Discrimination of Indigenous People

Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous peoples are the original peoples of North America, along with their descendants. They carry with them unique histories, languages, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs. There are three distinct groups which the Canadian Constitution identifies- Indians (more commonly known as First Nations), Inuit and Métis. These three groups make up what we refer to as Indigenous peoples.

Land Claims

When defining settler state, it is common to understand it as a particular form of colonialism in which European colonists and settlers permanently settled on Indigenous lands. They forcefully seized the lands from Indigenous peoples, and eventually greatly outnumbered Indigenous populations. These same colonial power structures who took the land and rights away from Indigenous communities are the very same power structures that relentlessly limit and regulate immigration and discriminate immigrants along several lines- gender, race, class, and sex. Indigenous communities have to fight strongly for sovereignty and land rights, just as immigrants in Canada fight against anti-immigration, discrimination and prosecution. The result of the forced move of Aboriginal peoples to lands called reserves provide the roots of poverty. Aboriginal people were restricted to small tracts of land, in the absence of any infrastructure or economy.

Narratives around Indigenous Peoples

Narratives assist individuals to shape who they are and how they belong to specific spaces. For many Indigenous and immigrant communities, stories form a very strong part of their identity and sense of belonging to each other and to their land. Despite the importance of narratives to Indigenous peoples, for majority of Canadian history, these stories were ignored, belittled, or violently silenced. To this day, stories of newly immigrant and Indigenous communities in Canada are underrepresented in the media and national discourse- they are a discriminated group of individuals. When examining narrative, it allows the opportunity to deconstruct and challenge many sociopolitical constructions that breed racial, sexual, gendered and class violence against immigrant and Indigenous communities.

Canada's history is one deeply rooted in the notion that Canada is a vast, untouched Northern wilderness that has been settled and turned into a great and powerful nation by the vigor of its settlers. However, in order for this definition of Canada to be promoted, many stories and narratives of Indigenous communities are silenced. There is a complete erasure of the long and diverse histories of Indigenous nations in Canada. The historical truth of how the land was forcibly taken from Indigenous peoples and the state's actions to purposely destroy and obliterate Indigenous communities and cultures is suppressed.

Injustices Faced by Indigenous Peoples

Residential Schools

Indigenous communities have been victimized horribly by the Canadian state. They forced Indigenous peoples to move from their territories and into reservations. They denied Indigenous sovereignty through the 1869 Indian Act. Indigenous children were taken away from communities and abused by residential schools and the foster care system. Residential schools were successful in destroying Aboriginal culture and identity, and promoting assimilation of Aboriginal people into the mainstream Canadian society. The children put into these schools were faced with emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. To this day, there remains a lack of Aboriginal content in the school curriculum. The models used to deliver information to the children are based upon a very European westernized thought and culture and there remains a lack of cultural sensitivity and inclusion. The only way to sincerely address the education concern for Aboriginal peoples in Canada is to improve the education of non-Aboriginal children on Canadian history and issues affecting Aboriginal people. There is no way for non-Aboriginal people to fulfill their treaty responsibilities, work for justice, or interact respectfully with Aboriginal people if they do not understand the history of relations between their peoples or basics of Aboriginal cultures.

Denial of Rights

Another expression of racist attitudes and policies directed at Aboriginal peoples is their constrained civil and political rights. They were not only denied many rights throughout history, but they were denied of the political system, which was vital to address many issues that are part of their reality.

Mistreatment of Women

Indigenous women became symbols of settler colonialism. The native women in Canada were heavily promoted by the Canadian state and national press as 'dirty or drunken squaws.' Women lost their status and roles as knowledge keepers, cast as lazy and slovenly by the white settler community. The Canadian government implemented a patriarchal ruling system on Indigenous communities by legally stripping away any leadership and status rights from Indigenous women through the Indian Act of 1869. There were an immense number of native women and children who were deprived of legal recognition and support as a result of the Indian Act. Rather than recognizing the courage and strength of Indigenous women in their efforts to support and take care of their families and communities in the midst of extreme state and public violence, Indigenous women were used as symbols by the Canadian state and media to advance the dehumanization of Indigenous communities. The effects of these injustices are evident today through poverty, poor health and substance abuse.

Livelihood

Over the course of history, racism and discrimination took its toll on the Aboriginal population. The destruction of traditional ways of life, along with poorly organized reserve set-up resulted in impoverishment for those people on reserves. To make matters worse, the Canadian government put firm restrictions on relief efforts to reserves, which caused an even higher level of poverty. Europeans who arrived in North America brought with them many diseases which had damaging effects on Aboriginal people. They were not immune to the diseases, nor knew how to cure them. Health care was saved for those deserving of it- not Aboriginal peoples. In addition to this, Aboriginal medicine practices were generally seen as inferior to European and were often times banned. Another injustice Aboriginal people face is with regards to work. They have a higher unemployment rate than that of the national average.

References

Aboriginal Issues. Centre for Social Justice. Retrieved from: http://www.socialjustice.org/index.php?page=aboriginal-issues

Allison, F., Schwartz, M., & Cunneen, C. (2013). Indigenous Peoples' Experiences of Discrimination in the Northern Territory. Indigenous Law Bulletin 8(5), 8-12.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved from: https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100013785/1304467449155

Kenrick, J., & Lewis, J. (2004). Indigenous peoples' rights and the politics of the term Indigenous. Anthropology Today. 20(2), 4-9. doi:10.1111/j.0268-540X.2004.00256.x

Stafford, A. (2017). Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice in Literature [online notes]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://connect.ubc.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-4390911-dt-content-rid-22638789_1/courses/SIS.UBC.GRSJ.224A.99A.2017WA.97590/Content/week_7_and_8/lecture_notes/wk_7_1.html