The Effects Of Assimilation On Aboriginal People

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.

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

The impact of colonization on First Nations peoples in Canada is unsurpassable, regarding every aspect of Aboriginal life and well-being. Throughout Canadian history, the government has been aiming to assimilate and annihilate Aboriginal people by way of racist policies, ethnocentric institutions, discriminatory laws and destructive capitalist behaviours. Because of this, Aboriginal people have suffered many losses, both physically and culturally. One of the main perpetrators of enacting this loss is the education system. The education system in Canada has and continues to threaten the relationship First Nations peoples have with the land. The connection First Nations peoples have with the land is crucial to their cultures, traditions, ceremonies and beliefs. Colonization and colonialism jeopardize this relationship and that is what this essay will address.

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 Canada’s 150 years of being a country, Indigenous people were oppressed. The children were forced into residential schools, and eventually, over decades, the entire culture was lost. Looking back on it now, it is clear that what had happened was a “cultural genocide.” Cultural genocide is defined as, “the destruction of structures and practices that allow a group to continue as a group” (Moffit, Brown, 2017).

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.

The issue that this documentary presented was that the Aboriginal residential school process was a way to eliminate the entirety of the Aboriginal population or at least assimilate them. The process was very deliberate and often times the views of Aboriginals were not acknowledged in this whole institution. Furthermore, the language used to describe Aboriginals showed the truth of there being a deliberate attempt to assimilate and eliminate this group. Shockingly, Canada’s PM, Sir John A. MacDonald called the group Canada’s “Indian problem”. These polies instill a culture of racism as policies tend to shape attitudes. Dhiru Patel’s Public Policies and Racism article talks about Canada attempting to give retribution for this which leads to a false perception that Canada is now free of Racism. In fact, the article mentions that amongst youth 83% of Canadians think Canada treats minority groups fairly. In the movie, the interviews of all of the groups shows that

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.

There has been a great deal of contention over Aboriginal Rights in Canada. Much of this conflict can be said to stem from the differences in both the philosophy and cultural systems of Aboriginal and non-aboriginal people, with much of it originating from the time of the original European settlement of Canada (UBC Law, 2009). The focus of this conflict has been primarily on the rights to land, sea and resources, as well as how the law is to apply to the Aboriginal peoples of Canada (UBC Law, 2009).

“The fear I carry and the aversion I feel towards governmental departments is due entirely to inter-generational trauma. My mother carries this fear, my grandmother carried this fear, and my great-grandmother carried this fear,” (Quotation mark) said Kelly Briggs. Aboriginal Canadians are still instilled with dread and animosity from the negligence of human rights that they were deprived from. Aboriginal Canadians do not receive the respect, impartiality or justice they deserved. Many rights of the Aboriginal Canadians were neglected. Canada prides itself on, the great variety of cultures, ethnicities, races and religions, which occupies this country. However, the Canadian government and society did not acknowledge the Aboriginals or the

Truthfully, Canada has yet to come to terms with its Aboriginal heritage. Though steps are being made, our country still in a sense lacks the conviction to truly accept our Indigenous history. This essay will discuss the importance of three paramount pieces of Aboriginal history that we must come to terms with as Canadians in order to accept our Aboriginal heritage. Canada is struggling to come to terms with its Aboriginal history, and this essay will attempt to display what we need to understand in order to move forward and make progress. Canada is a melting pot of diversity, but our very earliest roots as a nation stand with the Aboriginal people. Therefore, it is clear that Canada needs to come to terms with its Aboriginal heritage.

Aboriginal Peoples of Canada are descendants of the nations Indigenous groups, who were considered to be the original inhabitants of North America. In Canada they are comprised of three main groups known as First Nations, Inuit and Metis they are incredibly diverse with respect to cultural practices, languages and spiritual beliefs. Evidence however indicates that, as a population, Aboriginal Peoples are “the most materially, socially and spatially deprived ethno-cultural group in Canada.” Further, Aboriginal women are considered to be among the most severely disadvantaged of all groups in Canadian society. This essay will argue that Aboriginal women in Canada are placed in a disadvantaged position in society that has negative consequences

The history of Indigenous people in Canada is both tumultuous and troubled, European colonial powers never acknowledged the political organization and historic land use of Indigenous Canadians and ignored any pre-existing Indigenous sovereignty (Elder, 121). Historically, Canadian sovereignty depended on maintaining the relationship between Canada’s Indigenous people and the Crown through treaties of peace and friendship (Macklem, 122). Over the past century, assimilation has been the predominant solution to the challenges

Because of the fact that Canada is a country mainly consisted of migrant people, this number of the aboriginal people seems very small. Despite this small number of them, nobody can deny that they are important members of Canada. They have been living in this country since very long times ago. Moreover, according to the same document above, “Aboriginal children aged 14 and under made up 28.0% of the total Aboriginal population.” It shows that more than a quarter of them

Carter, S. (1999). Aboriginal people and colonizers of western Canada to 1900. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto University Press.