Isolation In Canadian Culture

Canada and the US categorized Indigenous people creating a complex paternalistic system because Indigenous people were seen as inferior. The American and Canadian governments sought to control Indigenous people without any regard for their human dignity, nor did they acknowledge the different tribes, languages or customs and instead set about creating a single entity that would stand for the whole group (82). Instead of treating each group differently, the one-size-fits-all approach was taken because it required less work on the governments part and reinforced the message that Natives were not important enough for individual recognition. King shows the assimilation and elimination that Indigenous people endured and how the governments decided that they had to either butcher or civilize the Indians quickly (108). A major assimilation policy were residential schools which targeted children so their culture would die out by the next generation.

The Course Pack provided for the Native American Philosophy contained nine articles combined to demonstrate the huge philosophical gap of ideologies between Canada and the Aboriginal people. A couple articles comment how Canada in the past has attempted to discriminate, assimilate and destroy the aboriginal people and when that did not work, their cultures and assimilate them into European Canada ways. Evidently this has not worked. The course pack talks about the differences of ideologies being because of different languages, assumptions, and cultural views. In order to narrow the gap we need to understand these differences on both sides to a greater extent.

Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native culture, teachings, and pride. Policies towards the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians has decreased their opportunities and standard of living because of policies specified previously (Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reservation systems).

The Canadian government enacted an Indian Act in 1876 which outlines their approach towards the elimination of the Aboriginal government, land, religion, and so on. This policy’s central goal was to assimilate the entire aboriginal population into Canadian civilization. The act described how to categorize one as an Indian, how one could lose their Indian status, the abolition of Native traditions and practices, and much more. Through residential schooling, which was administered through the Indian Act, the country was able to force allegiance in mass volumes. The word ‘residential schools’ refers to a schooling system which intends to enforce Euro-Canadian values into Aboriginal youth. After many years of agonizing discrimination and

National mythologies, as argued by Razack (2002), are “stories about a nation’s origins and history . . . [that] enable citizens to think of themselves as part of a community defining who belongs and who does not belong to the nation” (Razack 2002: 2). There is an idea where Europeans and the immigrants imported to build Canada were equally respected and treated. These immigrants were the necessary immigrants needed for the “Canadian imaginary”, however when the construction projects were complete, laws which excluded Black and Asian people, were set up and immigrant were essentially displaced as they were deemed unsuited to the harsh ‘northern kingdom’ climate only suitable for ‘northern races’ (Mackey 2002). Many Natives who lived in the Ontario and Quebec areas were essentially pushed northwards to escape the presence of the Europeans settlers, and the Natives who remained were isolated from society on land reserves (Mackey 2002). This generated the idea that Indigenous people were disappearing with the progression of civilization and settlers (Mackey 2002) or “presumed to be mostly dead or assimilated” (Razack 2002: 2) as grade-school history taught us, as one member of the discussion brought up. Our group agreed that pushing the Indigenous out of the Ontario and Quebec areas was solely beneficial for the Europeans as they got to keep the preferable environments, and the Indigenous were pushed to northern, harsher conditions. Once those of non-European decent where displaced, Canada was viewed as “superior to the USA because [of] the racial similarities of the English and French [that] made the country homogenous” (Mackey 2002: 31) – a desirable state of uniformity to

Historically it has always been the trend that people are in constant competition for power so that they may impose their ideologies on the rest of society. The government has imposed political and social structures that are in line with their views but they have been shown to promote social inequalities at Indigenous women’s expense. The overrepresentation of Indigenous women in the Criminal Justice System is seen though history, and discrimination can be found at The Canadian Justice system’s actions as an agent for society as a whole has contributed to the devaluation of Indigenous Women. There have been numerous studies and reports done on the relationship between the Canadian government and Indigenous women which has shown the negative impacts of policies enacted. These actions have proved to

When we study about Canadian history through gender, racism and colonialism, we need to look relationships between Canada and Indigenous peoples. How did Indigenous communities follow their actions and decision-making based on their ideology while they tried to maintain their cultural values and identity. An effort for coexisting Indigenous people in Canada represented diverse reactions and behaviors such as the system of slavery and violence. Indigenous people (Upper Canadian slaves) did not expect this status and racialized by Caucasians. A resistance against the system of slavery was a desire of Indigenous people for a corporation with Caucasians. "

Canada’s history is packed with many examples of intolerable acts of racism. These acts of racism are projected towards the Indians and immigrants. In 1608, the Indians already occupied the land when Samuel de Champlain first arrived in Canada. The Indians became valuable allies. The Europeans relied on the Indian’s tools and skills, in order for them to survive in Canada.

The labeling of individuals and groups as ‘different’ is part of the process of creating social hierarchies, which represents the foundation of oppression (de Leeuw, Kobayashi, & Cameron, 2011). This story brings to light the denial of systematic racism of the indigenous people in Canada. It was established that although Canada prides itself in the great variety of culture and ethnicity and religion. However, despite such practices, racism is still a significant issue. Oppression is a contemporary issue for indigenous people because Canadians are still ignorant about aboriginal history. There is a misconception that aboriginals are either living in an idyllic utopian society or in a primitive world. “underprivileged” and “disadvantage”, lazy,

In order to understand the relationship between Indigenous Canadians and other Canadian identities we must first have a basic understanding of this relationship throughout history. The knowledge of behaviours and conduct of historical Aboriginal and European settler relations is essential to a contemporary analysis of current cultural genocide and identity theft. Historical colonial practices and attitudes deeply contribute to a severe loss of identity and livelihood for Aboriginal Canadians. These learned behaviours by non-Aborigines massively impact the weight of unacknowledged social and political issues. The resolution of these problems and de-colonization rely heavily on a “reshaping” of outsider views of Indigenous identity (Lawrence), recognition of historical and current malpractices, and the preservation and respect of cultural traditions. There are two sides to every story, but often we only recognize the validity of the side that aligns with our values and that emphasizes what we identify with. Therefore, when we are presented with conflicting narratives it can be difficult to acknowledge the harsh realities of what we once thought was a golden tale. For some, it’s a matter of willful ignorance, we are aware of historical facts but choose not to recognize the effects or how we may be contributing to these problems. This willful ignorance is perpetuated by stereotypes founded in education which infect media and

“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

As time went on in Canada, the relationship that the Explorers held with the Natives shifted from one of gratitude and reliance to possessions and liability. As time continued to pass, the relationship and treatment toward First Nations Indians became more hostile and unforgiving and while that relationship is now on the mend, for a good many years the First Nations Canadians were persecuted by the government. Between 1876 and 1950 the way First Nations Indians were regarded by other Canadians shifted, legislation to regulate the activities of First Nations Canadians began in full capacity in 1876, continued in the early 1900’s, and was reformed in the 1950’s.

Born in 1943, to a Greek mother and a Cherokee father, Thomas King moved to Canada in the late 1970’s to take a teaching job at the University of Lethbridge. There, he met his wife, Helen. Together they delved into Canadian society and its multicultural essence. However, being of First Nation descendant, King noticed that in Canada, the Aboriginal population was not as integrated into Canadian society as it was preserved. Canadian society had a reputation of being multicultural, accepting and seeking to add other cultural values, practices and morals too it 's own. However, King held the perspective that Canada misrepresented and undermined its Aboriginal inhabitants. Therefore in 2012, King wrote a history book, that attempted to bring to light the Canadian-Aboriginal relations and a First Nation perspective of their representation, history and political desires to the forefront of readers attention. The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America, was the end result that encompassed King’s beliefs, findings and objectives. Therefore, it is the purpose of this essay to discuss and analyze The Inconvenient Indian by identifying its key aims, highlighting and analyzing its major themes and core arguments, and identify any of the book’s shortcomings.

Aboriginal persons in Canada have been facing oppression ever since colonization began. Even when Canada gained independence from the British Empire, the oppression continued and still goes on today. One major contributing factor to the oppression of Aboriginal people in Canada is the actions taken by the Government. The Government of Canada has in fact mistreated and found to be partaking in wrongdoing when dealing with the Aboriginal population in this country. With this ugly truth being revealed, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had to be tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. (cite)

Residential schools in Canada were present for over 100 years and were created by the government to eliminate the Indigenous culture. These schools successfully separated families while creating huge cultural barriers between children and their Native culture (COHA, 2011). These children were forcibly removed from their families and taken to residential schools because Canadians saw Indigenous peoples as “backwards” or “savage” (COHA, 2011). They also believed that they were inferior to Natives and that these schools would help “civilize” aboriginals by replacing their Native traits with Western values (COHA, 2011).