The Importance Of Education For First Nations

Canada is a nation of opportunity and freedom. People from all around the world immigrate to Canada to start a new life, to get away from war or poverty. Canada opens their arms to them and accepts them, and gives them money to get them started. But how about those who were here from the very beginning, before anyone else landed in Canada; the ones that are called First Nation people, or Aboriginals? What is the government doing for them? Why are First Nations people suffering the worst in Canada? “55.6% of the poor are aboriginals and a lot of them live in reserves around Canada that Canadian government have put them in. For those who leave the reserves to get a better living the suffer from racism from Canadian society” (“Aboriginal”).

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.

Indian Residential Schools has been a major contributing factor towards the mistreatment and decreased standard of living for the First Nations people of Canada. Originally founded in the 1840’s and the last to close in 1996 the goal of Residential Schools was to assimilate First Nations people into Canadian society. The assimilation process consisted of the forced attendance (by Canadian law) for every Native, Metis, and Inuit child to attend the “boarding” schools. Residential Schools were ran by Christian, Catholic, and Anglican churches, the schools were also funded by the Canadian government’s Indian Affairs. Treatment students received while attending the schools was unbearable for the young children. After being taken and

• Wherever possible children should be brought up and cared for within there own family.

The purpose of Canada 's residential schools was to assimilate First Nation peoples into mainstream Canadian Society, like the Indian Act. The Residential Schools damaged First Nation people because it disconnected the children from their history, language, family, and culture. Residential Schools taught children that their culture wasn 't worth preserving. Some legacies of Residential Schools include alcoholism, poverty, and increased chances of becoming a prostitute or abuser (physical, emotional, sexual, and psychological). Statistics prove that people who have been

More children were apprehended then homes available for them, as stated previously, these children ended up out of country.

With over 200 school closing, it is causing classrooms to be too big and become oversized. Some classrooms are so oversized that students have to sit on the floor. The oversized classrooms affects the behaviors of the teaches. Such an environment brings upon stress the teachers of providing the need for every student and running around doing extra errands that the teachers are not paid to

Aboriginal-Canadians have an excessive history of mistreatment and discrimination in Canada. Europeans considered Canada’s First Nations as savages, eventually residential schools were created which in extreme cases were comparable to Prisoner of War camps. According to Evelyn Kallen, “Substandard housing breeding disease and death, closed schools due to lack of teachers, heat, and/or running water are only two examples of continuing, dehumanizing life conditions on many reserves” (198). Although, extensive improvements have been made to reservations and Aboriginal rights, more improvement remains necessary. Allan Blakeney stated, “An important starting point of course, is that Aboriginal people in Canada do not, as a group, occupy high

Conflict between Canada and the First Nations has been going on since the Europeans first arrived. After their arrival the First Nations way of life was hindered severely; The Europeans brought many diseases that the Aboriginal people were unfamiliar with and had no resistance to, or cure for. “By the 16th century about 80% of Canada's Native population had died from the various diseases (Renneboog, 5).” The Europeans also came to Canada with the intentions of taking all of the land for themselves, disregarding the people who occupied the land before them. Over time the Europeans had manipulated the First Nations to their will and the Aboriginals were discriminated for their different complexion, culture, customs, and way of life. But

In the Indigenous community, when the community is faced with a trauma, it takes seven generations for the community to heal (Trimble, 2015). People may underestimate how oppressed and how much suffering the Indigenous communities had to struggle with, and continue to struggle with these issues today. We may underestimate how severe the situation is because many of us were not taught much about the impact of colonization on the Indigenous communities in school. There are many myths people may have concerning Indigenous life experiences, particularly schooling. To address these myths, I would begin by giving a brief history of residential schools. I would then analyze how residential schools have impacted the indigenous community and how they continue to affect them today. I would also mention the current issues children on reserves are facing today regarding school. Lastly, I would mention some of the progress that has been made. I will use the work of Sefa Dei to demonstrate the importance of community in education regarding the Indigenous people.

//Racial inequality maintains a high prevalence in Canadian society as it has birthed a variety of policies throughout history. Beginning with the exploitation of the First Nations peoples during colonialism and tracking through assimilation attempts and residential schools to our modern apathy towards the missing and murdered Indigenous women, the treatment of First Nations people is only one example of racial inequality. Further, stereotyping and media representation of First Nations people has continued to support prevailing attitudes towards First Nations and portrayed them as criminal,

There is a reason why we have so many homeless aboriginals here in Canada and its because what we're doing isnt working. Government isn't properly dealing with these kind of issues yeah Ottawa has invested 1 billion but has Ottawa only invested provinces haven't contributed

Education is also an important aspect when it comes the Wasauking First Nation. To begin with, the Wasauking offers education for elementary as well as secondary school students. Students who are looking to pursue post-secondary education are also giving guidance and get assistance when filling out application forms. Members of the Wasauking who have learning disabilities are also taken care of as there are special education programs to meet the specific needs of the individual. Education is taken seriously because it provides for a better life “First Nations youth who complete high school are twice as likely to be employed, and those who get university degrees triple their earning potential “. If First Nations youth are able to complete

Most of the other problems the schools face are directly related to the funding issue. Buildings are run down and sometimes mobile because of the lack of finances. No child wants to go to school in a dreary building that smells bad. It makes it hard to concentrate and hard to study in buildings such as this. Every school has some type of sport being played by the students. For some, sports are the only reason they do not drop out of school. However, if finances are not available then the school should focus mostly on the education of all of its students as a whole, not just a few who think they cannot make it without sports. Without the financial issues, schools have even more problems. School violence is becoming more and more common. School should be a place where children come to learn and be with their peers, in a very good environment. It should not be a place where children are afraid to go because of the anger or hurt of other children. This is probably the major issue of the public today.

I would have never thought that I would grow up to love the country life. I went from growing up in a big, busy, and hectic city, to a small, slow-paced, and simple town. I was so used to having neighbors, and walking and biking on a side-walk. Now I live on a gravel road with almost no neighbors. A change in environment really influences a person's personality. I now love the silence and hearing the birds chirp and coyete’s howl. The corn fields go on for miles and the sunsets are breathtaking.