What Weeze says, is a part of the truth. A part that can be hard to face. I don't have any first or third hand experience of what native life was like before, it may well be as Weeze sais, that in some areas, life was not so good. I have heard about the incest in Inuit culture for example. They used to eat the fresh crap out of the intestines of their kills, that can't be good for ya. I do believe though, that in many places, native life was good before white man. I don't know in what percentage which was which, but I do know that they didn't have a lot of things, like shampoo, soap, bug repellant, the written word, the wheel, pennecillin, water bath canners, science, doctors, books, etc... White man ruined everything, but he also brough great boons of the modern day. However, taking kids away from healthy, loving parents is always bad, always. I'm sure Weeze didn't mean that.

It really isn't for me to say what is good for the red man, and what isn't. It is for them to say. But the above poet, John Trudel has another song: "Don't Want that love, no good, no good for me." They don't want to be revered and idolized and made into something they're not, but they do want to pass on thier wisdom, and for us to care about spirit and the environment.

Weeze, you would be welcomed with open arms in Scotland. They tried to welcome me but I'm not Scottish, I'm Anglo-German. The Scots want you to come home.

I knew there would be offense; and it pains me to offend you, Stevie, one of my favorite people on WC.  But you see, we live in different places, and have different experiences of the native communities. They were farmers in some parts of Man. & On. maybe; not here. They were nomadic. And there weren't very many of them in Sask. when settlement started; the population has gone up tenfold since. I don't see any gardens here, even--which really concerns me, and if we could teach gardening and improve diet, (and reduce diabetes, for example) that would be a boon--but can we do that?  It seems like every time we make a suggestion, it's shot down.  If we offer any suggestions, we're being imperialistic, acting superior.  We're supposed to learn from them. So I feel helpless. We can't talk directly to them--I asked a friend who was close to the reserve what would happen if I went to the Band Office and asked to have a conversation with someone, anyone, about the problems between the two communities, and she just said, "Fool."   Mind you, there have been some talks between the Town Council, the Band and the police...major steps forward.  But for most of us, there isn't a way. I just feel so helpless about it.

Weeze your ancestor's land was taken in war. In those times, there was constant war in Europe. Nowadays, acquisition of territory by conquest is universally outlawed by the U.N.

There have been no wars between natives and the government in Canada - they have been allies though in different conflicts. Their land was taken by treaties, treachery, and government corruption.

It is true there is a considerable problem with alcoholism, substance abuse, and crime in the native communities. These are but symptoms of poverty, misery, neglect, and despair. Native populations were decimated by diseases, starvation, and neglect for over a century. The price of government aid was the supression of native ways, customs, languages, faiths, and traditions. We now refer to that as "Cultural Genocide".

O.K. Judd, what would you suggest we do now?

weeze's comments are part of the discussion, and do need to be heard. I agree with Stevie though, that they are only part of the picture. Alcohol and drugs are most certainly destroying many FN communities. Family violence is prevalent. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, TB, illiteracy and other social problems are there. Most certainly. The reserve I know best has all that. They do not need the outside world to destroy them. They will do it to themselves. At the same time, there are some really cool things happening in that community. Some people are growing. You will find some of the hardest workers in that community. You will find people who work hard and play hard there.If you just looked at them from the outside without getting to know them, you might only see the dysfunction. You would not see the history.  It is a diverse community. They have been affected by European settlement in this area. 50 or 60 years ago, they moved around a large geographic area hunting, fishing, living. After the war, the government gave their land to veterans returning from war. The FN's were put on reserve. Then they were moved; one reserve turned into two. They were moved again in the 80s. They used to live side by side and tolerate each other sometimes. Now families who tolerated each other live close to each other and actually have to get along. It does not always work.

The Scots have also been affected by colonization. The British forbade them from practicing some of their traditions or wearing traditional clothes like kilts and tartans. That has affected them as well, though likely in a different way. None of us benefits from the principles of colonization.

If you want to learn more, I suggest reading "The Roots of Addiction in Free Market Society" by Bruce Alexander. It can be found here: http://www.cfdp.ca/roots.pdf

SG,

An excellent post - I've emphasised the sentences that spoke loudest to me.

I know very little about the native peoples of Canada - but after reading through this thread it's disturbingly familiar to me. It could well be the story of Australia's aboriginals.

Northwind, you say, "They do not need the outside world to destroy them. They will do it to themselves." This sounds as harsh to me as anything I said. I am deeply concerned (and the FASD is the biggie; if it weren't for that it would seem like we'd have a chance to turn things around.) I have not heard yet what we can do--because we are outsiders, and beyond grants of cash are not asked to do anything for them--but I have kind of lost hope except for in the folks you talk about--the ones who are working very hard--and I'm counting on the women to finally stand up and say, ENOUGH!  No more abuse, no more graft, no more danger to our children!

Remember the story from Greek literature where the women disagreed with the men going to war, and they cut them off from marital relations to make their opinion heard?  Hmmm...

What can we do to empower the women?  I can dream, for example, that if they wanted to learn to garden, women from our congregation would gladly, gladly go and get them started.  Gardening should fit in perfectly with native spirituality, shouldn't it?  And they'd enjoy the goodies, fresh carrots, potatoes, turnips...can you see that happening?

And by the way, my ancestors did not lose their land because of the British, it was a neighboring clan...they were always at each others' throats, just like the Cree and the Blackfoot here.  A golden age of peace is somebody's fancy imagination.

weeze, as you probably know, it is difficult to get a point across in this medium. When I said they would destroy themselves, it did sound harsh. This particular community has battles between two large families. There is internalized racism, which is often a by-product of oppression and all that it entails. And so the community struggles to find solutions, and solutions must come from within to some extent. There are no magic wands. Just throwing cash at the problem is not the answer. Withholding cash is not the answer. I have no idea what the answer will be. I do believe it will involve allowing people to find their own solutions, and walking with them if they invite us.

I am also concerned with the rates of FASD. At the same time, Health Canada and other groups have done a lot of educating about that, and there are changes. Hopefully for the better. That will be an investment in the future.

If A decides to maintain their culture and does it themselves, they are seperate. One can think of the Amish or the Hasids.  It can have bad results if they cannot do it without the larger society. 

If someone else decides, if it is imposed on them, people A are segregated. That has worse potential for a good or healthy outcome.

If they want to be part of the dominant group they must be asssimilated. For those who stand up and stand out, they get marginalization. When that is imposed it can destroy.

The positive outcome, for good mental health and positive identity, is in being able to maintain your identity and become an integral part of the larger society.

When there is isolation and segregation whether by geography, law or policies, we need to address that.

Most Canadians know almost nothing about the history, circumstances, issues and challenges facing aboriginal people in Canada. That is sad, but unless we know, we are almost destined to fail.

Ask about drug and alcohol addiction among the GLBTQ community. Is it just them or is it based on their place in society? Is it about self-esteem? Coping mechanisms? Avoidance? Numbing? Once we got it, we understand and we have a hope of changing things.

Family violence is prevalent where people, any people, have a history of being abused or seeing abuse. We know it to be cyclic. When people learn violent behaviour they often reproduce it. They inflict it mostly on those weaker and smaller.  What role does status, Bill C-31 and non-status have on the position of women and the perception of women? Bill C-31 is to restore status of those, mostly women, who lost status based on race based marriage laws. Those with non-status are again mostly women who lost their rights and benefits and did not apply under Bill C-31.How vulnerable does that make women?

We also know that the influence of drugs and alcohol cause it to rise. So too do unemployment and situational stress.... The community, then takes it as a normal response/ reaction... Combine that with isolation and the cycle goes one. Look into older studies of abuse among those who accepted it as normal, look into freed slaves in the US. It is what it is. How do you stop it? You struggle to, the same as you do in other places. You educate. You empower women. You change people's minds about it.

Tuberculosis has been reduced in First Nation, Metis and Inuit communities over the past few decades, but is still way higher than non-aboriginal rates. It is a bacteria that loves overcrowding. That happens in low socio-economic groups. It needs antibiotic treatment and in remote areas where medical professionals are scarce, it often does not get diagnosed.

Illiteracy can be expected when you know stories like Attawapiskat.

First Nation people on reserves face tainted water not suitable for drinking or bathing (affecting more than 60 communities at any given time). Look up Kashechewan.

Add to that all major housing crisis, the quality of education (40 reserves have no schools) and you will get extreme crime rates, rampant health epidemics, and youth suicide rates eight times the national average.

The Indian Act is, to me, an apartheid law.

The reservations system, the deliberate attempts to extinguish cultures, the stealing of children, the failure to make promises good, the unilateral withdrawal of aboriginal "status" for many by the Government, the widespread prejudice, the denial of employment opportunities, the failure to provide adequate housing, education or medical care as undertaken by many treaty arrangements, the abusive stereotyping.... and the self-righteous and cynically hypocritical accusations of aboriginal "failure" add up to an extremely ugly form of oppression in which we are complicit through not holding our governments to their responsibilities, and because of the attitudes of antipathy and contempt we harbour, and our determination to not know or understand... the problems are not "too complicated" to be addressed, not it they are approached with more honesty than has yet been evident. 

The effort and good faith that drafted the Kelowna Accord was unilaterally trashed by the present federal government... and it is still in power; that is a slap in the face of every aboriginal and the faces of every Canadian who wants to see a door open to justice. Kelowna COULD have started a long process of rehabilating relationships. Harper said "stuff that" and we now have to wait for another opportunity... our non-aboriginal apathy merely affirms Harper's contempt.

ANY culture that survives as healthily and as determinedly as the surviving aboriginal cultures of Canada, despite the duress of centuries, is to be admired and respected for that achievement: it IS an achievement. 

Well said Stevie and Mike. When you look at the bigger picture, the social problems on reserve make sense. It is a normal reaction to abnormal circumstances.

This is not a First Nations "problem", it is a Canadian "problem". Just as it is a Canadian problem when LBGQ kids commit suicide. Who said "when one of us is chained, none of us are free". S/he had it right.