1. CANADA’S ABORIGINAL PEOPLES

2. Who are Aboriginal Peoples?  Aboriginal Peoples: descendants of Canada’s original inhabitants  Many Canadians have an Aboriginal heritage and some do not even know it  Just under 1 million Aboriginal people in Canada

3. Traditional view This is what many of us think of when we think of Aboriginal Peoples.

4. Reality... Just like all other Canadians, Aboriginal Peoples have a range of lifestyles. While some Aboriginal Peoples lead a very traditional lifestyle, many lead lives just like you and I.

5. Indians (First Nations) Describes all the Aboriginal Peoples in Canada who are not Inuit or Métis  Status vs. Non-Status  Can be grouped into larger groups based on language--Ojibwa, Cree, Mi’kmaq, etc

6. Groups of Aboriginal Peoples  The Canadian constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal Peoples:  Indians (First Nations)  Métis  Inuit

7. Inuit  Aboriginal Peoples who live in the Canadian North  Nunavut, NWT, Northern Quebec and Labrador  Different sub-groups within the Inuit group

8. Metis  Individuals who have both Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal ancestry  Reside in Ontario and provinces to the west  26% of the total First Nations population in Canada

9. Other groups…  Cree  Innu  Iroquois  Diné  Ojibwe  Wendat  Haida  Mi’kmaq  Dakota  Algonquin

10. Where do Aboriginal people live?  Everywhere!!!  In cities  In rural or remote areas  On reserves  What is a reserve?  Area of land set aside for the use of a group of Aboriginal peoples—often a First Nation

11. A Brief History...  When Europeans began to settle in Canada, Aboriginal peoples became a minority  Hoping to establish and guard their rights, Aboriginal Peoples signed treaties (agreements) with the Europeans  Right to maintain economic base  Right to self-governance  Receive fair payment for land that was taken  The majority of treaties failed miserably and were unfair

12. So what happened next?  Aboriginal people were forced to give up their land claims through the Indian Act, 1876  Forced to move to reserves—temporary at first, but became permanent

13. Residential Schools--Reality  Aboriginal children were removed from their homes and sent here to “take the Indian out of the child”  130 schools, 150 000 students  Not allowed to practice native culture  Experienced abuse  When they returned home students often felt they did not belong  $1.9 billion in compensation now offered

14. Aboriginal Claims Today…  When Aboriginal Peoples feel as though their rights are not being addressed, they will file a CLAIM

15. Self-government: The right to give input on issues that are important to your people. To regulate your own laws.

16. Nunavut  The largest land claims settlement in Canadian history  On April 1, 1999, the map of Canada changed.  The former Northwest Territories (NWT) was divided in two, creating a new territory called Nunavut.  In the Inuit language, Inuktitut, the word "Nunavut" means "our land.”  The Nunavut population is 85% Inuit

17.  The settlement gives Inuit control of more than 350,000 square kilometres of land  It also gives Inuit more than $1 billion over 14 years  It also gives them guaranteed participation in making decisions for managing lands and resources.

18.  The Nunavut government faces many challenges, including creating job opportunities for a large workforce of young people  About 56% of Nunavut's population is under the age of 25.  Other challenges: how to increase residents' income and education levels, how to cope with a cost of living that is two to three times higher than the rest of Canadians

19. High living costs…