Justice for Aboriginal Peoples -- It's time

PSAC-AFPC

20 Jun 201105:48

Summary

TLDRThis video script addresses the historical and ongoing struggles of Indigenous Peoples in North America, emphasizing their resistance to colonization and forced assimilation. It recounts the initial peaceful exchanges with European settlers, the shift to treaties and land dispossession, and the devastating impact of laws like the Indian Act and the Residential School System. Despite these challenges, Indigenous communities continue to resist. The script calls for reconciliation and justice, urging Canadians to join the movement for equality and respect for Aboriginal Peoples' rights.

Takeaways

🌍 Before 1492, Indigenous Peoples had complex societies in North America with an estimated population of 20 million.
🚢 The arrival of Columbus marked the beginning of interactions between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans, initially involving trade and mutual learning.
🤝 Early relationships were cooperative, with Indigenous Peoples sharing food, medicine, and land, and fighting alongside Europeans in wars.
🏡 Post-colonization, Indigenous Peoples were pushed onto reserves and faced segregation and land dispossession.
🐃 In the west, the Hudson Bay Company's actions led to the starvation of Indigenous Peoples and their forced relocation to reserves.
📜 The British sought to change the nature of treaties to focus on land ownership rather than peace and friendship.
🛡️ Indigenous resistance to colonization was met with assimilation efforts through laws like the Indian Act of 1876.
👥 The Indian Act and similar legislation had severe personal impacts, including the loss of Indigenous identity for those who married non-Indigenous persons or pursued education.
🏫 The Residential School System was a form of cultural genocide, forcibly removing children from their communities and culture.
🌱 Despite ongoing challenges, including health disparities and social injustice, Indigenous Peoples continue to resist and persist.
🤝 The script calls for reconciliation and an end to assimilation efforts, advocating for a just relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples.

Q & A

Why do Indigenous Peoples reject the idea of 'just getting over it'?
-Indigenous Peoples reject this notion because of the deep historical and ongoing injustices they face, including land dispossession, forced assimilation, and systemic inequality. These issues have long-lasting impacts on their communities and identities.
What were some positive interactions between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans in the early years?
-Early interactions included mutual learning and trade. Indigenous Peoples taught Europeans survival skills, shared food and medicines, and signed peace and friendship treaties.
How did the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans change after the British victory on the Plains of Abraham?
-After the British victory, Indigenous Peoples were increasingly segregated from European settlers. They were pushed onto reserves, and treaties became more focused on land ownership and title rather than peace and friendship.
What were the effects of the Hudson Bay Company killing the buffalo on Indigenous communities in the west?
-The killing of buffalo, a vital resource for Indigenous Peoples in the west, led to starvation and forced many communities onto reserves, further diminishing their autonomy.
What was the purpose of laws such as 'An Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of Indian Tribes' and the 'Indian Act'?
-These laws aimed to assimilate Indigenous Peoples into European-Canadian society by eroding their cultural identity. They restricted rights, imposed Western ideals, and forced Indigenous peoples to abandon their traditions.
What did Duncan Campbell Scott mean by wanting to 'get rid of the Indian problem'?
-Duncan Campbell Scott, head of the Department of Indian Affairs, sought to erase Indigenous identities and cultures, viewing them as an obstacle to European settlement and integration.
How did the Residential School System impact Indigenous Peoples?
-The Residential School System aimed to eliminate Indigenous cultures by forcibly removing children from their families and communities. This caused deep emotional, cultural, and psychological trauma that continues to affect Indigenous Peoples today.
What are some of the ongoing challenges Indigenous communities face in Canada?
-Indigenous communities face higher rates of poverty, suicide, illness (e.g., tuberculosis, diabetes), inadequate healthcare, boil-water advisories, underfunded education, and disproportionate representation in prisons.
What does the speaker mean by 'reconciliation'?
-Reconciliation refers to addressing past injustices and building a respectful, equitable relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian government. It seeks to stop attempts at assimilation and instead promote healing and mutual respect.
What is the goal of the Justice for Aboriginal Peoples Campaign?
-The campaign aims to raise awareness of the injustices faced by Indigenous Peoples and advocate for meaningful reconciliation and justice, including fair treatment and respect for their rights and cultures.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Historical Roots and Colonialism

This paragraph addresses the longstanding struggle of Indigenous Peoples against colonialism. It starts with a common phrase, 'Why don’t you people just get over it?'—something the speaker has heard throughout their life. It recounts the pre-Columbus era when complex Indigenous societies existed on both sides of the ocean, particularly in what is now North America (referred to as Turtle Island), with an estimated 20 million Indigenous inhabitants. It explains that Columbus's arrival marked the beginning of major changes, and while the initial encounters involved learning, trading, and cooperation (such as sharing food and medicine), things deteriorated. European settlers began taking land and segregating Indigenous Peoples onto reserves, with wars and treaties altering the relationship. Over time, Indigenous Peoples resisted the encroaching demands for land and resources, even as colonizers shifted their tactics to assimilation.

05:03

⚖️ Laws, Assimilation, and the Indian Act

This paragraph delves into how assimilation efforts intensified with the passing of discriminatory laws. The speaker highlights laws such as the 1857 Act to Encourage Gradual Civilization and the 1876 Indian Act, described as one of the most racist pieces of legislation in Canadian history. Duncan Campbell Scott, head of Indian Affairs, famously stated a desire 'to get rid of the Indian problem.' These laws stripped Indigenous Peoples of their identity, especially if they married non-Indigenous people, attended universities, or served in the armed forces. Their cultural practices, such as potlatches, were banned. Most notably, the paragraph highlights the tragic and traumatic removal of Indigenous children through the Residential School System, an act seen as cultural genocide. Despite these efforts, Indigenous Peoples resisted and are still here today.

📉 Ongoing Struggles and Inequalities

The focus here is on the present-day struggles of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. The speaker draws a comparison between historical starvation on reserves and modern efforts to make life on reserves unbearable. Indigenous Peoples face stark disparities in life expectancy, poverty, suicide rates, health issues (like higher rates of tuberculosis and diabetes), and lack of basic necessities such as clean water and adequate dental care. The statistics are alarming: 42% of children lack basic dental care, and 116 First Nations communities have boil-water advisories. Indigenous Peoples also represent a disproportionate percentage of the federal prison population (18% vs. 2.7% of the adult population). In education, schools for Indigenous children receive $2000 less per student per year than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Lastly, the paragraph highlights the shocking statistic of nearly 600 missing or murdered Aboriginal women in the past 15 years. These are the reasons why Indigenous Peoples 'can’t just get over it.'

🤝 Call for Reconciliation and Justice

This paragraph emphasizes the need for a shift in the relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples. The speaker, an Indigenous person and union member, calls for an end to attempts to assimilate Indigenous Peoples into the general population. Instead, it is time to embark on a path of reconciliation. The speaker urges Canadians to join the Justice for Aboriginal Peoples Campaign, which advocates for true reconciliation and justice. The repetition of the word 'reconciliation' underscores its importance as the way forward for healing and unity.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Turtle Island

Turtle Island is a term used by many Indigenous peoples to refer to North America. In the video, it symbolizes the land where Indigenous civilizations thrived before European colonization. This term reflects the deep connection between Indigenous peoples and the land they inhabit, emphasizing that they had well-established systems of governance, trade, and culture long before European arrival.

💡Colonization

Colonization refers to the process by which Europeans, beginning with Christopher Columbus in 1492, arrived in the Americas and imposed their systems on Indigenous peoples. The video emphasizes that colonization led to the forced removal, segregation, and assimilation of Indigenous populations, which drastically altered their way of life and relationships with the land.

💡Peace and friendship treaties

Peace and friendship treaties were agreements made between Indigenous peoples and European settlers aimed at fostering cooperation. Initially, these treaties were genuine attempts at collaboration. However, over time, they were replaced by land treaties that stripped Indigenous peoples of their land and autonomy, as mentioned in the video.

💡The Indian Act

The Indian Act is a Canadian law passed in 1876 that severely restricted the rights and freedoms of Indigenous peoples. The video describes it as one of the most racist pieces of legislation, designed to control Indigenous identity, governance, and culture, and to enforce assimilation into European ways of life.

💡Residential School System

The Residential School System refers to the government and church-run schools that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families to assimilate them into Euro-Canadian culture. The video calls this system an attempted act of genocide, as it aimed to erase Indigenous identities and caused deep trauma within communities.

💡Assimilation

Assimilation refers to the process by which Indigenous peoples were forced to adopt European culture and abandon their own traditions and identity. The video highlights various laws and tactics used to assimilate Indigenous peoples, including denying them their ceremonies and making them lose their Indigenous status if they married non-Indigenous people or pursued higher education.

💡Reconciliation

Reconciliation is the process of repairing the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state, following centuries of oppression and harm caused by colonization. The video stresses that reconciliation is necessary for healing and justice, urging viewers to join the campaign for Indigenous rights and a more respectful relationship moving forward.

💡Treaties

Treaties in the context of the video refer to formal agreements between Indigenous peoples and European settlers, initially aimed at peace and friendship but later used to dispossess Indigenous peoples of their lands. The shift in the purpose of these treaties symbolizes the betrayal and manipulation faced by Indigenous peoples as colonizers took more and more land.

💡Hudson Bay Company

The Hudson Bay Company was a British trading company that played a significant role in the colonization of western Canada. According to the video, the company was responsible for depleting buffalo populations, which starved Indigenous peoples and forced them onto reserves, marking a turning point in their displacement.

💡Missing and murdered Indigenous women

The reference to missing and murdered Indigenous women highlights a critical and ongoing issue in Canada, where hundreds of Indigenous women have been victims of violence. The video uses this fact to underscore the ongoing oppression faced by Indigenous communities, linking it to broader systemic issues such as poverty, discrimination, and lack of support.

Highlights

"Why don't you people just get over it?" - A repeated question Indigenous Peoples have heard throughout their lives, challenging their ongoing struggle.

Before 1492, complex systems of government, trade, agriculture, and spirituality existed among Indigenous Peoples on both sides of the ocean.

The arrival of Christopher Columbus marked the beginning of significant changes, including initial peaceful exchanges between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans.

Indigenous Peoples shared essential survival knowledge with Europeans, such as food, medicines, and guiding them in the New World.

Peace and friendship treaties were signed between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans, initially symbolizing cooperation.

The British victory on the Plains of Abraham in 1763 led to a shift, as Indigenous Peoples were forced onto reserves and separated from immigrants.

The Hudson Bay Company’s actions, such as killing buffalo, led to Indigenous Peoples in the West being starved onto reserves.

New treaties were signed, focusing not on peace, but on land ownership, forcing Indigenous Peoples further into reserves.

Colonizers shifted tactics from segregation to assimilation through laws like the 1857 Act to Encourage Gradual Civilization of Indian Tribes.

The Indian Act of 1876 represented a significant and oppressive piece of legislation aimed at controlling Indigenous Peoples.

The residential school system was an act of genocide, as Indigenous children were taken away from their families to erase their culture.

Despite systemic oppression, Indigenous Peoples continued to resist and survive, challenging the narrative that they should 'just get over it.'

Aboriginal communities today face significant social and economic disadvantages, including higher poverty rates, health issues, and violence.

The struggle includes alarming statistics, such as higher rates of suicide, tuberculosis, and missing Indigenous women.

The speaker calls for reconciliation between Canada and Indigenous Peoples, advocating for the end of assimilation efforts and the beginning of justice.