Art of understanding First Nations

Hugh Holland.

Canada’s troubled aboriginal communities are in the news again. This article is part of an attempt on my part to understand the plight of our 1,150,000 aboriginal peoples. That number includes 700,000 First Nations Indians, 400,000 Metis, and 50,000 Inuit people and is 3.3 per cent of Canada’s population.
There are a wide variety of situations in native communities. There are people who have graduated to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, and teachers. There are diplomats, soldiers, entertainers, and professional athletes. There are communities where location offers good job prospects for both natives and non-natives. There are native communities with good leadership that operate successful businesses like the cranberry marsh on the Gibson Reserve, Casino Rama, and the outstanding Tsa-Kwa-Luten resort on Quadra Island BC. There are galleries across the country selling beautiful native arts and crafts. But there are also too many troubled native communities.
The Indian residential school system may have been well intentioned, but in 150 years (1846 to 1996), as many as seven generations of children were stripped away from their parents to experience an unfamiliar environment and too many cases of mental, physical, and sexual abuse.
The Indian Act was passed in 1876 to define who is an Indian and to establish a system of Indian reserves. The act effectively made aboriginal people wards of the federal government. Since then, there have been over 20 changes to the original act to set out rules for governing reserves and the powers of band councils, but the fundamentals have not changed. First Nations leaders argue that the act locks them into a state of perpetual dependency.
Even though the budget for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada is some $9 billion (3.1 per cent of the federal budget) per year, some argue that the government is not living up to its obligations under the Indian Act to provide adequate care and financial support. But money alone is not the answer. A life of dependency is not healthy for anyone, native or non-native. Humans need the sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from surviving and thriving by their own efforts.
The reserve communities established by the Indian Act were small, scattered, remote, and many lack diversity of purpose. Aboriginal people today are increasingly torn between wanting to live according to earlier traditions, and wanting their children to have the opportunities and amenities of modern life. Fifty per cent of 700,000 First Nations people have already migrated off reserves.
But that still leaves 350,000 living in 600 communities, an average of 583 per community, scattered across the second largest county on earth.
In spite of the challenges, some remote northern communities such as Yellowknife, Iqualuit, Inuvik, Moosonee, and Tuktoyuktuk have managed to become quite viable. But others such as Attawapiskat and Kasheshewan struggle on indefinitely, seemingly with no hope in sight.
The distinguishing factor seems to be that the latter locations lack the natural beauty that would attract tourism, and lack the diversity of purpose of the former locations. With the arrival of De Beers Mining that now employs 100 First Nations (supporting 500), it would appear that Attawapiskat has a better chance to become viable than Kasheshewan.
Native leaders must accept some responsibility for the current situation. There are too many accounts of overpaid leaders, questionable priorities, and lack of care and respect for the assets that have been provided. With proper community planning, Attawapiskat citizens could have repaired and assembled their own houses to provide local jobs.
Some native leaders see genuine attempts to help them as intrusions and threats. To be fair, earlier cases of abuse and exploitation would surely have caused distrust. But dwelling on the past will not solve today’s problems. Today’s population did not commit the abuses of the past, and cannot be held accountable for them any more than today’s German population can be held accountable for two wars.
There is general agreement that the Indian Act should be replaced by a new model that would end the ongoing state of dependency and bring native people to full equality in individual property ownership, education, governance and taxation, while retaining the traditions that are an important part of our national heritage. That may even require closing down communities with no hope of becoming viable.
But this is a very complex and difficult situation on which to make progress.
At this week’s meeting with the Harper government, many chiefs seemed ready for change. The government proposed an incremental approach of small practical steps. The prime minister promised stable multi-year funding to bands that demonstrate they are ready and able to manage it. The others will continue to get management help until they become capable. Hopefully this approach will succeed and a large and a growing contingent of educated and capable young native people will help to fill a looming shortage in Canada’s work force. Canada’s need to exert sovereignty in the far north will be better served by healthy communities than by troubled ones.
Hugh Holland is a mechanical engineer and a retired auto-industry manufacturing executive. He retired to Huntsville in 1995 and is a member of the Rotary club.

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