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    Hello everyone and welcome to my presentation, which addresses the

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    history and effects of colonialism on indigenous peoples in Canada

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    as well.

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    This presentation outlines the ways in which state laws and

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    policies have impacted indigenous peoples right to self determination.

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    And it also discusses the ways in which non performative

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    reconciliation can be pursued with indigenous peoples through the process

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    of decolonization.

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    When discussing the history of indigenous peoples in Canada.

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    One can never omit referencing the devastating impacts of colonialism

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    on all aspects of indigenous way of life.

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    The colonization of indigenous people in Canada started as early

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    as the 15th century and it continues to significantly impact

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    them to this day.

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    To begin, it's important to situate ourselves with the term

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    indigenous peoples.

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    Indigenous people communities and nations are those who have a

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    historical continuity with pre invasion and pre colonial societies that

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    appropriated on their territories and consider themselves distinct from the

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    other societies that now prevail in those territories or parts

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    of them.

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    They form at present non dominant sectors of society and

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    are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations,

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    their ancestral territories and their ethnic identity as the basis

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    of their continued existence as peoples in accordance with their

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    own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems.

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    It's important to note that the word indigenous is a

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    term in identity constructed, shaped and lived in the politicized

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    context of contemporary colonialism.

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    By understanding the sociopolitical context that shape the terminology used

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    in these discussions, settlers such as myself can take responsibility

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    for the language used to describe a culturally distinct group

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    of peoples.

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    Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that I

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    am not indigenous.

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    Nor do I have an extensive research background on indigenous

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    peoples, culture, tradition, spirituality and way of life.

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    I'm a visible minority who is a settler on indigenous

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    peoples land in Canada and I continue to benefit from

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    colonization to this day.

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    Nonetheless, I think about my relationship to the land frequently

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    and I am grateful for everything.

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    It has provided me de colonizing my relationship with indigenous

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    peoples is something that I care deeply about and I

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    will continue to unlearn and relearn the ways in which

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    I can support this action.

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    This project was written on the traditional and unseated territory

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    of the musky um squamish and slow to first nations

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    colonial E known as Vancouver BC.

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    The picture on the right is my family and I

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    picking blackberries on the traditional territory of the hulk minimum

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    and the shen chosen speaking peoples.

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    Colonial e known as salt spring European imperialism began globally

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    for many indigenous peoples in the late 15th century, fueled

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    by the Industrial Revolution and the demand for raw resources

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    as Europeans decimated the resources and wealth from what Europeans

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    considered foreign lands.

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    They justified their actions through moral religious and ethical ideologies,

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    believing that they were bringing civilization and the benefits of

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    Christianity, to quote, unquote backward indigenous peoples.

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    Colonialism can be thought of as the manifestation of the

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    ideology of imperialism.

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    At its core is the idea that the exploitation of

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    indigenous lands and people for the benefit of european colonizers

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    is acceptable and justified.

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    Canada specifically is an example of settler colonialism, where the

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    claiming of land and creation of permanent settlements over new

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    territories and the colonized in a way that replicated the

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    structure of settlers homeland occurred.

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    The effects of colonization and government assimilation policies have caused

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    the systemic marginalization of indigenous peoples from mainstream society, which

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    profoundly impacts all aspects of their life, including health, socio

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    economic welfare, traditional roles, culture, language, spirituality, knowledge, access to

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    services, equity and many other aspects.

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    At the G-20 summit in 2009, during a press conference,

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    the Prime Minister of Canada at that time, Stephen Harper

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    stated that Canada has no history of colonialism.

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    This statement implied that Canada is a country where all

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    citizens enjoy equal democratic rights and freedoms, which we all

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    know to be gravely untrue.

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    The history of colonialism is still felt by indigenous peoples

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    today through oppression, violation and increased vulnerability, which destroys their

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    right to self reliance and undermines their resilience to the

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    impacts of colonialism will continue to affect indigenous peoples in

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    Canada unless true reconciliation, decolonization and healing is undertaken.

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    Understanding the links between colonization and the oppressive treatment of

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    indigenous peoples is fundamental to understanding the current impacts of

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    colonization globally.

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    However, linking indigenous city to colonization must come with the

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    awareness that the perspective of this definition is usually the

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    perspective of the colonizers and oppressors.

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    Indigenous people have the right to independently self identify and

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    may want other defining considerations to be taken into account

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    such as cultural identity.

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    Indigenous people have a long standing relationship in history with

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    the land.

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    Colonialism may be the most damaging and systematically marginalising aspect

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    of their history, but it is not the whole or

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    early story.

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    The two Maps Show The Locations of Indigenous Peoples and

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    Communities Across Canada.

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    Let's get into some examples of settler colonialism in action

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    in Canada Tara nucleus and the doctrine of discovery.

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    Around the 1600s, indigenous nations were generally welcoming.

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    When Europeans arrived on their territory, they traded from a

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    position of strength and prosperity.

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    Having developed cultural political and ecological systems that grew and

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    flourished. Over the course of Millennia, Europeans viewed indigenous lands

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    with amazement and envy, having degraded and destroyed most of

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    their natural resources back home to justify the appropriation and

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    exploitation of the riches of indigenous nations Land, european governments

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    developed the doctrine of discovery and the legal concept of

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    terran Julius.

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    These legal doctrine said that Turtle Island is an empty

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    land that belongs to no one.

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    According to this reasoning, indigenous nations and the ownership that

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    they exercised could be ignored because they don't have permanent

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    settlements, farms, Christianity, state governments or a real culture economy

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    or civilization.

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    Colonial governments granted themselves absolute title to the land by

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    virtue of discovery.

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    In the 1700s, there was the Royal Proclamation of 1763,

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    which the British Crown released to acknowledging Indian title, but

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    then they created a process by which this title can

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    be extinguished through treaties.

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    The proclamation of 1763 envision treaties going forward as a

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    way to settle land ownership.

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    It stated the right to acquire indigenous land and said

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    that it was reserved for the crown, which affirmed nation

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    to nation diplomacy but was mostly undertaken so that the

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    crown could acquire first nations land.

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    In the 1800s, indigenous nations continued to make treaties.

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    Some were willing and some were under pressure or under

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    outright coercion, but this was all done with colonial government

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    so that indigenous nations could safeguard their land and way

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    of life.

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    But colonial government sought treaties and transactions saw them as

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    transactions to acquire land, and indigenous nations saw them as

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    agreements to share the land to initiate mutual relationships as

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    well. The english version of the treaties often included language

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    where First Nations would recognize crown sovereignty and seed their

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    indigenous territory.

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    Such concepts were often difficult, if not impossible to express

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    in a First Nations language and culture, with indigenous nations

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    asserting their treaty rights and still trying to use their

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    territories and reserves in traditional ways, the Canadian government turned

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    to assimilation as a way of eliminating the indigenous claims

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    to land.

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    The indian act was enacted in 18 76 by the

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    parliament of Canada under the provisions of the Constitution Act,

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    which provides Canadians federal government exclusive authority to legislate.

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    In relation to in quotes, indians and lands reserved for

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    indians end, quote, The act defined who was indian without

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    any consultation.

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    It excluded many individuals that indigenous communities considered members.

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    The act also stated that indigenous women who were married

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    to settlers would lose their status as well as their

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    Children. Nations were broken up into smaller bands and existing

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    leaders were not recognized.

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    A Western electoral system was imposed on most bands, ignoring

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    traditional selection processes and excluding indigenous women.

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    The impact of disease was another tragedy from settler colonialism.

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    When the Europeans arrived, they brought smallpox and other diseases

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    that were previously unknown in north America, the indigenous population

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    had no immunity because unlike Europeans, they did not have

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    centuries of exposure to these diseases.

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    It's estimated that as many as 90-95 of the indigenous

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    population died from these introduced diseases.

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    The picture on the bottom left shows a medicine man

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    caring for an ill person.

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    On the bottom right, sorry, In the late 1800s to

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    early 1900s, residential schools and cultural repression were occurring at

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    unprecedented levels.

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    Since indigenous peoples would not voluntary assimilate themselves, the Canadian

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    government decided to force them indian affairs and its on

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    reserve agents exercise totalitarian control over the lives of indigenous

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    people, forcing them to adopt european norms.

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    Agents controlled band finances, direct band council meetings and cast

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    the deciding vote.

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    In the event of a tie without agents permission.

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    Individuals couldn't, for example, legally write a will sell crops,

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    slaughter livestock or leave the reserve among colonial policies.

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    Residential schooling has stood out as one of the most

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    damaging assimilation strategies on indigenous peoples.

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    The residential school system was intended to eradicate the language,

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    cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs of indigenous Children in order

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    to assimilate them into the Canadian society.

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    Indigenous Children were taken away from their families, homes and

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    cultures for schooling and settler culture, attendance was mandatory and

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    Children were punished for speaking their language or engaging in

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    spiritual and cultural practices, conditions were horrible and thousands died

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    from malnutrition, disease running away and suicide.

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    Thousands of students were physically and sexually abused and traumatized.

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    Survivors returned home years later to family that they barely

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    knew when you compound assimilation strategies, land loss and ecological

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    destruction. Most indigenous communities were destitute and had little means

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    to resist colonial imposition.

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    Bands were isolated by their fragmentation and the trauma they

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    suffered, and they were further restricted by reserve travel bans.

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    Up until the 19 sixties, the political interactions between indigenous

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    peoples and the Canadian government were based on a model

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    of assimilation, as mentioned.

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    Since then, government policy has slowly shifted to a goal

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    of self determination for indigenous peoples to be achieved through

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    modern day treaties and self government agreements.

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    In 1996 the final Royal Commission on aboriginal peoples was

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    released and an aboriginal healing fund was established by the

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    federal government in 1998.

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    Are Cap was mandated to investigate and proposed solutions to

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    the challenges affecting the relationship between indigenous peoples, the Canadian

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    government and Canadian society as a whole.

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    Many felt that this gesture did not address the intergenerational

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    trauma of residential schools and was solely a band aid

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    gesture. As a result, in 2000 and five, the Assembly

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    of First Nations settled the largest class action settlement in

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    Canadian history, and the Canadian government agreed to pay monetary

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    compensation and create the Truth and reconciliation commission for the

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    healing of survivors and families of residential schools.

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    Criticisms over Canada's reconciliation measures include the notion that it

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    seems indigenous people are being asked to forgive and forget

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    in this new period of reconciliation with no land back,

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    no justice and no peace.

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    The acknowledgement of truth is a critical step towards peace

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    as it ensures settlers do not ignore Canada's dark past

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    and present violence against indigenous people and promotes personal responsibility

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    for the harm done.

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    This is important.

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    Further efforts to pursue indigenous reconciliation included the United Nations

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    Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

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    This declaration was completed in 2008 and through 46 articles

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    set out a range of collective and individual rights that

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    constitute the minimum standards to protect the rights of indigenous

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    peoples, including resources, languages, economic development, cultures, spirituality, education, self

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    determination and laws.

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    In 2016 the government endorsed the declaration, and in 2020

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    the Canadian government introduced legislation that respects on drip What

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    potentially diminishes on drips previous 45 articles.

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    However, with respect to indigenous rights is Article 46, and

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    it states nothing in this declaration may be interpreted as

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    implying for any state people group or person any right

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    to engage in an activity or action which would dismember

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    or impair the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign

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    and independent states.

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    The addition of an ambiguous clause like this can completely

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    dismantle the power, reconciliation and rights that a declaration intends

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    to give to indigenous peoples.

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    As we can see, indigenous peoples, freedom, agency and self

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    determination are limited and regulated by the discourse of international

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    law. However, we do need time to see the real

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    benefit or positive change of implementing declarations, like on drip.

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    What we must continually ask ourselves as settlers is how

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    can reconciliation be possible when indigenous bodies and lands are

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    still being violated and oppressed?

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    This is especially true for L.

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    G. B.

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    T. Q.

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    And two spirited individual peoples.

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    Indigenous people, sorry, mentioned in class readings, is the notion

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    that Canada's laws and policies with respect to indigenous identities.

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    Lance and reconciliation is equivalent to assimilation and extermination specifically

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    toward indigenous women and Children.

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    For example, missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two

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    spirited individuals is a crisis.