The Aboriginal Peoples Of Canada

Barker, J. (2008). Gender, Sovereignty, Rights: Native Women's Activism against Social Inequality and Violence in Canada. American Quarterly, 60(2), 8. Retrieved fro m http://search.Proquest.com.Ez proxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/61688929?Acc ountid=15182.

In Canada, there has been an on going concern in the matter of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Although many First nations individuals have many barriers placed upon them by society, the government and many other institutions. Indigenous women face many of these barriers very harshly. Aboriginal women are vulnerable to many different forms of abuse because of not only being female but also due to issues such as poverty. First nations citizens have been faced with extreme difficulties throughout every aspect of their lives. These difficulties ultimately include the discrimination they face daily from police services, lack of resources in order to assist their need, etc. There have been many problems which have lead up to the social problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women which include the historical upbringing of our First nations population, and unfortunately through recent factors as well. Theories like the feminist theory assist in the debunking of this problem and give us a brief insight into the situation. To this day, the very serious issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women is a key issue, which has been left with many cases unsolved. This in part clearly demonstrates the lack of efforts put in place by Canadian police in order to combat this problem. A case, which raised serious problems in North America, is the case of Lisa, a young Metis woman who at the age of fifteen disappeared walking home from a shopping trip, to which she was never found.

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.

Throughout history, women have been the victims of oppression in society. In specific, Aboriginal women have suffered through racism, sexism, domestic violence, and over-representation. Through the implementation of the Indian Act, Aboriginal women have been forced to abandon their culture in order to assimilate into Canadian society. The effects of colonization has changed the way Aboriginal women are treated; emotionally and physically, and therefore are the source of oppression today.

Imagine a normal day. You wake up, you get ready, you probably see your mom, wife or sister. You say goodbye and head on your way. Once home, you sit down with them and talk about your day. When sad they comfort you, they love, support, care for you. Now imagine you wake up one day and they have disappeared without a trace. Gone. You are heartbroken. This is a sad reality for many Indigenous families, many women are vanishing without a trace. Between 1200-4000 Indigenous women have been missing or murdered in the last 30 years. These women are often targeted and treated as being worthless leading to little support from police and the public. After being immersed into this issue I learned lots, but I was left feeling sad,

Aboriginal people represent less than 3% of the total population in BC. Yet, they account for more than 9% of all suicides in BC (Chandler). The numbers of suicides amongst aboriginal youth are even more alarming – nearly one-fourth of all youth suicides in BC are committed by aboriginals and more than half of all aboriginal suicides are committed by youth (Chandler). The fact that indigenous communities in Canada have the highest rate of suicide of any culturally identifiable group in the world implies that these alarming statistics may not solely be a result of aboriginal communities belonging to a minority cultural group. I will attempt to build a speculative hypothesis behind the significantly high suicide rates amongst aboriginal

The Aboriginal peoples of Canada had gone through many situations to get to where they are today with their education system. Pain, sorrow, doubt, and hope are all feelings brought to mind when thinking about the history and the future of Aboriginal education. By taking a look at the past, anyone can see that the right to education for Aboriginal peoples has been fought about as early as the 1870s. This is still is a pressing issue today. Elder teachings, residential, reserve and post-secondary schools have all been concerning events of the past as well as the present. Though education has improved for the Aboriginal peoples of Canada, there are still many concerns and needs of reconciliation for the past to improve the future.

“These folks have been victimized twice. Once when their daughters, their sisters, their mothers have gone missing. And then, a second time when the justice system has utterly failed them in the pursuit of the justice they so rightly deserve. There can be no solution until we get to the truth in the heart of the matter, that this is a complex issue. The sources of this violence against Aboriginal women and girls is complex, but it… there’s no possibility of finding those solutions unless we actually have the truth on the table. And the resistance from this government time and time again, to have the courage and the leadership to approach this conversation and find that truth… is yet a third victimization of these families” (Pope C. & Smiley M., 2015)

Women no matter where they are in the world are too often victims of violence. They face higher rates than men both if it is sexual assault, stalking, or severe spousal abuse and usually the results are that women will end up extremely injured or dead. With young women suffering the highest rates of violence, Aboriginal women in particular face an increased risk of violence compared to non-Aboriginal women. Aboriginal women in Canada are three times more likely to experience crucial and severe violence compared to non-Aboriginal women. Most of these women end up missing and murdered. The predicaments of missing and murdered Aboriginal women has brought tremendous pain and suffering in homes, in families and throughout Aboriginal communities. Many sources and factors have contributed to hindering solving this issue. Media and discrimination have long been known to have played a huge role in this tragedy.

The Canadian native aboriginals are the original indigenous settlers of North Canada in Canada. They are made up of the Inuit, Metis and the First nation. Through archeological evidence old crow flats seem to the earliest known settlement sites for the aboriginals. Other archeological evidence reveals the following characteristics of the Aboriginal culture: ceremonial architecture, permanent settlement, agriculture and complex social hierarchy. A number of treaties and laws have been enacted amongst the First nation and European immigrants throughout Canada. For instance the Aboriginal self-government right was a step to assimilate them in Canadian society. This allows for a chance to manage

As it has been said by Hippocrates, “to seek to ease pain is natural”, yet the question still remains as to why we as a society inflict pain upon one another? (Silverburg, 1996, p. 16) The systematic and societal build-up of violence is a controversial issue as there are many dimensions through which it can be seen. Whether it is emotional, psychological, or physical abuse – the question of “why” still remains unanswered, as do many of the questions that are asked by the Aboriginal communities. The World Report on Violence and Health defines violence as: "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting

The most interesting part from this week’s lecture was when we learned about BC’s Aboriginal history. I didn’t know that 95% is unceded land until we had this presentation. It was very touched presentation and we had and we had some discussions and activities that made me sad, angry and inspired. I was shocked when we watched a video of a survival from residential school. I can’t believe that many Aboriginal students were abused physically, sexually and mentally by their teacher and forced to live in a Canadian way but abandoned their culture and language. I think residential schools were the most painful experience for many Aboriginal people. Of course, we can’t fully understand their feelings if we had never been on their situation, but at

Canada is often recognized as a developed society on the world stage, with elaborate institutions and treaties in place to ensure the needs and development of Indigenous people are met. Yet, simultaneously Canada exists in a state with a numerous amount of human rights abuses against Aboriginal women and children. This dichotomy creates a number of issues in regards to honoring historical documents, but more importantly – to end the ongoing targeting of Aboriginal Women and Children in Canada. In this essay, I will address development practice and effectiveness in Canada looking particularly at the practice of forced sterilization of Metis women in Canada. Drawing on the examples of Maori maternity, I will situate the struggles of both gendered and ethnic people from dominant discourses in the international context. Then, l will argue that Canada and wider settler societies not only have an ethical responsibility to address the ongoing targeting of Aboriginal women and children, but that addressing these issues is in the best interest of the Canadian government improve the development indicators to provide a more

Aboriginal peoples in Canada generally represents people who are the Indigenous habitants of Canada constituting of First Nations, Inuit and Metis (Etowa, Jesty, & Vukic, 2011). The First Nations people are referred to as Indians (status or non-status), the Inuit people traditionally live in northern regions including the Arctic and Subarctic areas and previously referred to as Eskimo while the Metis are Aboriginal people with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal ancestors as a result of intermarriage with Europeans (Caron-Malenfant, Simon, Guimonnd, Grondin, & Lebel, 2015). Also, urban Aboriginal people are those who migrated to the urban areas in search for better opportunities and employment in the 1960s and 1970s and may include status and

The term Aboriginal Tribes was given to the Aboriginies living in groups by European settlers