...Agreements: The Indian Act and Canadian Treaties In modern society the question of why the aboriginal population receives benefits often arises. Much of today’s youth does not understand that the Native American people were often stripped of their rights in the past in order to gain these advantages. Two main incidents were established in the Aboriginal history, the first was the treaties that spread across Canada and the second incident was the Indian Act of 1876. The main difference between the Indian Act and treaties were the aboriginal’s role in the decision-making. Treaties allowed for a compromise between the Natives and the government that allowed for benefits on both ends whereas the Indian act was imposed on the Native culture by the Canadian government without any arrangement with the aboriginals. This paper will first describe the history of treaties and what they entail for both parties and also look at the formation of the Indian Act. Then, this paper will look at how each had affected the Aboriginal people in similar and different ways. Finally this paper will look at the relation in today’s society that the treaties have in Canada and what life would be like if the Indian Act was still a large part of how First Nations people would have been treated if the Act was not changed following World War II. After these points, a reader should have a better understanding of a topic that they may know little about. By looking at both the Indian Act and Canadian treaties...
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...Indian Identity and the Reservation: The Historical Legacy of Modern Canadian Racism and Inequality in the Indian Community and the Canadian Federal Government The issue of inequality in Canada is part of a historical racism towards the First Peoples through the various federal legal mandates created through (1) the status of indigenous identity and (2) land issues on the reservation. Historically, the formation of Indian reservations has been part of the displacement and/or removal of First Peoples due to the problem of “white Canada” policies in the 19th century. The creation of the Indian Act of 1876 provided a means in which the Canadian federal government forced indigenous tribes to settle on land that was appointed by the government....
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...The First Nations have been playing a very important role in Canada, while the First Nations not mainstream populations in Canada, but the Indigenous people living in the same land with us. There are close relationship between Canadian government and Aboriginal people, many Aboriginal social movements happened in Canada in period of 1960s to early 1970s. These voices of the Aboriginal have a great impact on Canadian government’s Aboriginal policies in the future. This paper will focus on the Aboriginal’s response to the government policy which from 1960s to early 1970s. The Hawthorn-Tremblay Commission, 1966-1967 In 1960s, the Indians have to right to vote in federal elections, it was the first time for the Indian people to have the right...
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...In 1876, the Canadian government passed and put into law the “Indian act”. The “Indian acts” specific goal was to fix the “Indian problem”. The “Indian acts” main beliefs were to civilize native people, mange reserve activity and control Indian Status. With all this power over the Aboriginal peoples the treatment towards Aboriginals was inhumane. Many Aboriginal peoples were mentally traumatized, discriminated against and neglected in residential schools and society. The Residential schools left many aboriginal peoples mentally traumatized. For example “Some children experienced… psychological…abuse” (Quinlan etal 66). Being exposed to such a horrifying ways of life students begin to develop low self-esteem throughout the years. Having low...
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...In 1876, the Canadian government passed and put into law the “Indian act”. The “Indian acts” specific goal was to fix the “Indian problem”. The “Indian acts” main beliefs were to civilize native people, mange reserve activity and control Indian Status. With all this power over the aboriginal peoples the treatment towards aboriginals was inhumane. Many Aboriginal peoples were mentally traumatized in residential schools, discriminated against and neglected in residential school. The Residential schools left many aboriginal peoples mentally traumatized. For example “Some children experienced… psychological…abuse” (Quinlan etal 66). Being exposed to such a horrifying ways of life students begin to develop low self-esteem throughout the years. Having...
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...for years, these are just a few things that we, as Canadians, have done. 150,000 Indian children were taken away from their families to live at residential schools. The first residential school was opened in 1840 in Bradford, Ontario and by 1910 there were a total of 74 schools all across Canada. Residential...
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...rights and identity of Indigenous peoples. The State of Indigenous Peoples’ Languages and Cultures in Canada Submission by Kontinónhstats - The Mohawk Language Custodians Submitted by: Kontinónhstats – The Mohawk Language Custodians 14A Sóse Onahsakenrat (Joseph Swan Road) Kanehsatà:ke, Quebec Canada J0N 1E0 Phone: 450-479-1651 Email: Ellen Gabriel kontinonhstats2@hotmail.com Hilda Nicholas kononkwe@inbox.com Table of Contents Page Executive Summary ………………………………………………………. 3 - 6 Introduction ……………………………………………………………….. 6 – 7 Current Situation ………………………………………………………..... 7 – 9 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………. 9 - 11 Recommendations ……………………………………………………….... 12 End Notes …………………………………………………………………...13 - 14 Annex 1………………………………………………………………………15 -16 Annex 2………………………………………………………………………17 Suggested Questions ………………………………………………………..18 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This submission on Indigenous languages, culture and identity demonstrates the manner in which Canada continues to practice institutionalized racial discrimination and assimilation against Indigenous peoples’ human rights and fundamental freedoms through the imposition of their policies and programs which are based upon the archaic legislation of the 1876 Indian Act. According to the ICERD’s definition of “racial discrimination”, racial discrimination is the “…distinction, exclusion...
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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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...1 INDIANS Donna Rose History204 Tami Depasse July 14, 2014 2 “Go West Young Man” (Greeley, H. 1865) and West is where we went. Which marked the beginning of the end of the American Indians way of life. A life that was once peaceful and prosperous for the Sioux Indians was about to change drastically. Throughout history, the Sioux Indians, had to fight physical and emotional battles, in trying to retain their land and dignity. Following a time line, the American Indians were treated unjustly, as I will show starting with the Bozeman Trail and continuing on with The Great Sioux Reservation, Custer’s expedition, Battle of the Little Big Horn, Ghost Dancers, Wounded Knee, Citizenship Act of 1924, The Indian Reorganization Act, and The American Movement(AIM). The terrains were rough, being brutal and forcibly tough, especially for the new settlers who came west, when there was talk of gold. John Jacobs and his partner John...
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...Aboriginal Spirituality ORIGINS Key Terms Aboriginal: Of native ancestry, inhabiting or existing in a land from the earliest times and before colonists. Animism: The attribution of a living soul to plants, animals, inanimate objects and natural phenomena. Elder: A person (male or female) venerated for age and wisdom. Faith keeper: Member of a nation selected to maintain the traditional ceremonies and rituals. First Nations: An aboriginal band, or a community functioning as a band, but not having band status. Does NOT include Inuit or Métis. Genesis: The origin, the beginnings, the formation of something. Indigenous: Originating naturally in a region, belonging naturally to an environment (of people) born in a region. longhouse: Iroquois home, cigar-shaped, about fifty metres long and ten metres wide, a dwelling shared by several families. Longhouse: The religion of the Iroquois. Monotheism: The belief in one God. Polytheism: The belief in or worship of more than one God. Oracy: The ability to express oneself fluently in speech and to understand a spoken language. Powwow: A gathering of Aboriginal people with ritual dances, drumming and chanting. Reincarnation: The belief in the rebirth of a soul in a new body or form Sachems: The supreme chief of a clan. Shaman: Medicine man or spiritual leader. Smudging ceremony: A purification ritual that includes the burning of sweet grass and drawing smoke ritually over body. Tipi: Cone shaped tent and dwelling found in...
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...Critics of the schools consistently cited that separating the children from their community was abusive and was not justified, further, they regularly called for less direction by the government and religious institutions, and more Indian control (Miller, 1996). Many requests for reform were made to the Special Joint Committee between 1946-48 (Miller, 1996). The residential schools created a multitude of issues for graduates -- by having their culture essentially beat out of them, they could no longer fit in if they stayed on reserves; if they wanted to work outside of reserves, intense racism prevented them from attaining jobs, truly a no-win situation for these students (Miller, 1996). Briefs and requests for more standardized curriculae...
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...nation canadian families struggle day to day. This struggle comes from a long and drawn out process that Canada has put First nations people through in order to destroy them and their culture. though First Nation people have strived in order to make a better life for themselves in today’s society, many still struggle due to the problems that have hindered aboriginals for many generations. Some of the key issues that will be touched upon in this essay are: the comparison between urban privilege versus rural Aboriginal struggle, the comparison between aboriginal struggles today versus the struggles of previous generations, and the issues and horrors of residential schooling. The comparison...
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...Residential schools Residential schools represented the greatest form of abuse against the Indians by the government in the name of civilizing and assimilating them into Eurocentric values. This system of industrial schools was modeled along Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania whose intention was to alienate entire generations of Indian children from their language and culture. Indian children were taken away from their parents, relatives, friends, and communities to residential schools where they lost their culture and ability to communicate in the native tongue. This system of residential school has been equated to cultural genocide. The 1876 Indian Act gave the government the responsibility for native education and residential school...
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...recognizes three groups of Aboriginal people: Indians (commonly referred to as First Nations), Métis and Inuit. These are three distinct peoples with unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. More than one million people in Canada identify themselves as an Aboriginal person, according to the 2006 Census.” (Indigenous Nationhood) Although many Aboriginal peoples in Canada identify as being Aboriginal, many Aboriginal peoples struggle to maintain or gain a sense of cultural identity due to the Canadian Governments assimilation policies. Throughout this paper I will discuss how the Indian Act, the Canadian Residential School System, and the Sixties Scoop assimilated Aboriginal peoples into a European way of life, by attempting to integrate them into society by abolishing their Aboriginal identities. This assimilation process impacted Aboriginal peoples in negative ways throughout the generations socially, culturally, and economically. The negative impacts within child welfare system, educational institutions, and the socio-economic status of Aboriginal peoples today, prove assimilation and the total integration of Aboriginal peoples within mainstream society is unacceptable. Decolonization techniques should be applied within those areas in order combat the long lasting effects of assimilation by colonization. Decolonization will also help enable Aboriginal peoples to regain a cultural identity. The 1876 Indian Act was created as a way to control and assimilate...
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...nineteenth century, American Indians suffered a great many hardships and faced constant oppression from white Americans. In the 1870s, buffalo hunters begin moving into the West and in only a decade, they slashed the endless herd into an endangered species. The buffalo was an important resource to the Native Americans for food and clothing, and the Native Americans were known for using every part of the buffalo. The American buffalo hunters, however, were only trying to eliminate this Native American resource and often discarded the entire buffalo carcass. In 1871, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act, ending the practice of treating Indian tribes as sovereign nations. This act was justified as a way to avoid...
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