NOT A BIT SURPRISED
note - this essay was written in response to an article in the "globe and mail" entitled "Harper sails into storm with natives". (feb 27, 2004)
As far back into the history that I have known, Aboriginal issues seem to be consistently on the back burner. What is it about these issues that seem to be too far-gone or taboo to address? As a descendant of aboriginal lineage, the issues facing first nations communities across the country are all too familiar to my family and myself. I feel that the native community has been over-looked and ignored for too long and in this essay I will bring an example of such ignorance to the immediate attention of those who read it.
I have selected this topic because aboriginal issues are of great importance to
me. I myself have been affected in many ways by the government's unwill-
ingness to pay mind to the history and culture of the first nations communities.
Government spending
English: Monument to aboriginal war veterans in Co...
Government HouseIt is amazing how one gesture intended to pay homage to a people, could be turned into something so greatly offensive. These are the types of interaction
that seem to be getting more and more attention from the media. Relationships
between the native and non-native communities are growing increasingly frigid everyday.
I think this article speaks extremely poorly of the government, and rightly so.
it is appalling that someone in the government, a representative of this country
could have been total oblivious to the difference between East Indian peoples
and Canada's own first nations people; mistake or not. What does this action
say to the aboriginal people about the way the government of their country
thinks about them and how much attention the government is paying to their issues? When is it time to...