April Raintree

Pamela George’s murder occurred in 1995, and one would like to wish that our society were more advanced than this. It is disheartening to see that these kinds of race issues are still popping up today, when we like to boast what a compassionate, melting pot of a society Canada is. This article has influenced my thinking in that it has made me more aware of the situations regarding Aboriginals in our society that are still occurring today. It has also opened my eyes to the harsh living situations and the harsh treatment of Aboriginal people to this day.

Aboriginal families are often negated within society. Even when media places the important and attention to understanding the struggles that Aboriginal people face, they are often seen as a broken, alcoholic and violent community. The struggles that Aboriginal people face are purposefully painted and structured in a way that individualizes and blames them for their own situation. What this narrow societal view of Aboriginal people’s lives is that it allows for an escape from the uncomfortable reality that what they face have been shaped by design. It allows for their histories to be erased from the past history of European colonialism to the land. It negates the evident

It is sickening to most Canadians, and many citizens globally, when they discover the harsh ‘disciplinary actions’ most governments inflicted on Indigenous people. Governments at the time, were unapologetic for their cruelty, and still continue to be, despite their ‘tremendous effort’ to rebuild the relationship between themselves and Aboriginal groups . The effects of the assimilation and genocide of Indigenous people globally, continue to haunt their communities and families in the modern-day, with little, proper support from the government. Besides monetary bursaries, the government is completely absent when it comes to proper support and reconciliation. Most countries, including Canada, convoluted in this harsh treatment. Despite the attempted genocides, the Aboriginal community attempts to prosper, but still continues to fail in many aspects. Aboriginal community members continue to struggle in their personal and family life, especially on the subject of intergenerational trauma. Yet, the government(s) chose to become oblivious to these facts and still do not know how to properly rebuild the ties with Indigenous peoples, nor do they attempt to properly do so.  The government has been falling through with their promises to the Indigenous communities and the consequences of the governments actions are detrimental.

Cultural assimilation is the process by which a person or a group’s culture comes to resemble those of another group. As the each participant throughout the film narrate their harsh experiences, it is evident that this process was brutally enforced and implemented by the Canadian government. The system separates the children from their families at a young age, and forbade them to practice their Aboriginal rituals or speak their own language, and were taught that these ways are primitive and uncivilized. (Hanson, n.d) This process can be analyzed through the concept of socialization agents, which is defined by the people and institutions that influence ones attitude and behaviour. Families are considered to be primary agents of socialization, since they are the earliest source of learning and emotional connections. They play a critical role in forming individual behaviour and passing on culture from one generation to the next through language and rituals. (Tepperman, Albanese & Curtis 2012. pg. 57) However since the children were separated from their families at an early age, they became alienated from their roots, and the ties through which aboriginal culture can be passed

Over the past decades, Aboriginal people (the original people or indigenous occupants of a particular country), have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism resulting in gender/ class oppression. The history of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aborignal people are treated and viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more than three centuries are still grim realities today. The failures of Canada's racist policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels of unemployment and poor education.

In this research paper, I will be explaining how western colonialism and racism destroyed the reputation of aboriginal peoples in Canada. The reason why I chose this topic because it shows the strong relationship to anthropology and after taking aboriginal studies 30, it also shows that I have a clear understanding about the history of aboriginal peoples in Canada, the struggles they have been through over the past decade and the challenges they still face today in modern day society. I’ll be addressing these issues in a couple of paragraphs on the discrimination and the inequalities of these “minorities” and how they had to assimilate into European culture, leaving their way of life behind them.

Government policies authorising the removal of Aboriginal children have caused extensive and unrepairable damage to every aspect of Indigenous culture. It could be argued that the emotional turmoil which occurred as a result of this policy, is greater than any physical abused ever faced by the Australian Aboriginal people. The act of child removal would be a scarring experience for parents and children of any race or culture. This policy had a particularly damaging impact on the Indigenous people as their identity is based within a set of strong traditional guides and teachings. These lessons are not recorded, but can only be taught through speaking with elders and learning through a connection to others within the mob, connection to art forms

To many people, Canada exemplifies a country that fulfills human rights and equality being the country of ‘freedom’. However, the Canadian government has distorted certain information including poverty that impacts many Aboriginal individuals daily. In theory, it is impossible to effectively analysis the impact that the past has imposed on Aboriginal people in Canada today. With this being said addressed below are several important historical government actions and legislations such as the Indian Act, Royal Proclamation, force segregation on reserves, and residential schooling impacting Aboriginal Canadians social conditions today. Fundamentally my goal is to address the idea that historical events are a crucial factor impacting Aboriginal

Aboriginal peoples of Canada have suffered exponentially throughout the entirety of history and proceed to do so in modern society. Much of the continued suffrage of aboriginal peoples is as a result of the Sixties Scoop and the Residential School System, as well as the lack of resources available to them. This has wreaked extensive havoc on the mental health of Aboriginal peoples, and has left excessive amounts of stigma and racism attached to Aboriginal Peoples, explicitly seen in the cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Different ethnic backgrounds immigrate to Canada making it a very multicultural society. Immigrants coming to Canada have made it progress to a more multicultural society, making other nations believe that this is the case, however this does not include native societies that have been living in Canada for the longest period of time. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how Aboriginals live in Canada. This paper argues that aboriginals in Canada are not treated with the same equality as non-aboriginals livening in Canada, even though Canada is known as a multicultural society. By studying the history of Aboriginal settlement in Canada

Many people in today’s society are unaware of the stereotypes towards the Aboriginal people that can affect these people negatively. “April Raintree” is a novel that focuses on these specific stereotypes made to the Aboriginal people, written by Beatrice Culleton to bring awareness to her readers and open their eyes to the negative effects of what stereotyping results in. She addresses the conflict through the eyes of the main characters, April and Cheryl Raintree, two Métis sisters put up for foster homes by their biological parents who became alcoholics. One way Culleton addresses stereotyping is through April’s social worker, Ms. Semple. After issues arise at their second foster home at the DeRosiers, April and Cheryl try to make an escape

In April 1995 Pamela George, an Ojibway women, was brutally murdered in Saskatchewan. Her murderers Steven Kummerfield and Alex Ternowetsky, young middle-class white men, were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to merely six and a half years in prison. George’s story is one of the many Indigenous women who have been murdered or missing over the past years. There are over 580 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, close to half are put aside and left unsolved. Only 53% of these cases have lead to charges of homicide (Klement 8). Drastically, statistics indicate that Aboriginals are faced with more hardships throughout their life compared to the average Canadian. Indigenous groups, particularly women, suffer from a lower rate of education, higher suicide rates and an array of health risks. This paper will examine the role settler colonization history has played in perpetuating conditions for violence to indigenous women, many of which are still experienced today. This will be accomplished by first assessing the history of settler colonization and its negative repercussions. Secondly, it will use Sherene Razak’s concept of “spatial segregation,” to illustrate how state institutions have facilitated violence through space, race and the law. Lastly, this paper will use evidence from the film “Finding Dawn” to further demonstrate how violence towards indigenous women is institutionally produced.

Throughout European colonization in Canada Aboriginals were pressured to abandon their cultural identity and assimilate into western civilization. Aboriginals had inhabited the land for centuries; Aboriginals had already established their own distinct trade networks, social hierarchies and spiritual beliefs. Canadian colonization threatened the existence of Aboriginal culture; Europeans strove to achieve civilization in Canada and coerced “uncivilized” Aboriginals to adopt a Eurocentric way of life. This paper will argue that, a Marxist critique, of “A Red Girls’ Reasoning” demonstrates the persecution of Aboriginal culture in a Eurocentric society. Christine’s mixed race heritage enables her to play a role as a transgressor of rigid class, race and gender distinctions, representing her struggles as a microcosm of the imbalance between European and Aboriginal culture.

April Raintree was a strong independent girl growing up who took care of her younger sister Cheryl going in and out of different foster homes. They attended in a few different residential schools all with the same rules, same type of people. April was full “Indian” with a lighter skin colour than her sister Cheryl did not care about her race, skin colour or what others thought, quite confident and to be proud and be strong about her and her family all at one point before entering foster homes. April and Cheryl got separated but never lost touch with one another up until April got married and moved away to live a life she always dreamed of, to be rich, pretty and live the “white life” so she can not feel embarrassed anymore. It has been two years since the sisters been in touch and Cheryl told April; “ Look, April, you’ve changed a lot and I

Living in today’s world, I am quite familiar of the rising issue of hidden prejudice, overt discrimination, ethnic chauvinism, racism, and other acts and feelings of underlying aggression toward people with certain characteristics. The problem of racism has been around since the beginning of the capitalist era, but still exists today, as race is one of the key factors of social classification in our society . In chapter two of Understanding Societies, Elizabeth Comack gives an account of the “starlight tours” phenomena from 1990 to the mid 2000’s, in which Aboriginal peoples were driven by police to the outskirts of Saskatoon and left to freeze . Comack also emphasizes the results of the racialization of blacks, stating that black residents