"...you don't think I know who the immigrants are?"

The history of the Indigenous and the immigrants is a long and complicated one, considering the first immigrants came hundreds of years ago and that ultimately resulted in… the founding of Canada. So you, being where you are, on that specific plot of land, can thank the arrival of people immigrating to Canada for being where you are today! Still, let’s look to see what can be said on the topic of “the original immigrants” from the perspective of Turtle Island’s first people group.

In an article looking at the effects of colonization, the writer looks discusses the outlawing of Aboriginal culture by the newly established government in the past and that presently suicide is the number one killer in youth and Inuit have the highest rate of suicide in the world (Doyle, 2011, 22 – 23); very much connected to my previous two entries. As we learned in class, the occurrence of colonization had a disturbing effect on the Indigenous population that has traces still seen today. With the rapid influx of a new way of life, the old way of life was systematically shut down and an attempt was made at its destruction; the immigrant did not agree with the traditional way of life on Turtle Island.  

Still after considering all this, another writer says that “Aboriginal people are engaged in revitalization supported by Canadians” (Frideres, 2008, 330) in an article discussing the loss and regaining of the Aboriginal identity. What I like about this is that yes, in 2011, Canadians (the descendents of immigrants) are accepting and supportive of Indigenous people attempting to find their place once more in Canada. One the macro level, programs like the Inner City Social Work program and television stations like APTN are doing what they can to train the Indigenous and elevate their status.

So, I took this entry in a different direction then from what Silvia intended, so hopefully I don’t lose too many marks, but I really wanted to highlight the idea of immigrants and how the majority of Canadians descent from the the original ones. Considering this, the treatment of new ones can maybe be viewed in a new light. I think it’s important to consider the arrival of new Canadians who immigrate here and the affect them being here now has on them. As new Canadians arrive and try to maintain their own culture while adopting another, as original Canadians try to reclaim their culture while trying to compromise with another, and as the of us are figuring out what it means to be Canadian in our ever expanding culture, I think that on the micro level there is a lot way can do to include those founds in the margins. And maybe, who knows, learn what it means to be Canadian.

Kel

Doyle, K. (2011). Modes of colonisation and patterns of contemporary mental health: Towards an understanding of canadian aboriginal, australian aboriginal and maori peoples. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal , 35(1), 20-23. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy1.lib.umanitoba.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=49874c4d-6825-41ef-adb1-117e720bc784@sessionmgr15&vid=2&hid=14

Frideres, J. (2008). Aboriginal identity in the canadian context. The Canadian Journal of Native STudies, 2(2), 313-342. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.lib.umanitoba.ca/pqdlink?vinst=PROD&fmt=6&startpage=-1&clientid=12305&vname=PQD&RQT=309&did=1872186461&scaling=FULL&ts=1321770604&vtype=PQD&rqt=309&TS=1321770617&clientId=12305