Tribe Claims Cross-Border Rights Analysis

The Attawaspiskat Cree and Ojibwa are a first nations group living in parts of Canada, mainly northern Ontario. The main languages spoken by these first nation groups are Mushkegowuk Cree and Ojibway. I will compare and contrast the experience of the Attawapiskat Cree to Ojibwa in relation to the Canadian Government. This will include analyzing the treaties introduced by the government towards the Cree and the Ojibwa: in particular, treaty 9 will be discussed. In addition, to these treaties the government has divided the first nation community into two different groups: status-Indians and non-status Indians. Within these two groups further division has been accomplished by the allocation of lands know as reserves to status-Indians and

Thousands of indigenous tribes live off the earth, the source of their sustenance and for centuries, it has been their priority to protect and care for it. The years after are congested with concepts of assimilation and infantilization that compromise rights to be stewards of the land. Dr. Stan Louttit states, “Ontario and the federal government came to an agreement that one of the soul purposes of wanting to enter into a treaty with the Crees of Northeastern Ontario was that they wanted the land, they wanted the resource and they could see that in the future there

Clearing the Plains, by James Daschuk, provides a rich account of the political, ecological, and economic systems that have led to catastrophes between non-Indigenous Canadians and the Indigenous people of the Plains. The author addresses untruths in the existing literature that attributes the dangerous position of Aboriginal peoples in Canada to cultural characteristics of Indigenous peoples themselves. The author describes the history of Aboriginal peoples as one characterized by struggle in the face of infectious diseases, starvation, suppression, and displacement by settler populations. This compelling book contains nine chapters, each exploring a theme that reveals the historical and ecological experiences that procreated the present dilemma

The removal of various members of Native American tribes from their indigenous lands to that which was east of the Mississippi was a widely debated topic in the early portion of the 19th century. Morally, proponents of this action cited the fact that these Native Americans were "savages" (Jackson) with no rights to their land; legally, they were expected to adhere to the rights of the states and the federal government of the U.S. Those who were against Indian removal believed that legally they were entitled to their land because of their lengthy history in occupying it, and that morally their rights as people substantiated their claims to the land. A review of both arguments reflects the fact that the latter position is the most convincing.

One of Canada’s priorities in regards to Arctic Sovereignty should be to protect the Inuit people not only because they are experiencing a loss in culture, but the Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Arctic Sovereignty also declares that the Inuit have rights to the resources and the land upon which they live on.

The next paragraph explores this topic. The Metis have been, and are, heavily represented and legislated upon in the legal system. This is expressed through the numerous laws crafted through the years concerning the Metis, such as the Alberta-Metis Settlements Accord. They are recognized in the Constitution as having the legal right to hunt as Metis, confirming their status in the

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.

In the short story, “Borders”, Thomas King describes the struggle of an Indigenous family trying to cross the Canada-American border to visit their daughter in Salt Lake City. Particularly, King characterizes the mother through dialogues with both U.S. and Canadian border guards and her behaviors at the borderland. For instance, the mother adheres her identity through the notion of neither identifying her citizenship as Canadian or American, but solely as a Blackfoot. King further explores the struggles of preserving the Blackfoot identity using the symbol of national borders; King describes the struggle as “…inherently unstable and elastic,… which it demarcates … [and is] also flexible and rooted in particular historical and cultural moments.”

In this article, the author visits a Doukhobor community in the Swan river valley. In the article, he portrays the Doukhobors in a good light, describing their cultural practices and saying that the government should leave them be to become Canadians on their own terms. I want to use this source to demonstrate that there was a conflict brewing between the Canadian government and the Doukhobor community due to the rejection of private property.

Thomas Flanagan disapproves the idea of Native sovereignty ever coexisting with Canadian sovereignty. Flanagan identifies the flaws in Townshend’s arguments referring to them as a theoretical approach and not a practical approach. It is true that the sharing of jurisdictional power is the essence of the Canadian state but this cannot apply to the Aboriginals of Canada. One reason a third level of government cannot work in Canada is “In the 10 provinces, Canada has over six hundred Indian bands living on more than 2200 reserves, plus hundreds of thousands of Métis and non-status Indians who do not possess reserves,” (Flanagan 44). Flanagan draws the fact that “No one has proposed a workable mechanism by which this far-flung archipelago could

Currently there is six million Natives living in between the United States and Canada, and only "25,000 Blackfoot Indians between the two countries"(Reddish). In the short story "Borders" by Thomas King, the treatment of natives is shown to light in a common practice. While trying to cross the United States-Canada border to visit her oldest daughter in Salt Lake City, Utah, a woman and her youngest son, of Blackfoot Indian decent, are stopped at the border. She is questioned about her nationality and calmly states "I am Blackfoot, neither American or Canadian"(King, 918). She is not allowed to enter the United States nor Canada and is stuck in a neutral zone. News channels and Newspapers cover this story as the bureaucratic dilemma ensued, many people were shocked with the treatment of Native Americans. They are eventually allowed to pass through to the United States, however this leaves many people wondering about the treatment of Natives Americans, which King displays through conflict.

Often times, when it came to the discussion on equality within Canada, the actions of Canada were compared to those of the United States, and often times, a comment is made stating that the United States could learn from Canada’s example when it came to racial harmony. However, this idea was often criticized as the racial problems within Canada were just as severe. The respect and the livelihood of the First Nation were violated for years even before the start of the twentieth century. However, the issues of the First Nations were hardly ever brought to light by other Canadians because these issues were often hidden deep within the reserves that these First Nations were forced into. From taking their land away to disregarding their cultures, the government rarely ever acknowledged the needs of the First Nations until they could no longer be ignored. The government continuously stressed assimilation, especially with the Indian Act , and expected the First Nations

Ever since the late 1400’s when the European discovered North America they brought along with them a practice of domination leaving the first nation people with very little rights forcing them to stand defenceless. Ever since the settlers arrived, the lives of the First Nation people have forever been damaged with the implementation of new ways of living. These changes have created an image

Rights of passage are a big part in your life and your relatives. There are many rites of passage and they all differ from each other.”The Medicine Bag”,”The Apache Girl”,and the “Cherokee Indians” all have to face their right of passage. “The Medicine Bag” is about a boy named Martin who is given a medicine bag as his right of passage.”The Apache Girl” is about a girl named Dachina who’s rite of passage leads her into womanhood.”The Cherokee Indians” right of passage has the boy sit through the night alone in a forest to show that he is a man. These 3 stories have many similarities and differences in their rites of passage. They also are written in different formats which makes your understanding of the topic different.

Each individual makes up the society as it is, and various characteristics and beliefs makes up an individual. Although, individual lives together with a variety of personal ideologies, emotions, cultures, and rituals, they all differentiate one person from the other making up one’s own identity. This identity makes up who one is inside and out, their behaviour, actions, and words comes from their own practices and values. However, the profound history of Indigenous people raises question in the present about their identities. Who are they really? Do we as the non-native people judge them from the outside or the inside? Regardless of whether the society or the government were involved in their lives, they faced discrimination in every