roles of the aboriginals in the new society filled with new opportunities and innovations. They should not have attempted to wipe out an entire race and culture and society for no apparent reason. Although the main reason behind this was racism and ethnocentrism. The Europeans saw aboriginals as savages. In their view the “savages” were more like animals then humans, and they were treated like animals. They were constantly marginalized and had no choice but to do what these newcomers (the Europeans) told them. For example, according to “Nation to Nation” edited by Diane Engelstad, the Canadian government declared illegal practice of native ceremonies, such as the Potlatch and the Sundance” (102). Reading this now seems completely absurd. How can a ceremony which brings family and friends together in a positive and happy atmosphere, be illegal? The Europeans had no right to take this tradition away from the aboriginals. But this particular law was reasonable in comparison to the brutality that later occurred.

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The Europeans’ effort to assimilate the aboriginals in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s changed native societies forever. Assimilation refers to bringing a group into conformity with the customs, culture, language of another group, or society. It was something the Europeans thought was a treat for the aboriginals and something in which they should be grateful. They thought it was a great opportunity for the aboriginals to learn all the new customs and fit in with their people (the Europeans). Even though the intentions of the Europeans were good in assimilating the aboriginals, the process in which they did it was ...

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