1. Glen Tong

2. Who are Canada’s indigenous people? -Referred to also as First nations, aboriginals and in the north of Canada, Inuit's. -In U.S.A referred to as Native Americans as well -Colloquially: Indian, Red man, Red Indian. -They were the people present in Canada before the arrival of Europeans.

3. What are some of the problems? A report done by stats Canada for year 2000 showed that, compared to the rest of Canada -Life expectancy of native males was 7.4 years less and for females 5.2 years less. -Birth rate is double and one in five involve teenage mother -Circulatory disease and injury account for half of mortality -Natives 1 – 44 injury and poising common cause of death, above 45 circulatory disease -Elevated rates of -Pertussis 2x -Rubella 7x -Tuberculosis 6x -Shigellosis 2x -Chlamydia 7x -Heart Disease 1.5x -Type 2 diabetes 3-5 x -Alcoholism

4. When did it all start? -Arrival of Europeans caused many health issues with First nations people -Introduction of alcohol (firewater) -Introduction of common European diseases -Forcing of aboriginals onto reserves -Some of these actions in the past have had lasting effects that are present today.

5. Alcohol Effects, then and now. Historically -The effect of alcohol historically caused break down of social structure -As young native men were the ones most likely to partake. This was a problem as they were the main providers for the community. -Also caused social breakdown through alcohol induced violence Effect Now -Alcoholism has been behaviorally carried down through many generations, exacerbated by the lack of education -FAS (Fetal alcohol syndrome) in aboriginal communities is much higher than the national average. -Alcohol related deaths 187 per year -4x the normal rate -2/3 male

7. What they caught from the Europeans -Isolation of first nations people made them very susceptible to common European diseases -Diseases such as Chicken pox, measles and small pox were deadly to First nations -Caused epidemics that destroyed 1/3 to 3/4 of some villages -Caused social break down as well as the continued health effects.

8. Result of Displacing the first nations -By moving First Nations people on to fixed reserves much of their culture was taken away. -Cause continual alcoholism. -Drug abuse. -Lack of education towards health issues -Nutrition – circulatory problems -Contraception -Venereal disease -Teen pregnancy.

9. What has been done? -Programs and support groups for alcoholism -Incentives for higher education (no fees, allowance) -Specialized health promotion and services -Tax exemptions -Government funding

10. Why is this still a problem? -Much of the substance and alcohol abuse as well injury caused by lost sense of culture. - Many stay on reserves to preserve what culture is left -Problems on reserves -Educational attainment rates lower on all indicators, secondary, postsecondary and university degrees -55.8% of homes are considered adequate for living -15.7% require major repairs -5.3% not-inhabitable -Behaviorally learned alcohol abuse -Violence -Difficult to provide social programs for isolated reserves -Continued lower socio-economic status

11. References http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/famil/preg-gros/intro-eng.php http://www.injuryresearch.bc.ca/documents/FNIHB%20Alcohol%20Factshee t.pdf http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/index-eng.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html http://www.naho.ca/english/index.php http://www.gov.mb.ca/ana/apm2000/1/n.html Photos from google search