...ABORIGINAL ISSUES IN CANADA Teacher Name: Bob Gregory Student Name: Juan Carlos Bernal Student Number: 057638082 Date: Monday October 15th, 2012 References: Canada (1891). Indian treaties and surrenders, from 1680 to 1890 Volume I. Ottawa: Brown Chamberlin (Queen's Printer). URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/ItemRecord/91942 Centre for Social Justice URL:http://www.socialjustice.org/index.php?page=aboriginal-issues Canadian Council on Social Development URL: http://www.ccsd.ca/cpsd/ccsd/c_ab.htm Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada URL: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/ Assembly of First Nations URL: http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en The Indian Residential School Settlement URL:https://my.senecacollege.ca/bbcswebdav/courses/CAN275BA.GENH.20123/summary%20of%20court%20settlement.pdf Aboriginal Issues in Canada Many problems exists in aboriginal communities which include their living conditions, crime rates, suicide rates, lack of education and skill training, unemployment and other issues. The living conditions or quality of life for Aboriginals rank 63rd, or amongst Third World conditions. Health Canada states that as of May 2003, 12% of Aboriginal communities had to boil their drinking water and approximately 1/4 of water treatment systems on-reserve pose a high risk to human health. Almost 25% of Aboriginal water infrastructure are a high risk of contamination. House density is twice that of the general population. Nearly 1 in 4...
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...inherent need to be on top, but the way we go about accomplishing this has resulted in many injustices and tragedies. The relationship between the Aboriginals and the European settlers is a good example. When the Europeans landed in the Americas, at first the aboriginal people, who had inhabited the land since the last ice age, helped out the settlers. From first contact the aboriginals and the settlers entered into almost a partnership with the British and the French. In 1763 the Royal Proclamation described the land, “as being empty except for a few Indians”. This Proclamation caused for the Europeans to only be able to take the land if the land was given away under treaty. One could make the argument that up until...
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...discrimination have had a significant role in defining the health of Aboriginal in particular young cohort in urban area. The definition of racism is “a global hierarchy of human superiority and inferiority, politically culturally and economically produced and reproduced for centuries by the institutions of the capitalist, modern/colonial world-system” (Grosfoguel, 2011) There is no doubt that racism could affect the community structure negatively. Recent studies suggest that people who had experienced ill treatment as a result of discrimination between color and race are at risk for physical and psychological diseases....
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...Poverty increasing rates during the last 10 years have been an issue in Canada in general, and a huge one for aboriginal communities on the reservations and in their territories. This is brought to mind because of a recent surge in suicide attempts in the Cree community which has drown a national attention to the effects of poor living conditions on First Nation's children. The reality is that these children live in poverty, and the situation is getting worse. The most recent available data from the national household survey was last updated back in 2011, and it shows that child poverty rates in aboriginal communities living on the reserves rose to staggering 60% in 2010 (MacDonald, Wilson. 4) The indigenous child poverty at the reservations is structural and systematic: it reveals a history of racism that goes back to the time of colonization. Canada's long history of residential schools and the under-funding of basic services on reserves have left aboriginal communities experiencing living conditions many would expect to see only in developing countries, not in a rich nation such as Canada. Too many aboriginal children live in abject poverty, and in many cases, without hope of improved prospects in the future....
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...Indigenous Australians marginalized in today’s society Introduction Archaeologists believe that aboriginals first came to Australia about 45, 000 years ago and were the only population of humans in Australia until the British invasion. There are about 500 different aboriginal groups each with their own language and territory and usually made up of several separate clans. The aboriginals of Australia are marginalised in today society. This marginalisation began right back during the British invasion where they were evicted from their own country, the stolen generation occurred and their health care, education, employment and housing was severely limited. Aboriginals generally live in poor conditions and choose unhealthy lifestyle choices they also make up a disproportionate section in the prison population; this continues the negative attitudes that society has towards aboriginals today. History Aboriginals trace their creation back to the dreamtime, an era long past when they believe the earth was first formed by creatures. The dreamtime theory was that these creatures started human society and made all natural things and put them in special places. An aboriginal man once said “Aboriginals have a special connection with everything that is natural. Aboriginals see themselves as part of nature … All things on earth we see as part human. It is true that people who belong to a particular area are really part of that area and if that area is destroyed they are also destroyed...
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...includes, Aboriginal peoples, First Nations, Métis, Inuit peoples and Francophones and Anglophones. Francophone and Anglophones have benefited the most from the collective rights in Canada. How do we know that Francophones and Anglophones have benefited the most from collective rights? We can compare how Francophones and Anglophones got their rights, what rights they have and how secure their rights are compared to the other groups in Canada who have collective rights. How did the Francophones and Anglophones get their rights? It all started in 1608 when Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec; one hundred and...
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...Defining the issue Aboriginal families all across Canada were affected by the residential school system. The two main objectives of residential schools were to remove and isolate indigenous children from their families and cultures and to assimilate them into the Western cultures. From the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s it was mandatory that Aboriginal children went to residential schools by the federal government, to try to make them more like “children in mainstream society” (Kevin, Beeds, and Filion 340). Aboriginal values were looked down upon. Schools were operated by a staff that consisted of nuns and priests. They focused on teaching children Christianity. This event was significant in Canadian history because it represented the loss of culture, language, and family connection due to long separations and the hardships faced at school. The experience at residential schools continue to affect generations of Aboriginals still to this day. History of the Issue Prior to the Canadian government’s involvement in the education of Aboriginal children, traditional education effectively sustained Aboriginal cultures for decades of years (340). Early in the 1600s French missionaries came to North America to convert Aboriginals to Christianity (340). They established mission schools in New France. By the 1800s the government focused on educating First Nations children in a way to indirectly assimilate them into Canadian society (340). In 1879, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald commissioned...
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...INTRODUCTIONS TO CANADIAN STUDIES BAD EDUCATION Bad education? Is there such a thing as bad education? Education supposed to be a good thing. Its roots come from the Latin word educere and means something like “to lead forth “ or “to develop mentally and morally by instruction “[1] Therefore a process of education should have a positive impact on human being and it should actually broaden his mind. But that is not what happened to Aboriginal people in Canada at the time of residential schooling. Residential schools were established in order to assimilate (Canadian Education Association) aboriginal people to western society. Later,” to assimilate” became synonym of “to civilize”. But was that really necessary to do? Gradually it became similar to a totalitarian regime and its expansion within society. Why cannot people understand each other, learn from each other and respect each other? Aboriginal people had their own educational system long before new settlers arrived to the shores of North America. System that was so different, and yet so similar to the western one. The teachers were the parents, the elders and other members of community. The classrooms were the teepees, the hillsides or the forests. Also other unusual subjects played role in the process of education. Education of this kind is distinct from the education that demands schooling. It aims, first, to explain to the individual...
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...The Residential school system in Canada was a system devoted to providing a disciplined based ideal that promoted the rejection of the aboriginal culture in favor of the then dominant white European population. The teaching strategies that were encouraged ranged from pulling children as young as six away from their parents to mental, physical and sexual abuse. The Residential schools were run by a variety of participating church organizations, which received funding from the Canadian government. The funding was based on a per aboriginal basis therefore it was in the best interests of the churches to enroll as many aboriginal students as possible. The schools were run in almost every province in Canada from 1860-1884 and claimed to be promoting religious and cultural assimilation. However, the cruelty that was experienced by many young aboriginals in the residential schools emphasizes the differences between the aboriginal societies and the European dominant society making complete assimilation impossible. The imposition of residential schools on First Nations children has led to significant loss of indigenous languages, and this language loss has led to further cultural losses for traditional First Nations cultures in Canada. The earliest known date opening of a Residential school was in 1840, located in Manitowaning, Ontario. The school was the Wikemikong Indian Residential School, it closed in 1879. The last Residential school to close was La Tuque Indian...
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...worrying, as the imbalance here in Australia is among of the worst health gaps between the indigenous and non-indigenous people in a any country. It has even gone as far to be raised as a human rights concern by the United Nations committee, which has since been acknowledged by Australian Government. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found there was seventeen year gap in life expectancy between non-indigenous and indigenous people living in Australia in 2011 census. This statistic alone should be enough to see the urgence in the matter of social health in our country....
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...In a country as wealthy as Canada, close to one million people continue to rely on food banks to provide themselves with basic necessities each month. Food Banks are used by a wide variety of people within Canada, ranging from children and families, to single people, to even individuals who are employed. People tend to use food banks because they are not able to maintain a healthy lifestyle on their own. Whether it is because of economic, social, or cultural reasons, many people have no other option but to do so. I have determined that the main cause of an increase in food bank usage in Canada is poverty. Within Canada, poverty has been an ever-present issue for many years. Although Canada is rated eighth on the Human Development Index, there continues to be a growing number of impoverished people. Individuals who are not able to provide themselves with the basic necessities of life are at an incredible disadvantage when it comes to maintaining their health and well-being. They can be exposed to many illnesses and life threats because they are not able to provide themselves with the resources needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Things such as food, shelter, and warmth all become optional for an individual living in poverty as they have little opportunity to better their life or living situations. Factors such as housing, education, employment, and environment are all equally important in determining an individuals economic standing. Specific groups such as Aboriginals can...
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...honor. A man, confident within his country stated the following on January 18, 1904 “Canada has been modest in its history, although its history, in my estimation, is only commencing. It is commencing in this century. The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that Canada will fill the twentieth century.” (Suzuki) Many Canadians would come to believe this and feel secure and prideful of their country. However, this statement would be proven wrong by the harsh unforgiving way the Aboriginal peoples were treated.Canada would not belong to the Twentieth century due to how the Government's treatment of first nations people, through the title of Status Indian, Reserves and Residential Schools. The Indian Act was put in place in the late nineteenth century as a means to calm down the First Nations people violent response to western settlers. (Coyler 176) The indian act would give the title of Status indian to certain people who met certain qualifications such as having Aboriginal ancestry or being an Aboriginal. This act would neglect the Aboriginal peoples to certain rights and freedoms, as well as eventually turning into a title of humiliation and prejudice. Anyone who had the title of status indian, were not given the right to vote. The final group of people to gain suffrage would be the Aboriginal peoples in the 1960’s. (Colyer 356 )Along with the inability to vote, the Indian Act would neglect Aboriginal people from receiving Old Age Pension...
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...• Discuss with students how the Bible story of creation is linked to plants for shelter. And how God made the plants so that humans and animals could use them for shelter and protection. • Question students about the first Aboriginal people in Australia. Did they live in houses? Where did they live and what did they do for shelter, food and protection? Discuss living off the land. • Read the story ‘Plants for Shelter’ again. Give students a small leaf each time I read the words plant, plants or planting students need to hold up their leaf. If I read the word shelter they need to hold their hands over their head in the shape of a roof. This cooperative learning activity addresses the needs of indigenous children in relationship...
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...Aboriginal Rights What are Aboriginal rights? Aboriginal rights are collective rights which flow from Aboriginal peoples’ continued use and occupation of certain areas. They are inherent rights which Aboriginal peoples have practiced and enjoyed since before European contact. Because each First Nation has historically functioned as a distinct society, there is no one official overarching Indigenous definition of what these rights are. Although these specific rights may vary between Aboriginal groups, in general they include rights to the land, rights to subsistence resources and activities, the right to self-determination and self-government, and the right to practice one’s own culture and customs including language and religion. Aboriginal rights have not been granted from external sources but are a result of Aboriginal peoples’ own occupation of their home territories as well as their ongoing social structures and political and legal systems. As such, Aboriginal rights are separate from rights afforded to non-Aboriginal Canadian citizens under Canadian common law. European Settlement and Aboriginal struggles Aboriginal people have a long and proud history that includes rich cultural and spiritual traditions. Many of these traditions, however, were altered or even taken away upon the arrival of European settlers. The forced introduction of European culture and values to Aboriginal societies, the dispossession of Aboriginal lands, and the imposition of alien modes of governance...
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...“Eddie Koiki Mabo’s legacy for the nation, and especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, is extraordinary” (Loos and Mabo, 2013 p. xxi). This essay will explore the life of Eddie Mabo and the Mabo case as well as discussing the affect his life has had on Australia as an inclusive nation today. The life of Eddie Mabo was more than most. He paved the way for Indigenous Australians in relation to equality and land rights. He is responsible for the abolishment of Terra Nullius and for the implementation of Native Title through the High Court of Australia, thus changing the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders forever. Despite the many hardships he faced throughout his life, Mabo was never discouraged from achieving what he believed to be right, irrelevant of how hard or how long it would take. When Captain James Cook...
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