A History of Relations between Government and First Nations
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Transcript of A History of Relations between Government and First Nations
A History of Relations between Government and
First Nations
Aboriginals relations with the BC government14 land treaties were
signed on Vancouver Island before Confederation between the First Nations and James Douglas
1899 – the 1st and only land treaty signed on mainland BC (Treaty 8)
Aboriginals relations with the Canadian GovernmentThe Canadian
government signed 11 treaties with Aboriginals
Between 1871-1877, 7 treaties were signed dividing up land on the Prairies (once known as the Northwest Territories)
Overall objective = assimilationGovernment of Canada decides who is an Indian;
people with “status” have certain rightsForced all First Nations to live on reservesFirst Nations could not leave reserves unless they
had a passFirst Nations can’t leave reserves to fish or huntAboriginal women who marry non-Aboriginal men
lost their Indian status, as did their childrenAboriginals who wish to vote lose their Indian statusChildren will be sent to residential schools
Indian Act 1876
Residential Schools
Began by federal government in 1892 to educate and assimilate First Nations into European culture
Objective: “kill the Indian in the child”How? Children as young as 5 were taken away
from their families and required to attend residential schools that were run by the church
Children attended these schools year round and rarely had visits with their familiesChildren dressed in European clothing and assumed
European namesChildren learned European subjects and were forced
to speak EnglishChildren went to school in the mornings and had to
complete jobs/chores in the afternoon
Result: First Nations children lost their language, culture, and identity
Result: Children suffered physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of the Church
Result: In adulthood, these students turned to alcohol, drugs, and crime to dull the pain of their experiences
Result: Multiple generations of First Nations families have suffered since the last school closed in 1996
I Lost My TalkI lost my talkThe talk you took awayWhen I was a little girlAt Shubenacadie school.
You snatched it awayI speak like youI think like youI create like youThe scrambled ballad, about my word.
Two ways I talkBoth ways I say,
So gently I offer my hand and ask,Let me find my talkSo I can teach you about me.~ Rita Joe
The Federal Government under Stephen Harper (Conservatives) officially apologized in the House of Commons on June 11, 2008
Canadian Government Apology
Federal Government’s Response
Establishment of a 5 year Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission
$2 billion settlement reached in 2006 among government, church, and former students
Two types of reconciliation payments: Common Experience Payments and Independent Assessment ProcessBy Dec 2008, 96,000 applications were received71,759 have been approved for payments = $1.3
billionAverage payments is just over $20,000IAP = $88 million
Many survivors who have received payment have spiralled downward; has led to suicides, substance abuse, and depression
Q1. Do you think the government should apologize for injustices of the past?
Q2. If government does apologize, what form should this apology take?- written apology in a letter- official apology read in the House of Commons- money(If so, to whom? How much?)- give back whatever was taken at today’s current value
Critical Thinking Journal
Aboriginals won the right to vote in 1960 without losing their status
Many Aboriginals still live on reserves with a poor quality of life
Trudeau gov’t outlined new policy – White Paper 1969Abolish the Indian Act, reject land claims,
assimilationAboriginal Response – Red Paper
Self-government, control over their own affairs
Current relations between First Nations and the Canadian Government
Aboriginals have taken control of the education of their children (band schools)
Concerned about the effects of development and business on traditional hunting, fishing, and trapping activities
1980: creation of the Assembly of First Nations to represent all Aboriginals in their dealings with the federal governmentAboriginal rights are entrenched in CCR&FBill C-31: band councils can decide who lives on
reservesLavell vs. Regina 1985
Aboriginal women could maintain their status when they married outside the reserve
Taking Control
Continued Confrontation – Oka 1990Town council wanted to
expand a golf course onto Mohawk sacred ground
Mohawk erected a blockade
Police called in; shots were fired and 1 officer was killed
Escalation of conflict; Canadian Forces called in
Crisis was solved when the land was purchased by the Cdn gov’t and given to the Mohawk
Status of First Nations treaties in BC
Land Claims and Treaties
Socials 11March 2010
Created by Miss Ross