Aboriginal Life; from Improvement

The Aboriginal population of Canada have been oppressed and discouraged from the moment the West came to their land.   From the beginning, Aboriginals have been manipulated and taken advantage of for the benefit of the colonist’s imperialistic agenda.   The Aboriginal population was forced out of their land and made to live on reserves where there was no infrastructure or economic planning.   When they were finally allowed to leave their reserves, employment was difficult to attain due to racist attitudes of the day.   Also, European settlers brought diseases with them that were foreign to the Aboriginals, leading to high levels of death among their population.   A century later, residential schools were used as a method of assimilation; it failed miserably, and the effects of the schools are still seen. It is in the interest of the aboriginal population to integrate into Canadian culture, not necessarily assimilate; the “Indian problem” should be considered a “Canadian problem” that requires immediate and well thought out plans of action.   Poverty, poor health and substance abuse need to be addressed on reserves.   Canada needs to encourage the independence of various cultural groups, without the American “melting pot” methodology which denies the heritage of those groups.   The Federal Government has attempted to make up for wrongdoings committed by throwing money at the situation.   “The government has been paternal, and has supported the Aboriginals, rather than encouraging independence” (Iva, 2001).   Clearly, this has been a failure.   A more practical approach should be taken:   More than money and land, tools of success need to be shared so that independence, while maintaining their heritage can occur.   This may be on its way already.   In 1998, Labrador gave Aboriginals 5% of its land in addition to $250 million.   The government has tried to pay away the problems, but this has never worked as well as intended.   The saying, “give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day;...