ipl-logo

Aboriginal Human Rights

991 Words4 Pages

History is evident of the egregious health disparities between Aboriginal populations and the rest of the Canadian population, especially when it comes to women of native status. The Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 defines the Aboriginal people as a population which includes the Native Indians, Inuit, and the Metis (Government of Canada, 1982). The geographical location of this population ranges across the country - members are part of bands and tribes on reserves or are registered as a Fist Nations individual and reside elsewhere (Statistics Canada, 2011). Aboriginal women of Canada specifically are the victims of human rights violations; especially when it comes to health care access and services; this is evident from the history of oppression …show more content…

This decrease in level of health is not just due to possible interactions of contact (i.e. infectious diseases such as smallpox that followed the European settlers into Canada), changes in social life (i.e. implementation of treaties), and conflict situations (i.e. civil war of 1700s), there are large underlying factors including discrimination and unjust treatment (i.e. slavery) by white dominant expansionism (Herbert and Donna, 2008; McGibbon, 2012; Wilson and Northcott, 2008). Racism of this population has had huge impacts on their lifestyles and has become a primary social determinant of their health. The Indian Act of 1876 (amended multiple times since) was passed and included: taxation, legal possession of native property (only exempt on certain conditions), states how populations on reserves should operate and be essentially isolated from the rest of the populace of the country, rules of bands, creation of residential schools, bans on religious ceremonies (i.e. potlatch), etc. (Steckley and Bryan, 2008; CLII, …show more content…

The specific areas of health care that will be examined include primary care and maternal care because these are the two aspects of medicine that are stated to be most variable when it comes to discrimination and prejudice towards gender and race (Frohlich, Ross, Richmond, 2006). The purpose of comparing the Aboriginal women populations in the two geographic localities is to assess the degree of oppression varying between the populations, and its effects on health care access and services. A lot can be learned from this review in terms of the current health care services available to women of this minority and this can raise further questions about how these challenges can be tackled. This topic is very relevant to our Canadian society and its health care system today since this group does comprise a certain percentage of the population overall, and in order to improve health care, the individual factors affecting Aboriginal women is a foundation that needs to be considered and clearly

Show More
Related

  • How Did The Indian Act Affect Canada

    1685 Words  | 7 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Defining Indigenous Space By Ken Coated: Article Analysis

    1010 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many Aboriginals have tried to push for equality, as Maria’s father did when he was trying to unite the people and create “an organization that the government couldn’t ignore.” (73). However, this is largely not the case as many aboriginals are under represented or have been denied their entitlements through a fair court case. The unfair representation of Metis has caused those to give up and ridicule those who do, an example of such ridicule is when others of the community ridiculed Maria’s father for enacting for political change, sarcastically saying “Saskatchewan has a new Reil.” (74) As stated by Kelly L. Saunders in “the hunt for justice: Metis harvesting rights and the pursuit of self government”, “the governments denied that metis collectivities existed, denied that they were aboriginal, denied their aboriginal treaty rights, and denied that government had any legal obligations towards the Metis.”

    Read More

  • Dawes Act Research Paper

    1127 Words  | 5 Pages

    This paper will give an overview of the act and how it impacted the Indigenous community into becoming

    Read More

  • The Impact Of The Indian Act Of 1876 In Canada

    2603 Words  | 11 Pages

    The Indian Act of 1876 had a profound and lasting impact on Indigenous peoples in Canada, resulting in the erosion of their cultures, languages and communities. While the Act was initially intended to assimilate Indigenous peoples into mainstream Canadian society, but instead had devasting consequences, including the forced removal of children from their families and communities, the loss of traditional lands and resources, and the denial of basic human rights. Indian Act also had profound effect on Indigenous land and resource rights. The act has allowed the federal government to unilaterally expropriate Indigenous lands for purposes such as mining, forestry without consultation and led to the loss of traditional territories and the destruction

    Read More

  • Indian Assimilation In Canada

    846 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Indian Act was constructed to reflect the Canadian government’s primary goal of assimilation. The government anticipated that the process of organized assimilation through legislation would reduce the number of status Indians in Canada, remove the government from the responsibility of First Nations affairs, and make available the land that was currently reserved for First Nations. Without the responsibility of the ‘Indian problem’, the Canadian government would no longer be required to spend limited federal funds on its burdensome inhabitants. However, the ‘Indian problem’ did not go away and instead produced gender-based discrimination towards the women of Canada’s First Nations communities, resulting in a loss of status, status rights, and identity for generations to come.

    Read More

  • Overrepresentation In The Criminal Justice System

    370 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Aboriginal Gender Gap Analysis

    1155 Words  | 5 Pages

    Overall Summary “Locating The Aboriginal Gender Gap: The Political Attitudes and Participation of Aboriginal Women in Canada” by Allison Harrell and Dimitrios Panagos is an article in search of locating gender gaps among Aboriginals with regards to their political participation and attitudes. If discovered that there is a gender gap present, this article looks to find where it would be located and what would cause such gaps. With the help of previous literature, they look at two possible explanations. Inequality could be one possible determinant of gender gaps and colonialism could be another. Harell and Dimitrios look at both possible explanations as well as three surveys, and with the assistance of these they come to discover that there

    Read More

  • Examples Of Forced Sterilization Of Indigenous Women

    1159 Words  | 5 Pages

    Introduction Indigenous have been the main target for forced sterilization. Coerced sterilization of Indigenous women is a violation of human rights, reproductive rights, and an assault on the cultural integrity of Indigenous populations (Shwana et al., 2021). It violates their rights to equality, nondiscrimination, physical integrity, health, and security (Shwana et al., 2021). It is associated with the “eugenics era” in Canada, continuing to undermine Indigenous connections to the land and reduce obligations to them which remains as an act of genocide (Stote, 2022). The purpose of this essay is to explore how eugenics are imposed onto Indigenous women through forced sterilization.

    Read More

  • Aboriginal Mental Health Analysis

    1689 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Aboriginal perspective on health is holistic, wherein physical, cultural, spiritual and mental health must be harmonious in order for a person to be in good health. Should these not be in balance, ill-health would persist (Social Health Reference Group, 2004). As such, it is important to talk about the history of Aboriginal people as affected by the arrival of the British in 1770 to put Indigenous health into context. Inter-generational trauma, as caused by the effects of colonisation, loss of country and the enforcement of discriminatory government policies over the history of Australia, has negatively

    Read More

  • The Kattawapiskak River

    1589 Words  | 7 Pages

    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?

    Read More

  • Essay On Aboriginal Access To Health Care

    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.

    Read More

  • Domestic Violence In Australia Essay

    1407 Words  | 6 Pages

    Support Aboriginal women who are affected by domestic violence? How can we help regain their status within their community? Historical Context pre and post colonization Aboriginal women prior to colonization were respected, prominent members, and a vital part of their community. Precolonization Aboriginal women did not stay home as house wives; they were an important participant within harvest and other duties that supported their families and communities.

    Read More

  • Classical Liberalism In Canada

    1870 Words  | 8 Pages

    One of the most important social issues that this project would like to address is health care in Canada. Health infrastructure is a national priority, where the seventy-seven percent of Canadians say "that while governments mostly talk about the need to invest in roads and bridges, investing in aging hospitals is a higher priority." According to various sources and studies, Canadians believe that tremendous changes and reforms are required. Ninety-one percent of Canadians believe that the health care system could improve the quality of care through greater efficiency, and sixty-four percent says that the Canadian system is falling behind its international counterparts. Unless government act to address these problems, the studies suggest

    Read More

  • Why Are Australia Marginalised?

    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.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of The Colonization Of Indigenous People

    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.

    Read More

More about Aboriginal Human Rights

Open Document