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         ___|:  |___|:  \ ___|:  \           DizDate: 12/95
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  «¬¬¬¬¬|       |   |:   |    |:  |¬¬¬¬¬«    Subject/Topic is on:
   «¬¬¬¬|   |:  |   |:   |        |¬¬¬¬«     [Rising Anger by native people]
    ----\___|:  |\__     |\__     |----      [about land claims and equal  ]
     úúúúúúú\___|cd!|___/'úúú|___/'úúú       [rights.                      ]
      `,     a       c       e      ,`       [                             ]
        `, e   s   s   a   y   s  ,`         [                             ]

 Grade Level: [ ]Grade School           Type of Work: [x]Essay/Report/Term
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ANGER & RENEWAL IN INDIAN COUNTRY

    Now I believe the rising anger and determination by native peoples
towards land claims and equal rights has created a situation which must be
addressed immediately.

    Man has come a long way in time, as he has learned to master the powers
of fire, and to hunt and fish for food. All of this was done by a
collection of knowledge.  With these thought patterns, he reached a way of
life which was suitable and which created a sense of balance throughout the
world's complex ecosystem.  But one group of people wanted more.  They
progressed and educated their minds through time.  To some it may be known
as plain greed and to others known as common day evolution.  To this day
the answer remains in the hands of the philosophers.  The European
continent hosted the group of human beings that thrived for ultimate
knowledge and a perfect civilization.  The famous quote Trial and Error was
appropriate for the European's escalating achievements.  Some were fatal
and some were rewarding, but they were all eventually accomplished in the
great European continent.  They then set out to other continents to broaden
their horizons and reach total knowledge and enlightenment.

    The 16th century was the setting for the early days of the arriving
Europeans to the North American continent. Countries such as England,
Portugal, France and Spain entered the continent and set up colonies which
were widely spread out over the land.  The natives of the area had formerly
agreed upon their occupation of the space, and so welcomed the newly
arrived settlers.  An agreement was made in the two-row wampum treaty which
was signed between the natives and the settlers from Europe in 1664.  The
agreement would allow Europeans to stay among the native people and use a
certain amount of their land, while in their own areas they would continue
to exercise their own laws and maintain their own systems of government.
The agreements allowed both sides of the fence to be happy and gain from
one another.  Soon the Europeans took advantage of the friendliness that
the natives were offering to them.  A series of lands were taken without
consent, as natives were being plundered through trade agreements.  The
rising anger of the natives resulted to the royal proclamation of 1763,
whereby King George the third issued a treaty process.  This new treaty
stated that all colonized land which was untreatied land, would be returned
immediately to the native people of Canada.  Today, there are still many
cases of untreatied land, such as the Yukon, parts of the North West
Territories, and seventy to eighty percent of British Columbia was to
remain untreated or claimed by the crown.

    As the years progressed, more and more land was being clutched by the
foreigners and all treaties were neglected. The royal proclamation of 1763
which allowed natives to have some sort of status, was shoved under the
carpet, and the natives were tucked away in a small designated corner of
Canada's large bountiful country.  The rising anger and determination by
the natives was beginning to rise.

    The front pages of the nations newspapers have never been the same
since June 1987, when the native people of Canada decided to confront the
Canadian government with direct action all across the country.  Native
bands have embarked in a process of blockading roads, setting up picket
lines and demonstrating on government properties.  The action by the angry
natives is an attempt to publicize their thoughts to the government.  Their
has been many kinds of actions engaged in by the natives in all kinds of
different shapes and sizes.  Some points are outlined as follows:

"1.-The Haida of British Columbia stood in front of large logging machines,
that were on their way to clear out their ancient forests.

2.-The Lubicon of Northern Alberta and the Teme-Augama Anishnabai of
Northern Ontario both were involved in the blocking of roads into their
ancient lands.

3.-The Mohawks of Akwasasne continue to struggle for the right to cross the
international border of Canada and the united States freely, as they used
to when no boundaries were imposed upon them.

4.-The Mi'kmaq and Malaseet of Nova Scotia are involved in a dispute with
the provincial government, which are trying to restrict ancient hunting and
fishing rights and that has recently been confirmed by the Supreme court of
Canada.

5.-The Innu of Labrador invade a NATO airbase in protest against low level
flights by jet fighters that threaten the animal population on which they
depend on as a source of food."(1.)

    Many of these struggles have shaken Canadians.  In fact thousands of
Canadians, especially those in the environmental and human rights groups,
churches and some unions, "have struggled with the natives to moderate the
power of industrial revolutions as it smashes into the Hinterland."(2.)

    The natives of Canada have for certain, a land claim problem, but they
also have a huge society disorder.  The living conditions on reserves is a
hideous almost nauseating disgrace, which the government must attend to
immediately. there is high unemployment rates on reserves, which in turn
results in poor living standards, and thus the natives become restless,
turning to alcohol and drug abuse.  There must be a political will, to put
all those long fancy words into practice.  But, the Canadian government has
not completely ignored their situation.  Efforts have been put forth to
help the natives, such as a saw mill that was constructed within Northern
Alberta for the natives to make use of, and hopefully reduce the
unemployment in the people among that particular region.  After five years
of function there was still no change in the unemployment level.  The plain
and simple reason for that is that one cannot take an already drunken
Indian and expect him to work.  The reason for that failure was that the
government only attacked a symptom of the problem.  The bigger the problem
the longer it's going to take to solve it.  The natives have been revolting
for many years, in order to obtain only one goal, which is self government
within Canada.  They don't want the whole country, but a small section in
which they can govern themselves, where they can have their own courts and
laws. Before the arrival of the European's, the natives had a very highly
developed society, with a perfect system of government.  Now, many
centuries later, they see that their common future has been torn to shreds.
       
    If the self government proposal was put into effect, a natural resource
would be needed for it's survival, and at the present time the reservations
do not hold great possibilities.  A better location in the reservations
could quite possibly open a few new doors to the suffering natives.  The
current government has constituted the suggestion before, but no actions
were ever taken.  In conclusion, it is clearly evident that if the natives
were ever given more responsibility, which includes a greater authority in
the decision making process of Canada, it would most definitely allow them
to plan a new and powerful role in Canadian society.
