___ ___ ___ ___|: |___|: \ ___|: \ DizDate: 12/95 _______\___ \___ \___ ___\_______ WordCount: 1188 «¬¬¬¬¬¬| |: | |____| ___|¬¬¬¬¬¬« «¬¬¬¬¬| | |: | |: |¬¬¬¬¬« Subject/Topic is on: «¬¬¬¬| |: | |: | |¬¬¬¬« [Rising Anger by native people] ----\___|: |\__ |\__ |---- [about land claims and equal ] úúúúúúú\___|cd!|___/'úúú|___/'úúú [rights. ] `, a c e ,` [ ] `, e s s a y s ,` [ ] Grade Level: [ ]Grade School Type of Work: [x]Essay/Report/Term [x]High School [ ]Informational [ ]College [ ]Notes [ ]Misc ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ANGER & RENEWAL IN INDIAN COUNTRY Now I believe the rising anger and determination by native peoples towards land claims and equal rights has created a situation which must be addressed immediately. Man has come a long way in time, as he has learned to master the powers of fire, and to hunt and fish for food. All of this was done by a collection of knowledge. With these thought patterns, he reached a way of life which was suitable and which created a sense of balance throughout the world's complex ecosystem. But one group of people wanted more. They progressed and educated their minds through time. To some it may be known as plain greed and to others known as common day evolution. To this day the answer remains in the hands of the philosophers. The European continent hosted the group of human beings that thrived for ultimate knowledge and a perfect civilization. The famous quote Trial and Error was appropriate for the European's escalating achievements. Some were fatal and some were rewarding, but they were all eventually accomplished in the great European continent. They then set out to other continents to broaden their horizons and reach total knowledge and enlightenment. The 16th century was the setting for the early days of the arriving Europeans to the North American continent. Countries such as England, Portugal, France and Spain entered the continent and set up colonies which were widely spread out over the land. The natives of the area had formerly agreed upon their occupation of the space, and so welcomed the newly arrived settlers. An agreement was made in the two-row wampum treaty which was signed between the natives and the settlers from Europe in 1664. The agreement would allow Europeans to stay among the native people and use a certain amount of their land, while in their own areas they would continue to exercise their own laws and maintain their own systems of government. The agreements allowed both sides of the fence to be happy and gain from one another. Soon the Europeans took advantage of the friendliness that the natives were offering to them. A series of lands were taken without consent, as natives were being plundered through trade agreements. The rising anger of the natives resulted to the royal proclamation of 1763, whereby King George the third issued a treaty process. This new treaty stated that all colonized land which was untreatied land, would be returned immediately to the native people of Canada. Today, there are still many cases of untreatied land, such as the Yukon, parts of the North West Territories, and seventy to eighty percent of British Columbia was to remain untreated or claimed by the crown. As the years progressed, more and more land was being clutched by the foreigners and all treaties were neglected. The royal proclamation of 1763 which allowed natives to have some sort of status, was shoved under the carpet, and the natives were tucked away in a small designated corner of Canada's large bountiful country. The rising anger and determination by the natives was beginning to rise. The front pages of the nations newspapers have never been the same since June 1987, when the native people of Canada decided to confront the Canadian government with direct action all across the country. Native bands have embarked in a process of blockading roads, setting up picket lines and demonstrating on government properties. The action by the angry natives is an attempt to publicize their thoughts to the government. Their has been many kinds of actions engaged in by the natives in all kinds of different shapes and sizes. Some points are outlined as follows: "1.-The Haida of British Columbia stood in front of large logging machines, that were on their way to clear out their ancient forests. 2.-The Lubicon of Northern Alberta and the Teme-Augama Anishnabai of Northern Ontario both were involved in the blocking of roads into their ancient lands. 3.-The Mohawks of Akwasasne continue to struggle for the right to cross the international border of Canada and the united States freely, as they used to when no boundaries were imposed upon them. 4.-The Mi'kmaq and Malaseet of Nova Scotia are involved in a dispute with the provincial government, which are trying to restrict ancient hunting and fishing rights and that has recently been confirmed by the Supreme court of Canada. 5.-The Innu of Labrador invade a NATO airbase in protest against low level flights by jet fighters that threaten the animal population on which they depend on as a source of food."(1.) Many of these struggles have shaken Canadians. In fact thousands of Canadians, especially those in the environmental and human rights groups, churches and some unions, "have struggled with the natives to moderate the power of industrial revolutions as it smashes into the Hinterland."(2.) The natives of Canada have for certain, a land claim problem, but they also have a huge society disorder. The living conditions on reserves is a hideous almost nauseating disgrace, which the government must attend to immediately. there is high unemployment rates on reserves, which in turn results in poor living standards, and thus the natives become restless, turning to alcohol and drug abuse. There must be a political will, to put all those long fancy words into practice. But, the Canadian government has not completely ignored their situation. Efforts have been put forth to help the natives, such as a saw mill that was constructed within Northern Alberta for the natives to make use of, and hopefully reduce the unemployment in the people among that particular region. After five years of function there was still no change in the unemployment level. The plain and simple reason for that is that one cannot take an already drunken Indian and expect him to work. The reason for that failure was that the government only attacked a symptom of the problem. The bigger the problem the longer it's going to take to solve it. The natives have been revolting for many years, in order to obtain only one goal, which is self government within Canada. They don't want the whole country, but a small section in which they can govern themselves, where they can have their own courts and laws. Before the arrival of the European's, the natives had a very highly developed society, with a perfect system of government. Now, many centuries later, they see that their common future has been torn to shreds. If the self government proposal was put into effect, a natural resource would be needed for it's survival, and at the present time the reservations do not hold great possibilities. A better location in the reservations could quite possibly open a few new doors to the suffering natives. The current government has constituted the suggestion before, but no actions were ever taken. In conclusion, it is clearly evident that if the natives were ever given more responsibility, which includes a greater authority in the decision making process of Canada, it would most definitely allow them to plan a new and powerful role in Canadian society.