Isolated Community

Throughout history, the Native people of North America and the Europeans have continually had arguments and disputes over land. To this day there are still issues trying to be resolved. Twenty years ago, the beginning of one of the most violent and intense land disputes in present day Canada occurred. This event is now referred to as the Oka Crisis, named after the town Oka in Quebec. This crisis caused a confrontation involving the Quebec provincial police, the Canadian armed forces and the Mohawk people.1 The stand that the Mohawk people took in the town of Oka became a major revelation for the aboriginal people spreading awareness of aboriginal rights across Canada.

The film Highway of Tears brought to light many issues faced by Indigenous persons however, its main focus was the missing and murdered women found along Highway 16 in Northern British Columbia. Majority of the women who are missing as well as those who were murdered are Indigenous women. This

These challenges include unstable economic conditions, especially for communities tied to natural resources as was seen in the forest sector crisis. Also, limited employment opportunities often lead to youth out-migration and higher proportions of seniors. According to the analysis of 2001 Census data for migration, it was shown that communities with the lowest percentage of in-migrants tend to be Aboriginal and forest dependent, while communities with the highest percentage of in-migrants are in the southern parts of the region and based on mining. The Census Research stated that the economic growth in Northern Ontario has been significantly less than the provincial due to the declining of the population. The Northern Ontario’s population density is described as 1 person per kilometer, while Southern Ontario’s population density is 104 people per kilometer. Another major obstacle that faces the enterprises as well as the residents of Northern Ontario is the geographical isolation. There is a limited transportation options, and infrastructure constraints. There are many issues over high gas prices as well as high air transportation

On the reserves, there is a lack of education and Natives are forced to move from place to place to find a job and live a stable life – something that their reserve cannot provide. In the history of Canada, before the Europeans have arrived to the North America, the Aboriginals struggled with their individual form of government with a steady economy. Hence the fact, if the country were to allow them to form their own government, they would be able to create and keep their sovereignty. Within past, the Natives became familiar of using the easiest style of society, called a hunter-gatherer society. Using this out-of-date form of civilization they were repetitively considering for new regimes and food. Accordingly, they were being forced to endlessly travel from momentary reserves.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether the Oka Crisis has had a positive or negative effect on First Nations affairs in Canada. There are many opinions that could be explored based on research of the crisis. The side that the crisis had a negative effect on Canada could be taken, because the crisis created tension in relations between the government and the Mohawks and caused many physical and emotional

Canada can be considered one of the most desirable First World Nations to live in however what many people are not aware of is the Third World nation that lives within our borders. Fist Nations people within the Canadian North live in the most extreme poverty often with inadequate access to water due to either a lack or deteriorating infrastructure. The statistics about First Nations water issues are startling and this leads to implications of their quality of life, a disappearing culture and pure lack of serious government intervention. This can be attributed to many things such as Canada’s Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal and centralists versus decentralists fault lines. If I have learned anything in my life time, it is that people deserve the right to life and that means meeting them at their most basic needs such as providing opportunity in water resources.

Second, Canada’s First Nations’ plight can be improved through self-governance. According to Pocklington, “For several years, Canadian aboriginal leaders have been demanding the recognition of a right of Native self-determination and thereby, for the aboriginal collectivities that choose it a right of self-government” (102). Aboriginal self-governance is a controversial issue in Canada. Before researching the issue I believed that self-governance would deter national unity, after further investigation, I presently believe that the claim for Aboriginal self-governance is justifiable. Although, according to Blakeney, “It will be a real challenge to make effective

For various reasons, the Canadian government continues harmful practices in lieu of the concerns from Aboriginal peoples. Returning to McGregor (2004), the power imbalance that exists between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people is apparent (p. 398), especially regarding oil extraction. So long as “western” theories of production and management are followed, opposing ideals will not dominate. There are large profits to be made in the Athabasca region from resource extraction. As a result, the Canadian government reduces the region to a marketable commodity (Latulippe,

The way the government of Canada handled the issues of the First Nations, effectively demonstrated the fact that the government regarded the immediate problems of the First Nations as a matter of indifference. The efforts of Canada persistently indicated that unless the First Nations held any benefit to the expansion of the economical, political or social aspects of their government, they would be overlooked merely because of their cultural origins.

Throughout history, First Nations rights and privileges has been a highly controversial subject in Canada, and remains a debatable topic in society, even in the present-day. Whether it has been the controversies surrounding the missing and murdered Indigenous women or the funding of First Nation’s education, concrete results have yet

Critical analysis: To achieve wellbeing of communities and individuals only providing or reallocating of resources in not enough. The government has to strength up the local and regional communities. Without the effective participation of indigenous people the economic strategy is doomed to

The Canadian government says that it is dedicated to making its obligations to First Nations by discussing issues and bringing closure to all claims. Canada likes to underlie that by looking at the historic inequality and building strong partnerships among First Nations people; governments, and the private sector are emerging. Nevertheless, the current progress of First Nations Land Claims is very unhurried and seems to be deliberately painstaking.

Confederation, also known as the Constitution Act of 1867, served as a political purpose and alliance in which made it particularly difficult for European settlers to coexist with preindustrial societies; hence, the years after confederation resulted in confusion about how Canadian government policies would address and affect Aboriginal populations. In contrast to the spiritual and traditional lives of the Aboriginal people, the new European settlers sought to conquer nature and shed traditional values in order to contrive industrialization in Canada; hence, post-confederation policies were largely based on the upper Canadian model. Furthermore, the failure of European settlers to coexist with the Aboriginal populations led to several attempts at civilizing the indigenous people; in other words, the federal government attempted to solve the Indian problem by assuming complete dominance over the Aboriginal populations of Canada. Having said that, the Canadian government’s harsh, prejudiced and paternalistic view of the indigenous people began a cycle of social, physical and spiritual destruction in which fundamentally resulted to economic, social, health and gender inequality. With that being said, the following paper will examine the long, and often bitter series of cultural encounters and exchanges that took place after confederation, such as the brutality of residential schools, health inequality and the Oka crisis dispute.

The involvement of other institutions in public policies The Federal government is responsible for insuring equal distribution and accessibility of health care services to citizens though they are not the only party that shape the policies of Canada’s healthcare but also the influence of doctors, health professionals, political parties, and

Running head: THE INFLUENCE OF DISCOURSE ON HEALTH CARE The Discourse of On Reserve Housing Mary Ratensperger Athabasca University Centre of Nursing Science MNS 620 Culture and Health Margo deJong Berg The Discourse of On Reserve Housing The substance of this paper will be to discuss the discourse regarding the inequalities facing aboriginal peoples living on reserves in the northwestern corner of Ontario. Inequality is not naturally occurring; poverty is not an innate cultural trait that accumulates at the feet of the marginalized (Schick & St.Denis, 2005, p.304). Stephens, Nettleton and Porter stated in the Lancet (2005) “Aboriginal people in Canada suffer enormous inequalities in health and in accessibility to health