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Colonialism In Canada

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Canada is a nation that prides itself on opportunity and freedom. However, the treatment of Canada’s aboriginal community says otherwise. Although Canada is incredibly welcoming to new immigrants that want a fresh start, the original occupants, Aboriginal people, are still being mistreated today. Aboriginal people are described as the original people or indigenous occupants of a particular country (Hutchings, 2016). Unfortunately, Aboriginal people have been exploited in Canada for decades, which has resulted in high levels of gender and class oppression. The long history of colonialism, in combination with Capitalism, has heavily influenced how Aboriginal people are viewed and treated in Canadian society. The daily struggles, injustices, …show more content…

If parents failed to send their children to school, they would be punished. If children did not behave to the rules, they would be punished. This power the government held gave the Aboriginals no choice but to oblige. The Daddies by Kent Monkman effectively illustrates the loss of culture forced by the Canadian Government. The acrylic painting displays a large group of white men outnumbering a single aboriginal. I believe that the white men represent the Canadian government, and the aboriginal represents the meager indigenous community. The number of men vs. Aboriginals illustrates the power difference between the Government and the Aboriginal community, and highlights the weakness the Aboriginals are forced to adhere to. The group of white men in the painting are all wearing suits and the Aboriginal person is seen wearing no clothes, which I believe is to demonstrate the differences of class between the the two groups. The Aboriginal person being presented in no clothes illustrates the vulnerability the indigenous community has. The painting if effective at demonstrating the power difference the Canadian government holds which has been reflected through the use of residential schools in …show more content…

The painting demonstrates a young ‘virgin’ girl in a hospital bed surrounded by her indigenous community attempting to revive her and her culture. I think this painting is incredibly eye opening as it demonstrates the loss of children and culture that the residential schools enforced. The young girl, represents the innocence of the children when they were sent away, and the title Death of a Virgin further reinforces this. Since children sent to residential schools were abused emotionally, physically, and sexually, this painting highlights this abuse. The other Aboriginals in the painting are trying to revive the young girl, from her mistreatment at the schools but also from her loss of culture. I believe that the painting effectively illustrates the theme of oppression and hardship the indigenous community has faced throughout the

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The painting was created with the purpose of recording history, as it is not done in deep detail or extreme accuracy. The painting depicts the English arriving upon a shoreline spotted with aboriginals. The aboriginals appear to seem outnumber the English and portrayed with a sense of urgency - their positioning erratic. The body language of the aboriginal figures portray a sense of curiosity, they are not formal or entirely defensive but instead reaching out to the British with others clumped together watching cautiously. The British are painted in a more formal manner, wearing blue jackets and hats.

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Indigenous people are incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Indigenous in Canada and are incarcerated for longer periods of time (Cook & Roesh, 2012, p.222). Canadians have put Indigenous communities through much heartache and pain. With the colonization of Indigenous people to residential schools, Canadians continue to stigmatize and treat Indigenous people poorly. Indigenous people are more likely to suffer from drug abuse using needles because of the intergenerational trauma suffered through their parents attending residential schools in Canada (Bombay, Matheson, & Anisman, 2014, p. 327). This puts them at a higher criminal risk than others because of what they have been subjected to.

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1489 Words | 6 Pages

To many people, Canada is known for its equality, freedom and its acceptance of people no matter their race or culture. However, Canada is not always as good and accepting as people think of it to be, especially when it comes to stereotyping Aboriginal peoples. Drew Hayden Taylor, as a half-white and half-Ojibway author, has personally experienced the stereotyping in society against Aboriginal peoples. By providing testimony, using a sarcastic and mocking tone in all three of his essays, and often referring to general stereotypes of Native people, Drew Hayden Taylor’s essays “Seeing Red Over Myths”, “What’s an Indian Worth These Days?” and “Pretty Like a White Boy: The Adventures of a Blue Eyed Ojibway” challenge conventional values and beliefs

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By doing this, colonial Canadians assumed that aboriginal cultural and spiritual beliefs were invalid in relation to European beliefs (244). The problem with ridding the First Nations Peoples of their languages, as Williston points out is to “deprive them of the sense of place that has defined them for thousands of years” (245). The private schooling system was an attack on First Nations identities, and their identity is rooted in “a respect for nature and its processes” (245).

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In the essay, “Federalism, Nationalism, and Reason”, Pierre Trudeau addresses the history and origins of self-determination and nationalism and its central role in federal statehood, he then discusses the interactions of federalism and nationalism in a Canadian context. Trudeau posits major arguments that will be assessed in this review. First, he postures that that the federal state is driven by self-determination and nationalism, which ultimately makes it unstable due to its foundation in emotionalism rather than reason. Second, Trudeau outlines the historical factors that resulted in the separatist narrative in Quebec and claims that Canadian nationalism cannot combat Quebec’s regional nationalism. Trudeau begins the essay with a historical

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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?

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Catlett does a good job at getting her point across about advocating for social justice in her paintings. She has a similar sculpture called “Mother and Child” which portrays an African American woman cradling her baby. The sculpture represents that black women are courageous maternal figures. She does this to “reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential,” (Catlett). By doing so she was able to win numerous Nobel piece

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When Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier stated, “As the 19th century was that of the United States, so I think the 20th century shall be filled by Canada”, the decades that followed provided his statement to be true as Canada became an independent and strong nation. The battlefields in World War One were a defining moment for Canada as their forces fought as one nation for the first time, instead of under British Command. Also, at the end of the war, Canada was recognized at the Peace Conference and signed the Treaty of Versailles as an independent country. In addition, Canada joined the League of Nations, playing a major role in world politics. These events in the early 20th century allowed the beginning of a strong nation with a growing national

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Presents accepted historical truths from a new perspective. The drowning man depicted symbolises that Anglo-Saxon people are drowning out the communities, and cultural differences of the African Americans and aboriginal people, ruining their unique identity. The group of indigenous Australians sitting around a camp fire and one larger figure on the right in the composition, portray Bennett’s feeling of not being accepted by either the Aboriginal people or the Anglo-Celtic. This painting directly links with the lost identity of Gordon Bennett and many others of the lost generation people with his confused cultural background. He raises questions through his artworks about both his own individual understanding of who he is and also the oppression and racism towards the Australian Aboriginal people particularly as recorded in

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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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1407 Words | 6 Pages

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

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The indigenous people are literally crashing into the buildings produced by the colonizing culture, “Look out! Bob shouts. There are Indians flying into the skyscrapers and falling on the sidewalk.” (King 63) and it adequately represents the lack of adaptability of the Native Canadians. Thomas King taps again into the effects of colonialism and notions the indigenous people as uneducated and an untamed species.

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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.

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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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