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Aboriginal Women

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Canadian health services delivery has not been sufficient in serving Aboriginal women. Practices and policies of the system has continue to marginalize many aboriginal women in the health care structure (indigenous women, 2005), this is structural violence. “Determinant of health such as gender, cultural heritage, aboriginal status is influenced by the quality and quantity of a variety of resources that a society makes available to its members” (Donna, Jessie, Susan, Buffy, 2008). Many Aboriginal women have low self-esteem (Indigenous politics, 2005), these “internal struggles” have led to many health and social related problems such as alcohol and drug abuse (YWCA Canada). In 2001 the life expectancy was 77 years for Aboriginal women (YWCA …show more content…

Social determinants of health and human development are influenced by the “quality and quantity of a variety of resources that a society makes available to its members, which can range from housing, education, and employment opportunities to the accessibility and quality of life” (YWCA Canada). When socio-economic challenges (poverty, unemployment, discrimination and racism) exist, human development is limited (Amnesty.ca). Limited educational opportunities, insufficient social services, lackadaisical attitudes of the government towards the wellbeing of Aboriginal women often place them in vulnerable positions for domestic abuse and homelessness (Donna, Jessie, Susan, Buffy, …show more content…

NWAC (2010) demonstrated that over half of the cases involved young Aboriginal women and girls under the age of 31 with 17 percent of them being 18 years of age and also majority of the missing and murdered women are mothers (nwac.org). Majority of the case of missing Aboriginal women have occurred in western urban areas (YWCA Canada). 70 of the 582 cases occurred in Ontario (YWCA Canada). In northern Ontario, there was the case of Shirley Taylor (an Aboriginal woman), who was killed in Sudbury in 1999 by her common law partner (YWCA Canada). Few of these cases have been vigorously investigated by police or given attention by the media (nwac.org). This is a form of structural violence, because the government of Canada gave little or no attention to finding these missing women or investigating the cause of their deaths. The most dangerous aspect of this situation (not investigating or no records of missing Aboriginal women) is that serial killers and violent offenders are also aware of the built in limitations of Canadian justice systems which makes the Aboriginal women more vulnerable to violence (Indigenous politics,

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Introduction Marleen bird was a 50-year-old aboriginal woman from a northern reserve in Saskatchewan. Bird suffered from substance abuse issues and homelessness. In 2014 Bird was viciously attacked and set on fire in a parking lot in Prince Albert Saskatchewan. As a result of the attack Bird lost both of her legs and much of her eyesight (Canadian Press, 2017). Bird suffered from years of victimization due to the injuries she suffered from the attack, the constant news articles reporting on the attack and the subsequent trails.

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Promises were made to invest in reserve housing and infrastructure and Indigenous education programs (Eggertson, 2015: 469). Improving infrastructure and housing can improve the health inequities faced by the Indigenous population. Due to the significant Indigenous demographic within Nunavut, these Indigenous-specific policies made the Liberals appear as the obvious choice, in comparison to the Conservatives who made no promises to the Indigenous population. This contrast with Stephen Harper's term is seen once more when Justin Trudeau promised to launch an investigation into the missing and murdered Indigenous women, "something Harper repeatedly refused to do" (Murphy and Woolf, 2015). Once more, the Liberals demonstrated their potential for change.

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Monkey Beach Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson, a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations in Canada, is a captivating and gripping novel that tackles the concept of spirituality and Aboriginal life in a recent post Residential School time. Residential Schools, which were a type of boarding school for Canadian Aboriginal youth set up by white religious organizations started in the 1880’s and continued all the way into the late 1990’s, were such abusive and toxic environments mentally, emotionally, and physically, the aftermath not only affected the generation which survived them first hand but also the generations after and still has many consequences today. Robinsons protagonist, Lisa, is apart of the first generation of Aboriginal youth

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During this time, family members emphasized that understanding and honoring individuals whose lives were cruelly cut short necessitates a detailed accounting of all the ties that molded their loved one's life and that their loved one, in turn, shaped. Throughout the process, public community hearings were held, private statements were collected, expert panels were formed, and written archive records and existing studies on the problem were reviewed. This process aims to find the truth by gathering many stories from many people to have the truths woven together to show the world what violence really looks like for Indigenous women and girls in Canada. The National Inquiry reached out to put families first throughout the process rather than others who hold power, as well as being informed about the trauma encountered and making sure there is no further harm, and decolonizing where in they center Indigenous ways of being, knowing, and doing. The idea of cultural safety emerged from this process as a foundational principle of wellness.

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Throughout chapter seven in Augie Fleras’ textbook Unequal Relations: A Critical Introduction to Race, Ethnic, and Aboriginal Dynamics in Canada, the importance of reconciliation between Canadian settlers and Canadian First Nations is acknowledged. Fleras also sheds light on how and why Canada’s First peoples are commonly last in terms of socioeconomic statistics. Also in detail are the conditions in which Aboriginal people on reserve are often forced to live under; conditions which include contaminated water, small living spaces, fewer opportunities for education, and poor healthcare. Though these are topics of discussion throughout chapter seven, Fleras also is sure to indicate that “however badly treated and maligned, Aboriginal peoples

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It is called, ¨Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women:Overview,¨ by Edana Beauvais written in 2017. Itś main focus is the National Operational Overview Report made by the RCMP on Canada’s violence against Aboriginal women in 2014, which proved again that Aboriginal women are more likely to suffer violent death and get abducted then non-Aboriginal women. The reasoning behind all the violence and wrongdoings against Aboriginal women is believe to be the scars left by residential schools, lack of housing, poverty and racism. In addition because of the past relationship between Aboriginals and the authorities being rocky from things like the sixties scoop where many First Nation children were taken from their homes, many Aboriginal families are scared to reach out for help from social services and trust the authorities. In 2014 there were 1071 homicide cases and 164 missing Indigenous women that were police reported.

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Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls: the road to reconciliation Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) is an often overlooked and neglected phenomenon, based on racism, colonialism, and gender-based violence that warrants solutions and reconciliation. For only 4% of the Canadian population (1.5 million people), Indigenous women and girls make up 25% of unsolved murder cases. To understand the insanity of that statistic, it's similar to the whopping 7% of Americans (2.3 million people) out of 333 million (4% of the world population) who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. One of the reasons that contribute to this giant number of unsolved cases is the negative stereotypes against Indigenous people.

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"As a result of colonialism, Aboriginal people have suffered from devastating effects of historical and cultural genocide and intergenerational trauma. In Canada, Aboriginal people experience a disproportionately higher amount of mental health issues compared to other groups" (Bowden, Caine & Yohani, 2017, p. 41). Residential schools were built to vanish their indigenous culture. It is the main root of

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598 Words | 3 Pages

Canada is known for its amazing healthcare and it is considered one of the best in the world. In Canada, healthcare is ‘universal’ to its citizens under the Heath Care Act. However, not everyone has equal access to healthcare, Aboriginals being some of them. Aboriginals have trouble getting the access they need because of socio-economic status, geography, lack of infrastructure and staff, language or cultural barriers an more. Aboriginals on reserve face many barriers when it comes to access to healthcare, they include cost, language, distance, climate, education and more.

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1861 Words | 8 Pages

The problem appears to become evident right from birth with aboriginal woman twice as likely as non-indigenous woman to have a stillborn baby and twice as likely to give birth to an underweight baby (ed. Healey 2000, p.4). During the period between 1991 and 1996, life expectancy for indigenous people was around 20 years than that of their non-indigenous counterparts. The lives of indigenous people are affected by many other health factors, one of most concern is alcohol related problems that impact on their well-being, family structure, and even aboriginal traditional life because they tend to drink more haphazardly. Some of the health risks to which indigenous people are exposed can be attributed the differences between the health of indigenous and non-indigenous people.

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1990 Words | 8 Pages

Aboriginal women are account for 35 percent of the homeless Aboriginal population while non-Aboriginal women are accounted for 27 percent of non Aboriginal homeless population (Walsh et al, 2012) The cycling between poverty, homelessness, and incarceration exist because, in social services are unavailable or inadequate to meet the needs or women and men prior to them coming into conflict with the criminal justice system. This includes education, foster care and systems both of which play critical roles in the lives of young people. Programs for the homeless are still lacking and those that are available within the institution often have a long wait lists (Walsh et al, 2012).

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738 Words | 3 Pages

Since Canada is widely complimented for an engaging diversity but Canada’s treatment to the aboriginals is generally considered a national tragedy and an international disgrace. It is disadvantage to improve the lives of the aboriginals because even with the increase of government funding it won't fix the education of the natives. The Fraser Institute argues the current system is failing Canada’s young Aboriginals, who are among the fastest growing populations in Canada. The Canadian government thinks that more money isn’t the solution for the problem-plagued system it’s the restructuring. Ravina Baines, associate director of the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Aboriginal Policy Studies said “If we’re paying for a system that [doesn’t] have these fundamental building blocks, and we’re getting the results that we’re getting, clearly adding more money isn’t necessarily going to be the solution.”

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276 Words | 2 Pages

With the country’s population being around 33 million in 2011 (“Stats Canada,” 2011), and over 1,400,000 of those people were aboriginals making them about 4.3% of the Canadian population. (“CBC News,” 2014) This high percent of aboriginals in Canada impacts many other statistics as well, there are even times where the statistics for aboriginal peoples out number the non-aboriginals. However this is not always a positive aspect. For example, the suicide rate for aboriginal males in Canada is 126 per 100,000 compared to 24 per 100,000 for non-Aboriginal males.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Indigenous populations in Canada face severe disadvantages related to their health. The racism that Indigenous people face is further compounded by the disadvantages that women face making the situation even for difficult for Indigenous women. With this said Indigenous women do share many issues with the rest of the Aboriginal population as a result of colonization, loss of land, forced time in Indian Residential Schools, loss of language, and racial, political, and economic marginalization (McNab). Furthermore, Indigenous peoples in remote communities face the difficulty of lacking access to healthcare, education, employment, and income equality (McNab). Indigenous women face a unique combination of oppression through their intersectionality

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1151 Words | 5 Pages

The colonization of Indigenous peoples has dramatically affected their health, and health-seeking behaviours, in a myriad of ways. The Indian Act of 1876 was, in essence, created to control the Indigenous population. The Indian Act laid out laws and regulations that tightly regulated the lives of natives economically, ideologically, and politically. This included a wealth of ways in which their identities were stripped away, and in which they were taken advantage of by the Government of Canada. This has resulted in a reduced quality of life for Canada 's indigenous population, as well as adverse health problems, and prejudicial perceptions that we still see the impact of today.

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