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First Nations reserve in Manitoba - Not somewhere I would want to live (CTV News)

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"Move where? Thunder Bay where they don't like us, where kids end up in rivers? It's safer here."

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"Move where? Thunder Bay where they don't like us, where kids end up in rivers? It's safer here."

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Neal Ostamus, 26, when asked why he doesn't just move off the reserve. Source: www.cbc.ca

This to me is an example of the hopelessness native people feel, and how disconnected they feel from communities off reservations.

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This chart shows how drastically larger suicide rates are for Aboriginal people in Canada

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This chart shows how drastically larger suicide rates are for Aboriginal people in Canada

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This is a disgustingly high number, and a very uneven statistic
Source: CTV News

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'Why not move?' 3 First Nations people explain why they're at home on reserve (The CBC) 

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'Why not move?' 3 First Nations people explain why they're at home on reserve (The CBC) 

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What: The living conditions on native reserves in Canada are really bad. The houses are overcrowded, with up to five families in a home meant for one, and the water coming from the taps has been unsafe for more than 20 years. Still, the former Prime-minister of Canada Jean Chretien suggested that the families on the reserve should “just move”. On the Neskantaga First Nation Reserve in northern Ontario, people have varying reasons why they do not leave the reserve in search for better living conditions. For some, it is their deep connection to the land. Younger generations feel that they do not belong in the city, and get “dirty looks” from people off the reserve. One young man says it’s because it is safer when they are surrounded by people who can understand being native in Canada. In places like Thunder Bay, bodies of first-nations teenagers show up in rivers, and this is (rightfully) a concern of first-nations people seeking to leave the reserve for better living conditions.

So What: This sheds light on how the situation of First Nations people in Canada is so harsh, that it makes it extremely difficult or impossible to break the cycle of poverty that these people are living in. Although the reserves are meant to keep them safe, it also isolates them from the national and global community. For teenagers, it is important to be able to take safe risks and discover experiences outside of their comfort zones. The inability to do this, and a lack of security is part of the reason why so many native teenagers have mental health issues.

Now What: The Canadian Government has been showing an effort in terms of truth and reconciliation in the past decade, but struggles to heal the long-term issues that the historical mistreatment of Native people that they have inflicted. Reserves can be isolating, but for many native Canadians, they are the safest option. Now, as canadians we need to push measures to help Native people have a better quality of life.

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The way that the family of the “landlady” treats this boy that they let stay in their home reminds me of the first chapter of the Harry Potter series. They let this boy be a part of their family (technically) but treat him like he is an outsider and a second-class citizen.

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Google Maps

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"We have to go beyond knowing about our past. We have to promote it, our philosophy, to create an appreciation for Indian people. Doing this will create an appreciation for what we have."

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"We have to go beyond knowing about our past. We have to promote it, our philosophy, to create an appreciation for Indian people. Doing this will create an appreciation for what we have."

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- Wes Fineday, Author The Hockey Game

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By Curtis “Shingoose” Jonnie

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This is the story of a boy who is in his first year of high school. It is his retelling of one afternoon when he was left alone in Moose Jaw (the town) while the family he lived with was out for the day for a family outing. This boy has a family who lives on a reservation, but he lives with this other white family so he can be closer to a “good christian school”. The mother of the family is a woman the boy refers to as his “landlady” and talks about how the family he lives with does not trust him to even go inside the house while they are away, let alone go with them. While the boy is sitting outside the house, he grows very hungry, as he is not allowed to go inside. He thinks about eating a carrot from the garden, but concludes that the landlady will notice. The neighbour, a hockey player for the Moose Jaw Canucks sees the boy and notices he is hungry. He then invites him over and the boy eats steak and ice cream with the family, who is very nice to him. They also give him two tickets to the men's hockey game. The boy does not attend, but he “hopes they won”.

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It says…

Gerald Auger is a filmmaker and a member of the Cree tribe. Recently, his father had died, and according to his wishes, he was buried in a cemetery in an anglican church in Wabasca Alberta. He wanted to conduct a traditional Cree ceremony to send his father to the spirit world, but the local priest forbade him to bring a drum and smudge on church property, claiming it was against anglican church policy.

I say…

I think that this is an example of how residential schools have had an effect on the self-identity of indigenous people. His father wanted to be buried in a catholic setting, where his son, Mr. Auger, was much more in touch with Cree traditions than his parents. Even during his interview with his mother, she confessed that he would know a lot more about the past of their people than she does, because she spend the majority of her childhood in a residential school.

And So…

Because of the past, the church has linked itself to the communities and people of native Canadians. For better or worse, issues like this are bound to happen because of the changed beliefs in the generation who suffered through residential schools.

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St. John’s Residential School — Wabasca, AB

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St. John’s Residential School — Wabasca, AB

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This is the residential school that Filmmaker Gerald Auger's mother resided at from age 2 - 14.

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Bruce West, from the Globe & Mail gives reasons why Indians don't want to be saddled with the hardship of equality to the white man

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This short documentary takes a poignant look at cultural misunderstanding and its toll on a family's grief. When filmmaker Gerald Auger lost his father, the local Anglican priest ...

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Gerald Auger and his family preform the traditional Cree ceremony for his father, against the wishes of the Anglican priest.
Picture from NFB