 Aboriginal – Includes all first nations, Inuit, and

Metis People

 First Nation – a distinct group of Aboriginal

Peoples who share the same culture and history.
Term started in 1970s, and today may
Aboriginals refer to themselves as First Nation.

 Inuit - “the people”- Aboriginal people who live

in the artic regions = 5%

 Metis – descendants of European fur traders and

Aboriginal people – 30%
 http://fnpim-cippn.inac-ainc.gc.ca/index-eng.asp
  http://www.newcreditfirstnation.com/

http://docs.
ontario.ca/d
ocuments/2
637-
firstnations
andtreaties-
en-
may202014
.html#docu
ment/p1
 ManyAboriginal people were hunters and
gathers.

 All Aboriginals depended on the land

 All
lived in societies with a form of
government, spiritual beliefs, and a set of
agreed upon values.
 Everything in the world, living and non-
living, is connected
 Unseen spiritual powers exist and affect all
things
 Everything in the world constantly changes
in recurring cycles
 Humans need to be in harmony with each
other and with nature
 (i.e., Aboriginals are not separate from
Nature. They do not have a special or
dominant place in it. In other words, humans
occupy a place of equality and respect. )
 http://circletrail.com/2012/2012-pow-wow-schedule-2

 Manitoulin Island Anishinaabe Pow Wow

 http://www.northernontario.travel/directionontario/travel-adventures/38-general/422-liez-votre-vacance-a-un-festival

 Manitoulin Island
 Treaty – signed agreement between the
federal government and First Nations where
the First Nations gave up their land rights
except for reserves and accept treaty money
and other kinds of government assistance.

 Copy
 The Government of Canada wanted treaties
to:
 (1) allow for settlement of Canada’s west and
prevent USA takeover,
 (2) avoid bloody conflicts like the events
happening in the settlement of the USA west,
and
 (3) advance ideas of assimilation.
 Free post-secondary education
 Do not pay provincial sales tax for goods bought
ON reserves
 Have special hunting and fishing rights
 Entitled to housing on a reserve
 May emigrate easily to the USA

 NOTE: A Non-Status Indian is not eligible for

these benefits. Moreover, they are not governed
by the Indian Act.
 In the early years
 Treaties were made based on peace and
friendship as military alliances  Aboriginals
outnumbered Europeans

 In later years
 Aboriginals were becoming a minority
 They wanted to keep enough land to support
themselves
 They wanted the right to control their own
affairs
 Land that is legally owned by the Federal
government, but has been set aside for use
by a First Nation group. (Treaty) Copy

 Indian act of 1876

 Persuaded Aboriginal peoples to give up their
claim to the land in Canada and move to
reserves. However, the promises of payments,
reserve land, hunting and fishing rights were
broken by the government.
 The government decided how reserve lands were
to be used and there were bans such as
Aboriginal peoples did not have the right to vote,
laws to protect wildlife, and it was illegal for
them to hire a lawyer to negotiate on their behalf
with the government.
 Loss of land made it hard for them to keep
traditional ways of life.
 Reserves were not large or rich enough to
provide a decent economic base for those that
lived on them, this created, unemployment,
poverty
 2011, 360,620 people lived on reserves in Canada.
Many leave because of low standard of living and
lack of future

 Aboriginals standard of living has improved but is

still lagging behind

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5DrXZUIinU
 Justice for Aboriginal Peoples -- It's time
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8QmxU6IZHw
Aboriginal History: "Did You Know"? (part 1 of 2) -
YouTube
 1840 to 1960 - Residential Schools were funded by the
Government of Canada and operated by the Church.

 The schools were used to ASSIMILATE Aboriginal children

(i.e., bring Aboriginal into “mainstream” society) by forcing
the children to live away from parents and culture.

 Children were taught to be farmers (i.e., self-sufficient) and

required to convert to Christianity.

 They were punished for practicing traditional spiritual

beliefs or speaking in a Native tongue.

 Often they were abused, physically and emotionally.

 COPY
 St. Paul's Indian Industrial School,
Middlechurch, Manitoba, 1901
 Residential school group photograph, Regina,
Saskatchewan circa 1921
 The last residential school operated by the
Canadian Government, Gordon Residential
School, was closed in 1996.

 White Calf Collegiate, closed in 1998, was run

by the Lebret Residential school board.
 This consensus was symbolized by the June 11, 2008 public apology
offered, not only by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of the
Government of Canada, but also by the leaders of all the other parties in
the Canadian House of Commons.[

 In its 2005 budget, the Canadian government committed an additional

$40 million to continue to support the work of the Aboriginal Healing
Foundation.

 Nov. 23, 2005

 Ottawa announces a $2-billion compensation package for aboriginal
people who were forced to attend residential schools. Details of the
Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement include an initial
payout for each person who attended a residential school of $10,000,
plus $3,000 per year. Approximately 86,000 people are eligible for
compensation.

 As of 2012 the Commission's hearings are ongoing.

 http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/a-long-awaited-apology-for-
residential-schools
 There has been the creation of many
Aboriginal organizations, and agencies
offering cultural programs and assistance in
finding housing and health care
 Movement towards self government so they
can control their future, and expand their
economic base, lower poverty
 Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that First
Nations without treaties have right to their
“historical” land.
 Treaty claims are used as a way for Aboriginal
people to establish a legal title to land or
receive monetary compensation for loss of
land

 There are 2 types:

 Specific Claim – focuses on the breaking of or
failing to fulfill original treaties as when
some of the land provided by a treaty is not
receive

 Comprehensive Claim – focuses on claims to
land, resources, or self-government in places
not already covered by treaties. In theses
cases Aboriginals are laying claims to the
land because they never signed any treaties
that gave away their land rights.

 Nunavut became a territory of the Inuit

people in 1999 after the settlement of a
comprehensive land claim.
 National Aboriginal Day – June 21

 Many Aboriginals live in cities and participate

in mainstream Canadian society, while
keeping their culture.

 54% of Aboriginals live in or near big cities.

The largest areas are Winnipeg, Edmonton,
Vancouver.

 Some move between the city and their home

community.
 Child mortality rates are 2X - 3X higher than
Canadian average

 In 1980, 37% of all welfare cases were Aboriginal; yet,

Aboriginals only represent 3.5% of the entire Canadian
population.

 There are 491 children per 1,000 Aboriginal women;

whereas, the number is 290 children per 1,000 non-
Aboriginal women. This is called the “Aboriginal Baby
Boom.”

 Poverty, unemployment, suicide rates and social

breakdown are higher than Canadian averages.
 Unemployment on reserves is over 25%, while the
Canadian rate is about 8%.
 The percent of one-parent families is 33% among Aboriginals
and only 15% in the rest of Canadian society.

Over 35% of Aboriginals are under the age of 15; whereas, the
percent of Canadians is 20%.

Life expectancy is 5 -7 years lower than that of other

Canadians.

Illness rates are higher – more diabetes, tuberculosis

Higher rates of family violence, alcohol and drug abuse

60% do not graduate from high school.

Often living in poverty – shacks, water and sanitation systems

are substandard.
 Attawapiskat is an isolated First Nation located
in Kenora District in northern Ontario, Canada,
at the mouth of the Attawapiskat River at James
Bay

 On October 28, 2011 the Attawapiskat First

Nations leadership declared a state of
emergency in response to dropping
temperatures, and the resulting health and
safety concerns due to inadequate housing.
 Many residents were still living in tents,
trailers and temporary shelters, and many
residences and public buildings lacked
running water and electricity.

 In one case, children, the elderly, and the ill

were sleeping in rooms just a few feet away
from a 2009 raw sewage spill that had not
been adequately cleaned
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attawapis
kat_First_Nation
photogallery.thestar.com

ipolitics.ca
 blogs.theprovince.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6abZ0LFT5CQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ynaC8f5ues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIlBD-eQFW0
 The People of the Kattawapiskak River is a
2012

 National Film Board of Canada, when

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_of_t
he_Kattawapiskak_River
 http://fcweb.limestone.on.ca/~stridef/G9%20
Ac%20Geography/Unit%204%20Aboriginal%20
Summary.pdf