A key element in the assimilation policy was the lack of citizenship for Aboriginal people. It took a referendum in 1967 for Aboriginal people to be finally recognised as a citizen of Australia. To be a citizen, a right that all White Australians had since birth, Aboriginal people had to apply for a certificate and cut all ties to their Aboriginal culture including family. To have the right to vote, move without restrictions, buy alcohol or making any decisions about their lives for themselves they had to have a certificate often regarded as a “dog collar” but had to deny their indigenous heritage. The government saw the certificates as a way to promote assimilation to the Aboriginal people however it did nit work as 14 000 Aboriginals were living in New South Wales at the time and only 1500 certificates were handed out.
The meant set up farms let indigenous people work on it and survive off the produce. In other words changing the way Aboriginal people lived and trying to make them adopt white culture. However indigenous people could not get used to this life because they were traditionally nomadic and could not let go of their cultural ways. In 1911 the Board of Protection was given control over indigenous people, this meant that they were also the legal guardians of all Aboriginal children. The government believed that the best way to ensure all indigenous children were assimilated ( drops all customs and traditions and adopts dominant culture) into European society was to take them away from their families even if it meant taking them by force.
The article also claims that there will be a $138 million expansion of detention centres in Vancouver and Montreal. This way it would reduce the the use of provincial jails as detention centres for immigrants. I believe that this is idea of a new expansion for dentition centres is a waste of resources and is implying that Canada will attain more unwanted immigrants in the future— which is ironic since Canada is trying to limit the amount of unwanted immigrants entering the country. Therefore they should be enforcing their laws and providing a strict grounds before anyone has the chance to seek refuge in
The Red River Resistance The next major event was the Red River Resistance. In this event, Sir John Macdonald sent out surveyors to divide the Canadian land because the Hudson’s Bay Company had sold Rupert’s land to the Canadian government. This sparked an outrage with the Métis because they wanted to keep their current laws. Due to conflicts and arguments about the land, a surveyor was executed by the Métis leader which worsened the situation.
Throughout history people have been judged and treated wrongly for the sake of protecting what the majority believed to be right; which in most cases was what the government and higher power thought. Canada is no exception to this, with the exploitation of the Natives peoples, and how immigrants were first treated stepping into Canada. However, in the twenty first century, looking back through time many cases vary down to what one 's option may be. Especially in the case of Louis Riel, who some believe to be the true hero of Canada, while others object stating he was a traitor who committed high treason. Regardless what others may believe, Louis Riel should be remembered as a hero.
My assumption is that the government took these surveys to make Aboriginal people feel as if their opinion was heard as opposed to reality where it meant nothing to the Europeans. It was completely absurd of the federal government to be aware that Aboriginals did not like residential schools and that it was taking away their culture and still continue to operate the detrimental schools. In addition, something I think was very troublesome was that residential schools only hired religious officials. This was troublesome because the Aboriginal children were being taught by unqualified people who are incapable of teaching any subject
A Pride flag raised on the flagpole of Lilian Osbourne High School was crudely cut down with only tattered remains left behind and replaced with a regular Canadian flag by an unidentified vandal; Criticism regarding the modified Canadian flag raised in the first place has become an issue amongst members of the community. Problems surrounding this situation parallel those that surround the Confederate flag controversy in the United States of America. Both flags are symbolism and of great importance to their demonstrators within the community but contrastingly, can offend other members of the very same communities, especially when replacing their countries official flag. The school had given authorization for the flag to be “raised for one week,” in a show of unity with LGBTQ students and members of the community.
The Europeans compelled the Indigenous children to live as ‘white people,’ ‘Told us all the white men’s way,’ this can be assumed that ‘white colonists’ wanted to eliminate all Aboriginal culture and forced to make them to live as Europeans and take away their lands as it was considered as ‘Terra Nullius’ (no man’s land) as they did to their rights, ‘Like the promises they did not keep, how they fenced us in like sheep.’ This implies that they were not humans to the First Settlers but rather as flora and fauna. Certainly, this was an issue as the Indigenous culture and spirituality were intertwined as one with their land. According to Creative Spirits (2017) in 1997, all Indigenous lives took a great turn and was granted all Aboriginal children that were taken away to be released, their freedom was finally granted. Some children found their families, others returned to their lands, as expressed in the lyrical poem, ‘One sweet day, all the children came back,’ this supports the idea that, ‘Acting black, yet feeling white,’ was what the indigenous children really felt fervently deep down.
The Canadian government shows respect to issues of other nations, but not First Nations. During the Quebec referendum, Canadian Politician and chief of the Red Sucker Lake community Elijah Harper declined the Meech Lake Accord because Canada was addressing the issues of Quebec instead of First Nations. The accord was about Quebec becoming “distinct society”, this insulted Elijah Harper when First Nations have been trying to become a distinct society and get special treatment. First Nations have been trying to reclaim their land for decades, but the Canadian government pushed aside the issues of First Nations and put the needs of Quebec above theirs. This explains how the federal government does not acknowledge the issues of First Nations.
As indigenous people are not looked in both a positive and negative manner but are only looked in a negative aspect, they are known to be excluded from the promise of a Canadian
There are key factors that led some colonies to join Confederation. The colonies that joined Confederation in 1867 were Canada East, Canada West, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick one of the factors that led some colonies to join Confederation was the issue of trade. BNA could not complete with trade in Britain because of Britain’s anti Corn Law. Britain’s anti corns law placed tariffs on imported grains which meant the BNA no longer had
The 8,000 Loyalists who migrated to Québec did not want to settle in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, because the population was largely French-speaking and occupied almost all the available land. Moreover, these Loyalists refused to be governed by the Napoleonic Code of Law and the province 's seigneurial system, and demanded access to freehold "Crown lands" subject to English common law. The colonial government thus granted new lands further west, so that the Loyalists could move to an area not ruled by French civil law. Only 1,500 Loyalists settled in what was then called the Eastern Townships, southeast of Montréal, a sort of buffer zone between the seigneurial lands of the St. Lawrence and the fledgling United States, formerly the Thirteen Colonies. Three decades later, as of 1820, some 5,000 British, 3,000 Irish, and several hundred Scottish immigrants who settled in Scotstown and Stornoway swelled the ranks of the original Loyalist settlers in the Eastern
The actions imposed by white European settlers are why many of Canada’s Aboriginal population are affected by numerous social issues like poverty, increased violence and incarceration among the Aboriginal population and has resulted in many conflicts that exist today between the Canadian government and the Aboriginal
Discrimination of Aboriginals in North America Ever since Europeans began to settle in North America, they have been denying Aboriginals their basic human rights. They desired their abundant land in order to use it for their own selfish reasons. In both historical and contemporary times, one can find many examples of the discrimination Native Americans have faced. Upon examining various events, one can conclude that the society should be treating Aboriginals in a way that ensures that they receive the rights and respect that all human beings deserve.
The Seneca Nation used the Treaty of 1794 to fight for their land, but encountered Eminent Domain. And although alternatives to Kinzua Dam were explored, they were also rejected because the United States couldn’t exchange taking the land of one people for taking it from others. Thus, when the land was taken, the Seneca Nation was forced to exchange their lifestyle for a new one.