Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

Introduction Canada is a diverse country with people from different cultures living harmoniously together. Unlike nations such as America where people consider themselves as Americans first, almost a third of Canadians identify with another culture or ethnic group, in addition to being Canadian. Internationally, Canada is praised for its progressive, antiracist laws that support multiculturalism. While multiculturalism is something that is gaining currency in most countries around the world as a

The Attawaspiskat Cree and Ojibwa are a first nations group living in parts of Canada, mainly northern Ontario. The main languages spoken by these first nation groups are Mushkegowuk Cree and Ojibway. I will compare and contrast the experience of the Attawapiskat Cree to Ojibwa in relation to the Canadian Government. This will include analyzing the treaties introduced by the government towards the Cree and the Ojibwa: in particular, treaty 9 will be discussed. In addition, to these treaties the

within Canada regarding Indigenous people have been discriminatory. The Daniels v. Canada (Indian Affairs and Northern Development) case was legally and culturally inappropriate in many ways due to the lack of care for the evidence put forth by Daniels and obvious discrimination. Thankfully, once the case reached the Supreme Court of Canada, the previous trials and decisions were put to rest and a proper and legally sound decision was made. The Daniels v. Canada (Indian Affairs and Northern Development)

systems were legally suppressed and ignored by the federal government as an attempt to assimilate and “civilize” Indigenous peoples. The 1876 Indian Act “dismantled traditional systems of governance and imposed external controls in the form of local Indian agents and the federal bureaucracy of the Department of Indian Affairs (now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) on individuals and communities” (Henderson, 2006). Indigenous peoples have been trying to get back the right to govern themselves and preserve

Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native

“To be Indian is to lack power – the power to act as owners of your lands, the power to spend your own money and, too often, the power to change your own condition.” Jean Chretien, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1969 “White Papers” “I think it’s not humane when we don’t ask the Indigenous peoples themselves what they want to do; I mean part of the problem, for the last 150 - 200 years is that First Nations people are not in control of their own destiny. It’s this crushing

Aboriginal cultural practices. Most critically, the Indian Act defines the qualifications for being a “status Indian,” and as such has been the centerpiece of Aboriginal anger over federal attempts to control Aboriginal identity and membership. Since being passed by Parliament in 1876, the Indian Act has been the touchstone for Aboriginal affairs in Canada. Few documents in Canadian history have generated as much debate, anger and sorrow as the Indian Act. Yet the legislation persists as a central element

outcomes of the forced separation of children from an Ojibway family in the context of a sad but elegant story. The residential school system became prominent in Canada after the passage of the Indian Act in 1876 and was funded by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (“A History of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada”). The original goal of this school system was to educate First Nations children about Canadian tradition and Christianity, as the

When discussing the Aboriginal quality of life within Canada there are several issues that come to mind, such as health, education, housing and our Canadian-Indigenous relationship (First Ministers And National Aboriginal Leaders, 2005, p. 1). However, many times Canadians neglect to distinguish the root of the issue. While residential schools may be addressed and looked upon historically, the traumas and effects are still particularly palpable for many Indigenous communities. For this reason, it

supervising the Indian Brotherhood program in Manitoba and acted as one of the analysts for the Manitoba Northern Affairs. In recent Canadian government, Elijiah Harper has been an aboriginal advocate working to create change in the constitutions for Canadian aboriginals. After Harper won the northern Manitoba riding in 1981 he let the New Democratic Party to be the first Treaty Indian to be elected as a provincial politician. Harper was later appointed to cabinet for Natives Affairs, then