This project has been very eye-opening for me, presenting a darker side to an issue that I always thought to be under control.
Aboriginal peoples in Canada are definitely experiencing inequality and injustice, with a wide range of issues presenting harmful effects to their society, livelihood, and status in Canada.
I learned about the issues concerning health care, including water treatment (or lack-there-of), health care facilities, air quality, and diseases and chronic conditions that develop on and off native reserves. I was also surprised to learn that aboriginal peoples are considering themselves segregated from the rest of Canada due to our immense lack of knowledge concerning their way of life. As members of this country, citizens of our provinces, and fellow human beings, we should be concerned and informed about their livelihoods, and take consideration for their customs. If the majority of non-aboriginal Canadians were living in cramped housing conditions, or places with "boil water advisories" that have been in place for over 6 months, immediate action would be taken to make the change.
When I began my research I wasn't too thrilled about the topic, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to present a point of argument for a group of people I was not informed about. I had no idea of the severity of the issue surrounding life on reserves and even worse, off reserves. I understand now that politics do no cover every area of our country, and governments are not always fair in their assessments of "who needs help". In fact, when I heard about the "political football" being played among the provincial and federal governments concerning aboriginal rights, I was stunned, no one wanted to be the change. Aboriginal people are a part of Canada, citizens of our country, and demand the attention and support that the rest of us get. It's only fair, and the situation is getting better to be honest. All together, an interesting topic, especially since it was so close to home. You would never guess the depth of the issues Aboriginals have to face every day, in education troubles, desperate attempts to gain employment, or the sickening conditions they are subjected to. I don't know how easy it would be to sit down with the chief's of each nation and come to an agreement on what's too be done... it has been tried before, a laborious concession of times before, but I hope that one of these times both sides of the argument put aside their differences and come to an understanding, freeing aboriginal peoples from poverty, and putting the damn issue to rest!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Seminar Group Discussions Reflection
Unfortunately, there isn't much to say concerning the effectiveness of the group discussions. There was only one time that the entire group was present, and the others were spent sharing awkward opinions concerning what little research we had done on our topics already. Three of us came consecutively, providing baseline information about our topics, two of which actually had factual evidence. We had enough research done to realize some sort of sequence to present our material, but not too much time was spent trying to come up with a witty or cool way to give the presentations.
The group chemistry was different, and this made it considerably awkward and hard to focus at times, since the three of us that usually came are not close friends. Usually, I would find it easy to become involved in group work and incorporate every one, but it was hard to base a conversation on something that wasn't done... our research. I suppose my group members decided that the presentation would come together in the end and blow every one away, fitting together like perfect puzzle pieces with a touch of B.S. and evolving into an awesome seminar. Unfortunately that rarely ever happens, and the last week before our seminar will most likely be a crazed process of trying to organize our information and linking it together in strange ways. It helps that the over-all theme is in fact the same, but we all worked so individually on this project that our ideas are not connected, I guess it was the chemistry.
Over all, not too well done. We all had good ideas at times, decent summaries of research, and a good idea of where we were going, but that was it. A huge part of the "group mentality" was missing due to a particular distaste for the topic, or a particular distaste for each other, and with the clash of the two, we were not able to stumble across a common ground for an intellectual discussion. I think the seminar could have gone better if we were familiar with each other and able to ACTUALLY give each other advice and commentary without feeling bossy or insulting, like working with strangers and refusing to give them a bad impression of your style of group work. In the end though, a good lesson was learned. You can't always work with the people you want to, and you have to adapt to every situation with a smile and an ability to find your voice and collaborate without hesitation. Though we may not have figured that out this time, I'm sure I'll learn, and maybe if my future seminar group members would like to come to class sometimes, I will be able to adapt and work with the material slightly better.
The group chemistry was different, and this made it considerably awkward and hard to focus at times, since the three of us that usually came are not close friends. Usually, I would find it easy to become involved in group work and incorporate every one, but it was hard to base a conversation on something that wasn't done... our research. I suppose my group members decided that the presentation would come together in the end and blow every one away, fitting together like perfect puzzle pieces with a touch of B.S. and evolving into an awesome seminar. Unfortunately that rarely ever happens, and the last week before our seminar will most likely be a crazed process of trying to organize our information and linking it together in strange ways. It helps that the over-all theme is in fact the same, but we all worked so individually on this project that our ideas are not connected, I guess it was the chemistry.
Over all, not too well done. We all had good ideas at times, decent summaries of research, and a good idea of where we were going, but that was it. A huge part of the "group mentality" was missing due to a particular distaste for the topic, or a particular distaste for each other, and with the clash of the two, we were not able to stumble across a common ground for an intellectual discussion. I think the seminar could have gone better if we were familiar with each other and able to ACTUALLY give each other advice and commentary without feeling bossy or insulting, like working with strangers and refusing to give them a bad impression of your style of group work. In the end though, a good lesson was learned. You can't always work with the people you want to, and you have to adapt to every situation with a smile and an ability to find your voice and collaborate without hesitation. Though we may not have figured that out this time, I'm sure I'll learn, and maybe if my future seminar group members would like to come to class sometimes, I will be able to adapt and work with the material slightly better.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Aboriginal Land Claims
I didn't understand how this worked prior to visiting this website, so now I can summarize it briefly and know for future study reference.
Most land claims involve the federal government, which has primary responsibility over land, unless the claim is involved with natural resources, private property, or historical events giving rise to the claim, then the provincial gov. steps in.
Three types of claims:
Treaty Based Claims: Disagreements about size and location of reserves between the Crown and First Nations. OR problems arising after the negotiation of reserves, like flooding, or taking the land for other purposes like highway construction or railways. (without lawful authority or compensation.)
Aboriginal Title Claims: Based on allegations that lands traditionally used and occupied by Aboriginal people were never surrendered to the Crown by Aboriginal people. A First Nation may claim that a land surrender or treaty was flawed and that the original Aboriginal interest in the land remains.
Surrender for sale of Reserve Land Claims: Arise when a First Nation seeks compensation for, or the return of land that it had surrendered to the Crown for sale so that the payment from the sale could be used for the benefit of the First Nation. Although such land surrenders generally occurred many years ago, the land often remains unsold and unpaid for.
Federal government's responsibility for land claims:
In The Constitution Act of 1867, the federal government was assigned exclusive jurisdiction over "Indians and Lands reserved for the Indians," which includes the power to make treaties with Aboriginal peoples. The provinces were assigned jurisdiction over private property, and the management of Crown lands and natural resources located within a province. In many land claims both federal and provincial jurisdictions are involved.
The courts have determined that the historic relationship between the federal government and Aboriginal peoples, as well as federal jurisdiction for law making in relation to Aboriginals and Aboriginal reserve lands, creates a special trust-like or "fiduciary" relationship with First Nations on the part of the federal government. To a large extent the federal government exercises its fiduciary responsibility for First Nations through the Indian Act.
Good start to understanding how the federal government deals with Aboriginal issues, and where the Provincial government steps in to hold jurisdiction too.
Most land claims involve the federal government, which has primary responsibility over land, unless the claim is involved with natural resources, private property, or historical events giving rise to the claim, then the provincial gov. steps in.
Three types of claims:
Treaty Based Claims: Disagreements about size and location of reserves between the Crown and First Nations. OR problems arising after the negotiation of reserves, like flooding, or taking the land for other purposes like highway construction or railways. (without lawful authority or compensation.)
Aboriginal Title Claims: Based on allegations that lands traditionally used and occupied by Aboriginal people were never surrendered to the Crown by Aboriginal people. A First Nation may claim that a land surrender or treaty was flawed and that the original Aboriginal interest in the land remains.
Surrender for sale of Reserve Land Claims: Arise when a First Nation seeks compensation for, or the return of land that it had surrendered to the Crown for sale so that the payment from the sale could be used for the benefit of the First Nation. Although such land surrenders generally occurred many years ago, the land often remains unsold and unpaid for.
Federal government's responsibility for land claims:
In The Constitution Act of 1867, the federal government was assigned exclusive jurisdiction over "Indians and Lands reserved for the Indians," which includes the power to make treaties with Aboriginal peoples. The provinces were assigned jurisdiction over private property, and the management of Crown lands and natural resources located within a province. In many land claims both federal and provincial jurisdictions are involved.
The courts have determined that the historic relationship between the federal government and Aboriginal peoples, as well as federal jurisdiction for law making in relation to Aboriginals and Aboriginal reserve lands, creates a special trust-like or "fiduciary" relationship with First Nations on the part of the federal government. To a large extent the federal government exercises its fiduciary responsibility for First Nations through the Indian Act.
Good start to understanding how the federal government deals with Aboriginal issues, and where the Provincial government steps in to hold jurisdiction too.
NAHO National Aboriginal Health Organization
Another interesting site dedicated to the health and well being of Aboriginal Peoples.
Aboriginal Bill Needs More Work
In a very currant article in the Times Colonist, it seems as if the provincial government has finally come to an agreement with the Aboriginal peoples. Premier Gordon Campbell has introduced a new legislation that will hopefully take care of a few resounding issues, such as treaty claims that go belly up due to boundaries between bands. The government has decided to deal with this problem by completely withdrawing from treaty discussions, and leaving the issues to a new Indigenous Nations Commission. This gives the INC the ability to mediate between bands, as if to say to the Aboriginal leaders, "It's your problem, you fix it."
Since each territory is so large, occupied by many bands, a new political structure is being placed, called Indigenous Nation, which will not deal with individual bands, but entire territories. The "band system", currently operating, is being shunted aside, and in it's place will go new Tribal Governments, representing the original First Nations. This is a huge accomplishment, because not only may this work, it has the support of Aboriginal Leaders.
The proposition does hold two problems through, one; land use and planning, and two; the sharing of natural resource revenues. Community businesses are alarmed by these problems, and to counter this the government is going to wait until May to put the INC into place, just to get the communities in order and solve outstanding problems.
In the past, native band systems of government have often been at two ends of the poverty spectrum, with some bands having great administrations, and others being barely functional. This causes problems with poverty and housing, because Aboriginals are not free to reconstruct and deal with housing issues; the houses belong to the community. Systemic issues like these have played a part in the impoverishment of Canada's native peoples. At last, there may be a chance to deal with some of them. This is a great start to finally taking responsibility for the Aboriginal issues that for so long, we have evaded.
Article released April 1st, 2009.
Since each territory is so large, occupied by many bands, a new political structure is being placed, called Indigenous Nation, which will not deal with individual bands, but entire territories. The "band system", currently operating, is being shunted aside, and in it's place will go new Tribal Governments, representing the original First Nations. This is a huge accomplishment, because not only may this work, it has the support of Aboriginal Leaders.
The proposition does hold two problems through, one; land use and planning, and two; the sharing of natural resource revenues. Community businesses are alarmed by these problems, and to counter this the government is going to wait until May to put the INC into place, just to get the communities in order and solve outstanding problems.
In the past, native band systems of government have often been at two ends of the poverty spectrum, with some bands having great administrations, and others being barely functional. This causes problems with poverty and housing, because Aboriginals are not free to reconstruct and deal with housing issues; the houses belong to the community. Systemic issues like these have played a part in the impoverishment of Canada's native peoples. At last, there may be a chance to deal with some of them. This is a great start to finally taking responsibility for the Aboriginal issues that for so long, we have evaded.
Article released April 1st, 2009.
Aboriginal Canada Portal
I thought this could be a useful website, it's the number one online go-to for questions concerning contact information, government programs and organizations, services, and resources for the Aboriginal community. The site is a partnership between government departments and the Aboriginal community, allowing information delivery and quality service on hand.
The goal of the site is to continue to evolve into a virtual forum in which:
- All Aboriginal stakeholders (Aboriginal peoples, organizations and government policy and program developers) may locate, discuss and share information, views, services, successes and issues amongst one another.
- Act as a central gateway to increase the awareness of Aboriginal Peoples history, heritage, traditions and Aboriginal community successes among Aboriginal Peoples and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
The site is arranged by topic, from areas concerning health care to education, alcohol and drug abuse to employment and housing, every question you can think of is easily accessible, and if the answers are not listed right away there are direct lines of communication to people who can help the Aboriginals out. At least this is being done :) I thought I'd add a plus side to the rest of my articles.
The goal of the site is to continue to evolve into a virtual forum in which:
- All Aboriginal stakeholders (Aboriginal peoples, organizations and government policy and program developers) may locate, discuss and share information, views, services, successes and issues amongst one another.
- Act as a central gateway to increase the awareness of Aboriginal Peoples history, heritage, traditions and Aboriginal community successes among Aboriginal Peoples and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
The site is arranged by topic, from areas concerning health care to education, alcohol and drug abuse to employment and housing, every question you can think of is easily accessible, and if the answers are not listed right away there are direct lines of communication to people who can help the Aboriginals out. At least this is being done :) I thought I'd add a plus side to the rest of my articles.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Response 1 "Aboriginal Peoples in Canada." Initial Research.
Before reading this first news article, I had no idea of the depth and severity of the problems facing Canadian aboriginals living off reserves. When you think of aboriginals on reserves, health problems do come to mind, such as diabetes, arthritis, and hypertension, but these reserves also have the majority of the federal governments funding, and the community of aboriginals to look to for support. Aboriginals living off reserves face terrible conditions, with less than half of the care and awareness. 60.1% of aboriginals living off reserves face at least one chronic health condition, and their status in health is listed as only being fair or poor. The majority of aboriginals off reserves smoke (51.4%), are obese (24.7%) and are heavy drinkers, 22.6%, although this number is going down. Off-reserve aboriginals are also lacking in the education department, having only 49.6% of all high school students graduating, and a poverty rate that is not getting any better. The chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples was "pleasantly surprised" by the statistics in 2001, because it was time that people started to recognize the issue. Aboriginals living off reserves are disregarded, not only by the public but by the federal government, who run the majority of studies on reserve aboriginals, and pay 58 million dollars for their diabetes plans, and 14.5 million for off reserve aboriginals.
Aboriginals living off reserves have to deal with the worst conditions by far, while the population on reserves deal with situations that do not fair much better. It is sad to see that the congress of aboriginals were so surprised by this survey, have we really disregarded their conditions to the point where they expect it to be the norm?
Aboriginals living off reserves have to deal with the worst conditions by far, while the population on reserves deal with situations that do not fair much better. It is sad to see that the congress of aboriginals were so surprised by this survey, have we really disregarded their conditions to the point where they expect it to be the norm?
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