Canada and the World Backgrounder articles from May 2002

Canada and the World Backgrounder archives from May 2002

Guardians of the land: there is a special relationship between those who live on the land that people raised in modern, urban society have lost. (Indigenous Peoples--Comment).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... To Indigenous people all over the world, the land is everything. It is the creator and sustainer of life; to some it is an object of worship. Among Indigenous societies there are almost none that have a concept of ownership of land; they...

Vanishing peoples: since the beginning of human existence there have been about 10,000 languages spoken. Today, there are still 6,000 languages in use, but 90% of them are in danger of disappearing altogether. Each lost language means that a culture somewhere has disappeared, and almost all of these vanishing peoples are Indigenous. (Indigenous Peoples--Status).
May 1, 2002... The United Nations has defined Indigenous peoples as: "... those people having an historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those...

Centuries of struggle. (Indigenou Peoples--South America).
May 1, 2002... Indigenous people have been in a state of turmoil throughout South America since the beginning of Spanish and Portuguese colonization, weakening unpopular governments and raising global public awareness of their struggles. In 1999, there were...

Same script, different location: Indigenous people in the South Pacific lost more than control of their land when Europeans started to explore the area; as with Native people everywhere, they lost themselves. (Indigenous People--South Pacific).(related article: Mineral Wrongs)(related article: The Ngadjonji Lands)(related article: Island in the Sun)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... In the 1830s, George Augustus Robinson saw himself as the "saviour" of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. His idea of "civilizing" them was to move them from their land, and to rename them. They were thus robbed of their colourful Native...

Becoming visible: Indigenous peoples believe that to prosper they have to regain control over their lands and resources and to do that they must first win widespread recognition that they are entitled to special rights. (Indigenous People--Self-Determination).
May 1, 2002... For centuries, Indigenous peoples have suffered at the hands of dominant European cultures. Many have lost their lands, their languages, their faiths, and their identities. More than a few Indigenous peoples have vanished altogether--being...

Change in progress: Nunavut means "our land" in Inuktitut, the language of Inuit. Canada's newest territory, where 85% of the people are Inuit, is one-fifth of the country's land area--equal to Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon combined. It is an example of self-government by Indigenous people, where traditional lore is meeting the modern world. (Indigenous People--Nunavut).
May 1, 2002... On a frosty northern night in April 1999, Nunavut was born. For the Native activists who had been pressing for an eastern Arctic territory since the 1960s and '70s, it was a dream come true. For the 27,000 people who call Nunavut home, it was a...

Local knowledge: Indigenous and other traditional peoples have long associations with nature and a deep understanding of it. (Indigenous Peoples--Sustainability).
May 1, 2002... You're in a strange town and can't find the arena. What do you do? Asking for directions from a local inhabitant would be the smartest move. Locals possess a wealth of useful information: which are the best places to eat, who has the widest...

Quote ... unquote.
May 1, 2002... "Our forefathers dreamed of one day regaining responsibility, ownership, and accountability for their lives. They dreamed of a leadership that mould incorporate Inuit traditional values into a modern style of government." Tagak Curley,...

Index to volume 67: September 2001-May 2002.
May 1, 2002... LISTINGS IN BOLD FACE CAPS INDICATE THIS IS THE SUBJECT OF AN ENTIRE PUBLICATION LISTINGS IN JUST CAPS MEANS THE TOPIC IS THE SUBJECT OF A MAJOR FEATURE Upper and lower case means the topic is covered in a minor feature or as part of...

The promise of change: when Matthew Coon Come was elected the new Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in July 2000, it was said to be the beginning of a new age for Canada's Native people. (Native People--A New Leader).(related article: Having A Say)(related article: A Voice to Be Heard)
May 1, 2002... An intelligent, articulate, and assertive chief is what many felt was needed to press for changes that would lead to a better deal for the country's Indigenous people. Matthew Coon Come fit the bill. In him, they found a leader who did not shy...

A plague of despair: Davis Inlet and Sheshatshiu are villages in Labrador, populated almost entirely by Innu. Until 1993, only a few hundred people had ever heard of them. That was when a videotape surfaced. It showed a group of Innu adolescents screaming that they wanted to die. They were strung out after sniffing gasoline. (Native People--The Innu Of Labrador).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... In 1999, a group in London, England called Survival International released a report. It said the Innu of Labrador are among "the most suicide-ridden people in the world." The rate of people taking their own lives is more than 13 times greater...

Showdown at Burnt Church: there were an estimated 10,000 to 35,000 Mi'kmaq living in eastern Canada when European explorers first made contact with them in the 15th century; by the 1840s, there were only 1,300 Mi'kmaq alive. (Native People--The Mi'kmaqs Of Atlantic Canada).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Donald Marshall is no stranger to injustice. In 1971, he was convicted of a murder he did not commit. After 11 years in prison he was released and a royal commission of inquiry led to sweeping changes in Nova Scotia's justice system. In 1993,...

Nation to nation. (Native People--The Cree Of Northern Quebec).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... "This agreement represents the type of cooperation and financial commitment that the Federal Government should make to First Nations across Canada." That's Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come speaking. He's talking about a...

Generations of betrayal: Mishkeegogamang, called "Mish" by those who live there, is a community that sums up all that is wrong with Canada's treatment of Native people. (Native People--The Ojibway Of Mishkeegogamang).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... By Treaty 9 of 1905, the Ojibway of northwestern Ontario were to receive $4.00 each, every year, forever. Each family of five was given 2.6 [km.sup.2] and a school was to be built. The Treaty was signed with an "X" by Chief Daniel Missabay. He...

The forgotten people: approximately 210,000 people in Canada identify themselves as Metis. (Native People--The Metis).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Aboriginal peoples were, without question, the first people to live in what is now called Canada. When Europeans arrived, the First Nations, for the most part, cooperated peacefully as allies and partners in the business of founding the...

"Helplessness and hopelessness." (Native People--The Stoney Cree Of Alberta).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... In an eight-week period in the spring of 1998, four young men committed suicide on Alberta's Stoney Reserve. Provincial Court Judge John Reilly looked into this cluster of tragedies and his September 1999 report makes for some grim reading. ...

First treaty. (Native People--The Nisga'a Of British Columbia).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... On 30 November 1998, an event of political, historical, and cultural significance occurred. Chief Joseph Gosnell led his Nisga'a people to the doors of the British Columbia legislature in Victoria. The Nisga'a delegation brought with them a...