Another way the Canadian Government ineffectively responded to Aboriginal affairs was through the social issues the Aboriginals dealt with. One example of this would be the Sixties Scoop. Prior to the 1950’s, children were taken to residential schools, where they were forced to forget their Native culture, and were punished if they attempted to do otherwise. In the late 1950’s, people started to realize the negative impacts the residential schools had on the children, as well as their families. This led to the drastic overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system in the 1960’s. Aboriginal children were seized, taken from their homes and placed into middle-class Euro-Canadian families. This mass removal of Aboriginal …show more content…
Having non-educated workers provided little to no help for the children, as the social workers were not able to understand or provide appropriate advice for the children in times of need, as their lack of knowledge of the origin of the child(ren) made them useless. Foster homes were claimed to be “better for the children”, but now it is evident that it was an excuse for the Euro-Canadians to stomp out the Native Heritage in Canada. By the 1970’s, approximately 70% of Aboriginal children were taken and placed into Non-Aboriginal homes. The Indigenous children who were taken in began to deal with many social issues themselves . Examples of the impacts of the welfare system on Aboriginal children were that they grew up in conditions of suppressed identity and abuse, experienced psychological and emotional problems, and felt like they did not belong, as they did not fit in the Euro-Canadian society, nor the Aboriginal society. This created barriers for them reaching socio-economic equity. Due to Canada’s ineffective dealing with this issue, many of the Aboriginals who live today deal with mental instability, due to the emotional impact it had on them. Unfortunately, due to Canada’s prior actions, this continues in today’s …show more content…
Aboriginal women suffered in contemporary Canada, as they dealt with racism, sexism, and domestic violence. Due to the Aboriginals’ fairly low status amongst the Canadian population, murders and missing cases of Aboriginals were disregarded, making them vulnerable targets. Women were considered inferior to men, so Native women living in Canada dealt with the worst of the crimes committed, the crime rate against them being disturbingly high. Approximately 70% of Missing Cases were Murder Cases, death being as a result of homicide or negligence, 4% being cases of suspicious death, when authorities regarded the case as natural or accidental, whilst the family and or band viewed it as suspicious and 9% were cases where the nature of the case was unknown. Not only did the authorities silence these issues, but when these women were molested, the women themselves kept quiet, as it was a personal issue, and they feared they would be shunned, rather than the molester themselves. Rape amongst the greater Aboriginal population became so frequent, that almost every Indigenous girl would be raped at least once in their life. The crime rate against female Aboriginals was so high that no longer were these sins being shunned and dealt with properly, but overlooked. The Government, in the meantime, showed lack of responsibility in the desperate times of need. While the
This alienation from the community is leading Aboriginal women to experience violence because they are not being protected by the community. This is alarming because today at least three quarters of Aboriginal women are experiencing family violence and the mortality rate for Aboriginal women due to violence is three times higher for Aboriginal women than none Aboriginal women (ibid 23). The Indian Act is a direct result of why Indian women are experiencing increased violence and being attacked because the Indian Act is refusing women Indian status and therefore they are forced off reserves where they are unprotected by the community and frequently target for acts of violence. Aboriginal women also face higher suicide rates and sexual abuse rates which are three times higher then the national average (ibid: 23). As Aboriginal women are being exiled from the community they are being increasingly targeted for sexual violence and abuse, this increased violence is due to the Indian Act because it is not allowing women who marry non-Aboriginal men to gain Indian status and therefore they are subjected to more violent acts because they are left defenseless.
Throughout this analysis we will take a critical look at the aboriginal identity, the suffering these people go through mentally and physically, and their relationship with the government (Anzovino & Boutilier 2015). The
This criminal code encourages sentencing judges to have recourse to a restorative approach to sentencing. Also, the enactment of s. 718.2 (e) is a definite direction by Parliament to pay particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders during the sentencing process because those circumstances are unique and different from those of non-Aboriginal offenders. Further, when sentencing Aboriginal offenders, courts must take judicial notice of such matters as the history of colonization, displacement, and residential schools. And they should look at how that history continues to translate into lower educational accomplishment, lower income, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse, suicide, and, of course, higher levels of imprisonment of Aboriginal peoples. (Canadian Law, an Introduction 6th Edition: Neil Boyd 2015; page,
The Metis people whole dynamic and attitudes changed and faced such degrading racism every time and everywhere they went. The effects of the past are still a problem and struggle today for the aboriginal people, as stated “Activism for the ages” “will take a long time to change attitudes at all levels of government, throughout society, as well as in our schools such a long time that it will be the children, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, who will need to carry on this work. And we have a responsibility for helping them.” (Shaker 3). Attitudes of the hegemonic society need to shift in order to make way for real social change.
RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS CAT THE BRINGING THEM HOME REPORT WAS A SIGNIFICANT EVENT FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES. The ‘Bringing Them Home Report’ was a significant event for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as what they experienced between 1910 to 1970 was something no human being should have to go through, The Stolen Generations suffered a great deal of traumatic experiences. On 11 of May 1995 change, had to take place as this wasn’t a lifestyle a human being should live, the inquiry period began for The Bringing Them Home Report.
These protests against the lack of human rights for Aborigines highlights that Aborigines didn’t have a relatively pleasant life under the government’s control, corroborating that the assimilation policy
Residential schools are significant to the people of Canada; it was an awful occurrence that happened for over 150 years. Settler Canadians recognize the pain they caused and are trying to resolve the complication, one way Settler Canadians are working towards reconciliation is by participating in events such as orange shirt day and by participating in campaigns like the Moose Hide Campaign, where you are supporting your commitment to honour, respect and protection for the women and children in your life by wearing a little square of moose hide on your shirt. Another way that non-Aboriginal Canadians reconciliate is by listening to the stories of children who survived or didn’t survive their experience. Two stories of children and their stories during this time are, Sugar Falls and Secret Path, the reader gets a better understanding of what happened during these times, and how these people felt and why they felt it. The themes of these stories is not only the hard times and experiences they had, but the strength they gained through it.
Aboriginal people continue to be victimized and incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Aboriginal people. The overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system is a question that has not yet been answered. This research paper will focus on the risk factors experienced by many Aboriginal people, residential school experiences, and institutional racism, and their roles in the overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. The Canadian government system has tried to deal with this issue, but looking at the high rates of overrepresentation, there approach has not been successful.
We Were Children, the documentary on residential schools, is a re-enactment of two aboriginal children and their first hand experiences in the residential school system. The kinds of problems this documentary presented include mistreatment faced by the children who attended these schools, corruption and scandal inside the administration of the schools, and the false perception about these schools that resonated amongst Canadian society. These two children talk about the bullying they had to endure from the nuns which show that the children were not seen as equal to a child of non-Aboriginal decent. Furthermore, the types of abuse administration would put these kids through was immensely disturbing considering this was a state run institution.
According to Anzovino and Boutilier (2014), “the legislative definition of Aboriginal peoples includes all persons of “Indian” blood who were known to belong to a specific band, living on specific land, with their descendants [and] all persons intermarried with any such “Indians” who resided among them” as well as all children and persons adopted in infancy (p. 90). These persons are immensely proud of their good character, race, beliefs, values and morals. However, they are receiving abuse and a lack of promised assistance from the government. How can Canada act so neglectful and inattentive to those that live north of the suburban area? Are we not all equal and deserve the same rights, especially basic living conditions in order to survive?
The Sixties Scoop was a troubling period in Canada's history when Indigenous children were forced to live with non-Indigenous people instead of their families and communities. The policies and actions implemented by the government at this time had a significant impact on Indigenous cultures and identities, and they continue to do so. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Sixties Scoop's causes and effects, as well as the role played by government arrangements, its impact on Native families and networks, and ongoing efforts to reach a compromise. The Indian Revolution and the private educational system set a larger example of expansionism and digestion, which led to the Sixties Scoop. Native children's removal from their families and
Some women are afraid for their lives, that if they leave their partner, they or their family will be harmed. In Heavenfire’s case, she truly loved and cared for Falardeau and did not want to see him go to jail for his crimes. Falardeau financially supported Heavenfire and she did not want to involve her family for support if she were to leave Falardeau. Heavenfire’s was an exceptional case as she was the first aboriginal to be cleared of all charges in her husband’s killings. Inequality in the criminal justice system is evident.
Children were reared by the “mother clan” it took the whole family to raise a child from husbands, brothers, and extended family leaving little room for family violence (Martin-Hill, 2012, p. 110). Canada’s Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples referred to the voices of Aboriginal women pre-colonization: Women played a prominent part in the political and cultural life of many traditional Aboriginal societies. First and foremost, they were honoured as the givers of life. Their ability to bear, raise and nurture the new generation was seen as a special gift from the Creator, a source of awesome power and equal
Oral culture as a method for retaining Aboriginal identity and rejecting assimilation through Thomas King’s “Green Grass Running Water”. Colonialism had a great effect on this history of Canada’s First Nation people. For Canada’s first known settlers, this relationship has push Aboriginals away and created a power struggle that has made their lives much more difficult. There is a low opportunity for education, many economic problems, high incarceration and removal of land. Through Christianity and political power, Canada’s aboriginals have shifted from being the First Nation citizen’s to becoming the marginalized ethnic group.
The basis of these problems is a loss of identity and a sense of knowing that their values are oppressed, and their rights are ignored. Likewise, non-indigenous Canadians have become increasingly aware of the unfairness of the richness of indigenous and aboriginal cultures that are taking place.