FREE ESSAY ON WHO'S HOME AND NATIVE LAND?

WHO'S HOME AND NATIVE LAND?

Over the past decades, Aboriginal people (the original people or indigenous occupants of a
particular country), have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live
under racism resulting in gender/ class oppression. The history of Colonialism, and
Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aborignal
people are treated and viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles,
injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more
than three centuries are still grim realities today. The failures of Canada's racist
policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels of unemployment and
poor education. Presently, the state shapes the construction and social reproduction of
racism, racialization, and sexism as experienced by Aboriginal people in Canada.
Colonialism is a process by which European power takes control over and dominates and
exploits an indigenous group by appropriating their land and resources, extracting their
wealth, and using them as cheap labor. In Canada, the British evaded the Aboriginals
(indigenous people), with their vision of creating a capitalist society. The vision was
to have Aboriginal people produce commodities off their own land in return for goods.
-Thus began slavery in Canada. Sometimes, merchant capital often had to use force to
transform pre- capitalist societies in order to introduce commodity relations and
production.
" It was important to merchant capital that the existing pre-capitalist relations of
production be reinforced and perpetuated in order to guarantee the required production of
goods. Traditional relations of production continued, not in their independent form, but
as a new form of relations of production incorporated into capitalist relations of
exploitation." (Bourgeault, 43). 
The British were interested in the production and circulation of fur as a commodity in
the world market and were in need of labor. The Indians were the only available source of
skilled labor, so they became part of the production process.
From Colonialization, Capitalism came which resulted in the disintegration of communal
and egalitarian societies that the indigenous created, which in turn, became the
exploited labor force in the commodity production. European ethnocentrism and racism also
affected patterns of Aboriginal socialization. Since most whites viewed all aspects of
indigenous life to be culturally and morally inferior, missionaries made efforts to
eliminate the egalitarianism customs of Aboriginal societies and to promote the norms of
the dominant European patriarchal society. The perceived differences between men and
women led to cultural genocide. 
Capitalism is an economic and social system that focuses on pursuit of profit. It has
also involved the presence of exchange of goods for money or other goods, and the
organization of production and distribution of goods . One example of this is the
Hudson's Bay fur trade. " The fur trade of the Hudson's Bay basin initially transformed
the indigenous communal societies in order to exploit Indian labor in the commodity
production of fur" (Bourgeault, 41). Capitalism uses market relations (including class
relationship) "…Capitalism centered in the Red River Colony, class and race
divisions established intensified. The conflict between the indigenous bourgeoisie
aligned with other Indian and Metis producing classes and the British merchant class over
the accumulation of capital .. (Bourgeault, 42)". Capitalism could be seen as the dawn of
active racism and segregation. When British colonies invaded in Native people of Canada,
the classification of humans into race types was begun causing the exploitation of the
indigenous. The Aboriginal people were eventually turned into slaves so that the colonies
would gain more profit. They were also segregated and put into their own communities to
learn their new patriarchal life. 
Racialization is the idea that race relations do not exist, but focuses on why
certain relations between groups become defined by reference to race. Racialization
refers to patterns of interaction that reflect perceptions of biological differences to
account for differences and similarities. It also entails the idea that certain ideas or
activities become linked with race. Aboriginals are racialized by Canadians, in that
they
are invested with negative biologically determined attributes that are seen as creating
problems, posing a threat to society, and providing unwanted competition for scarce
resources. In the seventeenth century, fur and land would be considered to be a threat to
wanted scarcities by the British and their colonies. An example of a more current
involvement of the Canadian government over land would be the dispute of the Meech Lake
Accord in Oka, Quebec. Presently, Canadians are fighting for sacred land that belongs to
the Aboriginals.
Racism can be traced to the mercantilist period of European capitalist development, as
well as gender oppression. Both origins can be traced to pre-capitalist societies and the
rise of class divisions. Proceeding the exploitation of relations of class and
oppression, racial oppression began. " Racism is an ideology and as such it operates on
the level of the extra-economic. The nationalist ideology as it became tightly meshed
with the social and economic interests of rising capitalism" (Bourgeault, 45). As the
communal society slowly faded by British domination, women began to feel the gender
oppression. A lack of egalitarianism made many women severely disadvantaged. Negative
images make it difficult to recognize the positive contributions of Aboriginal women to
community life and social change. Those who lost status because of marriage to
non-Aboriginal males have been penalized through the deprivation of Indian rights. As a
result, women lost the decision-making powers they had over their labor and the use if
the goods they produced. Today, Aboriginal women are the most victimized group in
Canadian society. These women had to confront all forms of discrimination (gender, race,
and class). Law established by sexist white men, determined the new patriarchal identity
of native women. Economically, native women are more vulnerable than non- Aboriginal
women are, and aboriginal men in relation to levels of income and employment
opportunities. 
The religious organizations entering Canada had two primary goals: One was to
Christianize the Natives and the other, to educate the Natives. "Protestantism, with its
emphasis on work as well as faith, was much more destructive of Native culture. Since the
Protestant missionaries focal point was Western Canada, there were repeated attempts to
agriculturalize the Natives and force them to settle into established Native communities"
(Frideres, 88). By doing this, the Natives were forced to assimilate into European
culture, which caused oppression and the disintegration of their culture and society.
The state has a great impact on society and norms because it influences public opinion
through policy and legislative procedures. Membership is defined on the basis of
birthright and descent from a common ancestry. Through the Canadian Charter of rights,
the state is supposed to represent, support, and protect communities that suffer from
racial discrimination by giving them access and equity. Although the state is said to
protect everyone equally, and not to discriminate on the basis of race, equal rights
should mean equal opportunity. It also defines ideologies of social constructs, which can
be used as a means to cause intentional racialzed and class. The state is a powerful tool
used in the Canadian government. It can be utilized to oppress others (such as Aboriginal
people), by carrying institutional and systematic racism throughout the Canadian society.
This would explain the unequal balance of resources and opportunity that Native Canadians
have. Native people occupy a low socio-economic position in Canadian society: "…the
average income of Natives is less than one-fourth the average income of
non-Natives…Estimates of unemployment rates for Native people job run between 35-77
percent" (Friederes, 80). One major cause of poverty is lack of education, which is due
to the fact that most educated Natives do not find a well paying job after graduation
thus, starting a learned helplessness among the community. Aboriginal people living in
Canada have a vastly different worldview from the typical Canadians surrounding them.
Given the cultural genocide that took place by the British colonies, Canadians are
unlikely to increase their understanding of Aboriginal culture. The problem is that
non-Native people too often control Aboriginal identity and the state reinforce their
cultural oppression by allowing society to discriminate. 
For the past three centuries, Aboriginal people have been oppressed by the Canadian
society and continue to live under racism resulting in oppression. As discussed above,
the histories of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the
construction and impact of how Native people are treated in modern Canadian society. As a
result of the British invasion of Canada, the colonies that forced in the Aboriginal
people into assimilation gave much grief that is reflected in their lives today.
Presently, the state continues to shape the construction and social reproduction of
racism, Racialization, and sexism as experienced by Aboriginal people in Canada through
institutional and systematic racism. Today the failures of Canada's racist policies
toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels poor education, unemployment,
and culture oppression. Which poses the question: Canada: Whose home and native land?