The Kattawapiskak River

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Film #1 - “The People of the Kattawapiskak River” Introduction In the documentary “The people of the Kattawapiskak River”, the housing crisis and lack of assistance promised in Northern Ontario is represented. The Documentary closely follows the chief of the Attawapiskat tribe and portrays the difficult living conditions endured by local residents. These problematic conditions include the lack of clean water, electricity and basic housing especially during the intolerable cold Canadian winter. Moreover, when a colony around the world is suffering it is our duty as human beings to help them through their difficult times. As the government overlooks the aboriginals and local residents, this documentary is created in order to shed light to the …show more content…

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 documentary asserts how these deprived people are forced to live in these subpar conditions. For example, many scenes in the documentary display that housing is scarce and the little housing that is available on the reserve is falling apart into pieces. Families are having to paying rent for years after years before they can claim that house their home. It is unfortunate to watch one struggle with housing when a couple miles south there are enormous houses being built just for show and hardly any tenants living in them. The urban house market revolves around the almighty dollar and instead of building basic homes for people on reserves to live in, the …show more content…

Aboriginal identity, mental health and suicide rates were outlined throughout this analysis along with the disgusting lack of government aid. As stated above, the aboriginals from the Kattawapiskak River have a strong sense of identity. The persons on these reserves are proud of their traditions and practice resilience in their faith and values, however, the physical and emotional pain these people are put through will soon break their spirits. They can only ask for help from the government so many times before it will be too

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