The native ‘problem’

By Elijah Stauth

There is a tension that steeps in the Canadian consciousness. For thousands of years, before any European foot settled on what is now Canadian soil, civilization existed in a sustainable, deeply spiritual and culturally rich state. We know this. We also know that everywhere European colonizers set foot, hegemony lurked not far behind. This hegemony came to North America through the displacement of native people as Europeans moved west. It was seen again years later when the Canadian government’s solution to cultural diversity was the institution of the now notorious residential schools and it continues in the treatment of reservations and First Nations as subordinate to the needs of the bustling middle class. What began in previous centuries continues today in a horrible clash of “us versus them,” a terrible dichotomy that must be wrenched from the minds of Canadians before any hope at progress might be made.


We need not look far to find examples of competition between our economy and native peoples. Consider the common practice of settling land claims between Big Oil here in Alberta and indigenous peoples. It might even be that after your stint at university, you hope to make your career out of conscientiously offering sums of money so that your company might appropriate the land that has been used for thousands of years by a community of people. Everything does have its price under the great system of capitalism, which was so lovingly bestowed upon the vast Canadian landscape.


There is also the constant struggle between native groups, often spearheaded these days by the current National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, and the Canadian government. Consider the recent victory of the Assembly of First Nations when they secured the official apology for years of abuse in residential schools. Undoubtedly all sleep sounder in this post-apology world. Certainly, the official recognition of wrongs that was offered by the current government was noteworthy, but it can leave a sour taste in one’s mouth as well. While some native groups cry “too little too late” (and rightfully so), others wonder whether a monetary sum is little more than insult– could any sum of money be sufficient to make up for a youth of intellectual rape?


But the “us,” considerate and concerned Canadians that we are, cry for equality, for an end to rampant poverty and for the cessation of this moral headache that problems such as these perpetuate. In our classrooms and beyond we hope for solutions and search for answers. One frustrating problem is that Eurocentric solutions and assimilation are what caused this situation in the first place. In other words, pouring money on our problems is not a solution. The problem is one that has its roots in our arrival and we have an obligation to solve it. But we are incapable of offering solutions void of our prejudices and stereotypes, which caused this mess in the first place.


Even the recent push to encourage the native populations to head to the polls (currently such populations in Canada appear to be the most apathetic at 25 per cent turnout) could be seen as further assimilation. But at the same time the increase of First Nations who ran in Tuesday’s federal election is seen as laudable. We should encourage an increased amount of involvement and an articulated desire to improve one’s situation. These day’s our post-modern mindset is willing to let it all pass as good.


The problem is the pervasive recognition of the struggle of First Nations as one that pits “us”– put whoever you want in that category at the time of your utterance– and “them,” being First Nations, against each other. I don’t suggest that we do not recognize our differences– they are as important to our identity as our similarities are to our sense of community. Instead, for progress to be made, we must, as a collection of humans, accept that no one alive today is the perpetrator of the rather unsavoury situation we find ourselves in, throw our feelings of entitlement out the window and start with the goal of reducing harm felt by all people.