In today’s society, it is hard to believe that the mythical archetypes of good versus evil may be found outside of the pages of a story book. However, the circumstances portrayed in Tomson Highway’s play The Rez Sisters are all too familiar to that of Aboriginal Canadians today. In The Rez Sisters, Highway depicts the lives of seven Aboriginal sisters and their journey to “THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD,” all while alluding to a wide range of realistic reserve issues such as poverty, substance abuse, and assault. On many First Native reserves in Canada, inhabitants must deal with problems that would challenge the resources of prosperous communities. High rates of infant mortality, substandard housing and little to no social services create conditions similar to the depiction of Wasy in The …show more content…
On average, 55 per cent of First Natives inhabiting Canadian cities are living under the poverty line; as we travel to provinces with greater Aboriginal populations, we see numbers rise as high as 70 per cent. By contrast, only 13 per cent of non-indigenous individuals in each city face poverty. Several factors can explain this high incidence of poverty among Aboriginal people, including significant barriers in education and employment opportunities. Research reveals that the unemployment rate amongst Aboriginal Canadians is 14.8 per cent which is approximately 8.5 percentage points greater than the national average of 6.3. Upon learning these facts, individuals are exposed to the harsh reality of life on Native reserves; this knowledge in turn allows for a deeper understanding of how those, that refer to these locations as a “home,” may function in their day to day lives. The Rez Sisters creates a reality parallel to the lives of Aboriginal Canadians today, and accurately depicts how each may feel towards their life on the reserve. Each woman is evidently