The Imposition and Resistance of Liberalism

To what extent, and for whom, has the imposition of liberalism been

successful?

• Early relationships during the first contact between First Nations and European settlers in Canada were shaped by the meeting of different worldviews.

• Most European settlers brought with them worldviews that had been shaped by their newly acquired liberal values and beliefs

individualism through the ideas of reason change = progress acquisition of land, resources, and capital

• Many First Nations believed in and still believe in worldviews based on collectivism and the Laws of Relationships among all living things, seeing people as interconnected with both the community and the natural world.

• Europeans who believed strongly in the values of liberalism, faced challenges in their attempts to influence and, in many cases, to impose the integration of these values into First Nations ways of being.

Conflicting Ideologies on Land

• To Europeans in the 1700s, treaties with First Nations were intended to keep the peace and to gain allies against the other colonial powers fighting for control of North America.

Royal Proclamation of 1763

• was a very significant development• it defined Canada’s relationship with Aboriginal

people and sets out the basis, in law, for Aboriginal land ownership and other rights. Aboriginal peoples lived on traditional lands interest in those lands belonged to groups and nations, not

individuals only the Crown (the British monarch) could buy or accept

Aboriginal lands the Crown generally required an agreement to obtain lands

from Aboriginal people Aboriginal people were under the Crown’s protection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waDQwEeunkU&feature=related

• By 1812, European settlers outnumbered First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples in eastern Canada.

• Colonial governments decided to negotiate treaties across Canada, which took over First Nations’ land in exchange for promises of compensation in the form of annual payments and other benefits.

• The imposition of liberalism on Canada’s First Nations peoples is reflected in the difference of understandings of the treaties between the government of Canada and First Nations.

• The imposition of the government of Canada’s liberal understandings of treaties was compounded by some colonial leaders who did not honor the treaties.

• They believed that their European liberal ideology was superior to that of the First Nations. They did not consider First Nations peoples to be sovereign nations, so they did not consider the treaties to be valid nation-to-nation agreements. In their view, the treaties did not need to be honored.

Assimilation

• Many of the values of liberalism conflicted with many of the holistic laws governing First Nations, Métis, and Inuit societies. Resistance by Aboriginal peoples to these values was not accepted by governments in Canada.

• This led to the policies of assimilation a plan to impose obedience to these European,

liberal goals on all Aboriginal peoples.

• Under these policies, Aboriginal peoples were supposed to give up their distinct cultures and traditions, such as the potlatch and the Sun Dance, and take on the Western culture and traditions.

• Liberal thought promoted the ideas of individual interests, rights, and freedoms. But in Canada, the collective identity and practices of Aboriginal peoples were negatively affected by government policies of assimilation. As a result, Aboriginal peoples did not receive full recognition of their rights or freedoms.

INDIAN ACT of 1876• The most significant attempts

to impose liberal ideology on Aboriginal peoples are included in the Indian Act of 1876.

• With the development of the Indian Act in 1876, First Nations political institutions and forms of government were ignored.

• Thus, the Indian Act was used by government officials to control the behavior of First Nations peoples and to remove their cultural traditions and customs.

Indian Act of 1876Some of the policies set out in the Indian Act were…

– Defined who was considered an Indian– Defined the conditions for sale of Aboriginal

lands– Aboriginals who lived on reserves were force to

carry identity cards when they left the reserve (like a passport)

– Aboriginals were prohibited from consuming or possessing alcohol

ENFRANCHISEMENT• First Nations people were “encouraged” to “leave” their Indian status, identity, and traditional cultures to become full citizens of Canada and gain the rights and freedoms that any citizen enjoyed……voluntary enfranchisement.

• First Nations people were viewed as children and were to be “taken care of” by the government. …..paternalism

Compulsory Enfranchisement

• The Indian Act also included many discriminatory amendments that forced enfranchisement on FNMI peoples, such as…..

Any Aboriginal who received a university degree or became a doctor, lawyer, or religious minister

Aboriginal women who married a non-Aboriginal man

Any aboriginal that choose to vote

Any Aboriginal that joined the Armed Forces

• The government felt it had to forcefully bring these children into the Western values and ways of the Europeans and could do so through education. These policies were carried out through the residential school system.

• By 1920, the government’s goal was to assimilate the FNMI children into Western culture and traditions and to remove their Aboriginal culture, language, and traditions.

RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_V4d7sXoqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ryC74bbrEE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQwO2pDjwlA&feature=fvw

WHITE PAPERIn the 1968 federal election, Pierre Trudeau campaigned on a platform of creating a just society for all Canadians. His government believed that polices should encourage values of liberalism where the rights of the individual were more important than the rights of the collective

Trudeau’s gov’t issued the White Paper that proposed to get rid of anything that kept FNMI peoples distinct from the rest of the people of Canada

1. Abolish all treaties and2. The Dept. of Indian Affairs

By ending the unique status, FNMI peoples would be able to “catch-up” with the rest of society

RED PAPERThe White Paper received a hostile reception from First Nations leaders who saw it as another attempt to assimilate FNMI peoples

In response to the White Paper, FNMI leaders published the “Citizen Plus” or “Red Paper”, which outlined their objections to the government’s proposed changes

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples

Formed in 1991, the commission spent 5 years examining “government policy” toward FNMI peoples

The conclusions….• The policy of government (150 yrs.) was wrong• Aboriginal peoples have the right to decide for

themselves what they need (self-government)• FNMI peoples and the gov’t of Canada must work

together to rebuild aboriginal communities• Initiatives to address and improve FNMI peoples

social, education, health and housing needs

Since the publication of the report in 1996, FNMI leaders have been very critical of what they see as a lack of government action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLM7DEKqYZ4

Attawapiskat….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCXRLQrKbkw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpLAUn-C_-Y

• is an isolated First Nation located in Kenora District in northern Ontario, Canada, at the mouth of the Attawapiskat River at James Bay.

• In 2011, the community came under national and international scrutiny due to the appalling conditions within the town

IDLE NO MORE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksESR2BVlqY

"Idle No More" is a worldwide indigenous movement started by the First Nation Tribes of Canada as a way to help protect the Constitutional Treaty Rights of the Indian Act.

These rights are being threatened by the proposed C-45 Bill.

The Bill will significantly decrease tribal leader and community control over decisions related to the land and water use on Indian Reserve lands

The tribal peoples of Canada are concerned that they will have little to no control over how corporations make use of untapped natural resources, specifically on indigenous territory protected under Sovereignty treaties

http://www.idlenomore.ca/vision