We’ve been working together for about three years now and up until now it’s been a pleasure. But that sentiment was crushed when we got into the discussion of aboriginal culture last week, when you let it slip that you “always thought half of them were lazy” (direct quote). Your wife (also a co-worker) didn’t lend a sympathetic mind either; she couldn’t develop any explanation as to why people that live on reserves: “just move out if it’s getting so bad” or simply “get over it” (direct, unembellished quotes). This is only the tip of the iceberg of the kinds of remarks I witnessed that day. I was shocked beyond words and it took time to articulate my rage. Hence, I am writing this bitch.
Now…you’re two bright, educated people. I know this because you both hold university degrees and one of you has travelled extensively. But you really need to shut the fuck up before you say something so ignorant and insensitive. Whether you want to admit it or not, you’re part of these problems you read about in the newspaper. You say “why don’t they move out or get over it,” but would you want to move away from your family and friends only to live among people that think about you in a shitty way? No. Your ignorance and lack of respect perpetuates stereotypes that last through generations and other people suffer as a consequence.
Even though we all share some form of culture, heritage and human values, I sincerely believe that the failure to recognize the individual leads to prejudice. And we all know what prejudice can lead to—cross-burnings, drug/alcohol abuse, suicide and even genocide. It’s a slippery slope, some people don’t think it can lead to these things and many more don’t think they can be victims of it. But it does happen, and it is happening as I write this. And it will continue to happen until you learn to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before you open your mouth. —Finally Off My Chest
This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2010.
*plays tiniest violin on earth*
newsflash.
THIS JUST IN “people are ignorant”
moving on….
I have reservations about reservations.
i think the time is over for anglo-saxon/germanic people being in guilt mode for the sins of our fore-fathers and people are starting to wary of the same old same old song and dance
The smartest thing your coworkers could have done was zip their lips in this paranoid, politically correct, everyone’s-a-victim culture.
Stereotypes suck. But thats something that probably isn’t going to go away anytime soon either.
tell you what.
when the indians stop getting paid to go to school
stop getting free hunting/fishing licenses
stop getting free housing
start paying income tax
blah blah blah, i could go on. if you want equality, then live in this society the same way as all the other people who live here, and stop hiding behind your precious “treaty”
when you start living under the rules and regulations that I and every other non indian have to follow, then my prejudice goes out the window, as well as many other prejudice people agianst indians.
there…problem solved.
Lucky for them “Canada” never had a Custard like the US!
Yup, it’s a good thing we never made or indians eat rch, sugar-filled desserts, Beken…..
ideasleepfuriously – that’s where the song “she wore a yellow ribbon came from” – Custards last stand, it would have had to have been in the fridge to make it stiff.
I have absolutely no problems with us assisting Native people.
My problems come from their so called treaty rights to hunt & fish.
Well not that they have these rights, from 200 + years ago, but the fact they want those ancient rights with 21st Century technology !
IF they had million dollar lobster boats, modern fishing boats & gear & high powered rifles 200 years ago , I’d be fine with it…but they didn’t.
So if they want these old time rights, they should be hunting & fishing in the same manner. Make a canoe, put your homemade traps out, no problem you want to be able to subsist off the land great. But don’t think for one second I’m going to spare a second for you to cry about how your hunting & fishing rights SHOULD come with all the modern conveniences. You want to hunt & fish with modern technology, I have no problem with that, JUST get a license, like everyone else has whether it be commercial fishing, sport fishing, or hunting. Plus follow the same quota’s & rules the same as anybody.
You don’t want to pay for licenses, then go make a bow & some arrows, place your traditional snares & traps & I’ll support that.
See, the Aboriginal people have it bad both ways; we (Canada), as a culture, want to assimilate them, meanwhile Aboriginals who educate themselves and move away from the culture are treated like turn-coats. I mean, what’s so fair about that?
That said, I can see the frustration of the Aboriginal people. They want their land/rights that were essentially stolen from them, but they want their culture, and that’s what we ask them to give up. Think of it this way: somebody knocks on your door, comes in and starts telling you they own the place. They’ll let you stay, but instead of getting the master bedroom you get the spare bedroom with the hide-a-bed couch, and you don’t get to watch the TV you like to watch. I know I’d be a little more than pissed.
This brings me to the next point. Sometimes, the Aboriginal people are their own worst enemy. I mean, they oust any one of their own that has been educated traditionally (i.e.: university), which leads to a culture of ignorance. Which then in turn allows the Tribal Chiefs to basically abuse and run the show as they please. Some of the wealthiest people (and the most educated as well) among the Aboriginal culture are those Chiefs, yet little to none of it goes to the community. I think this disconnect is where we as a culture just don’t get it. All we see are the people on the reserves huffing gas and living in abject poverty, while the leaders of the community do nothing to help them, but promote an agenda of all or nothing towards treaty issues. So, society in general thinks, “Why should we bother? All they do is drink and be lazy all day.” It’s a frustrating issue, which leads to so much negativity towards the Aboriginal community.
duh, maybe you’re just hearing things wrong,and the other person is quite artriculate.
It’s not as if these abuses occurred hundreds of years ago. My grandmother was in a residential school. My uncles were in residential schools. In fact one of my uncles killed himself just before he had to go back to school after a break, because the thought was just too horrendous a thought. Native abuse by the government is still rather recent, and to some families, it’s difficult to come back from. Where would you all be if your grandparents came from a family who went to places where unspeakable mistreatment took place? Would your father still be the person he is today? Would your mother be the same? Would they have done the things they did in their own lives, if they had been raised differently? Maybe, maybe not.
More, you misunderstand the hunting and fishing rights. You *can* hunt and fish, but only for your own personal use. Those native lobster fisherman you are thinking of actually have to get a lobster licence (sometimes paid for by the government, yes), but it’s not as if they are not following the regulations set down by Fisheries and Oceans.
Native people have to pay income tax. Native people do get free housing, but only on a reservation, and most reservations are in the worst places in the province. Native people do get their tuition paid for by their band, but you still have to apply, it does count as income tax, and you have to maintain a high average in order to continue your funding.
Reparations should go to the living individuals who were abused by the government. Not their kids, or their grand-kids, etc.
Anything beyond that only creates a culture that expects to be taken care of by the government and the drive to be independent and ambitious is weakened and passed on through generations ultimately hurting the community.
This goes for any group of people and there are always exceptions; individuals from the community who are independent and ambitious.
Having worked with aboriginals in the CF, they were probably the worst on their own people. They couldn’t wait to leave to make a better life for themselves. Those who live in projects or any other poor area can, if they want to and work at it, can get out.
I’ve been on reserves that were dirt poor and ones that were very rich (these ones tended to have manufacturing or industry of some sort on them).
you know the other day, when i said about my acadian descent. well, it is worse for us, our people were kicked out of this province, and they had the land given to them, by the native owners at the time.all settlers coming after,just usurped what there was before them. and yes, the natives did get a raw fucking deal, they still do in many respects.talk about racism, this goes further back than the black slaves that came here, to live in freedom. the governments of briton and n.s. have yet to even say a modest sorry to all the descendants of the acadian peoples. and the ones living here today,from way back in the early days, great,great,grandkids, still get shit all. so where the fuck is this fairness and equality crap at the democratic levals.
Because LS, even if there was a group of Arcadian people deported, they still owned land and they still got to live free. Besides, just about any subset of culture in Canada can lay claim to any number of abuses. If that was the case, I should be petitioning to get an official apology from the Russian Government for forcing my Great-Grandparents out of the Ukraine.
Sarey— you make an interesting point, but I need to mention that there are those within the Aboriginal community that do take advantage of the situation. Take the declining salmon stocks in BC. For years, the Aboriginal communities in BC have over fished the areas (thanks to treaty rights), and are now crying the loss of an industry.
not only that but their BC land claims cover like 110 % of the province it’s fucking ridiculous!
Did you really just draw a link between calling aboriginals lazy and cross-burning/genocide? That’s quite a huge jump, are you sure you want to make that claim? You might come off sounding… well… ignorant. Do yourself a favor and go talk to some people who have worked in reserves. Talk to the ones who go in and build the free houses which they destroy, or talk to the teachers who go in and are harrased until they are forced to leave, or even talk to the rcmp who get stationed up north who can tell you just how violent they typically are to anyone from outside the reserve. I think saying “half of them are lazy” was being kind.
Aussies tend to treat and talk about their Aboriginals a hell of a lot worse than any Canadian. Aboriginals there live in much worse conditions, have lower life expectencies, higher rates of violence and drug/alcohol abuse than our Natives here. Australians tend to be a lot more racist and can openly say things like “I reckon we just shoot all the bloody Abos/Boongs!” without much opposition, while in Canada you’d be charged with a hate crime.
Reserves are in the worst parts of the province, really? What about Millbrook First Nation right beside Truro (I know a girl from there, she’s great! Happy family and not too badly off, either)? Or all the Reserves dotted all across Greater Vancouver, and that big one right in the south-western part of Calgary? Oftentimes they’re miserable places because the people there make them miserable places, similar the “The Square” and other ghettos.
We are ALL children of the earth, homo sapiens, regardless of the subspecies designate of race. It’s time for treating each other accordingly instead of propagating outdated, ill-conceived notions of superiority. BTW OP, well-educated is not always indicative of intelligence, propriety or common sense.
merci oceanlady. tu est tres gentil and i think your french is better than mine^^
I can’t comment on natives too much because I honestly only know one. And he is the most white looking/native guy that you could ever meet. The issue that my co-workers have with him is that he comes to work bragging everyday about the discounts he gets…..the income tax he saves…..the fishing he can do etc….tax free cars….
He gets all these ” great deals” because his great grandmother is Metis. Most of the people I work with all resent his status card.
the status card thing is the biggest tax avoidance scam there is; but i’d do it too if i could get away with it.
Bienvenue paingirl…pours les mots bon.
I view people not by the colour of their skin but rather by the measure of their character.
Exactly Oceanlady. I know Aboriginal people who worked their asses off to make something of themselves, enduring poverty, alcoholism and abuse in their family, and heaps of prejudice. I know others who haven’t managed to do much for themselves and rely on our broken system to provide for them. Oddly enough, I know plenty of white, black or otherwise folks from both sides of that fence too.
I wish people would stop generalizing whole groups of people, assuming that everyone is one way or another. The issues are not so cut and dry. Any anger and resentment shouldn’t directed at one segment of the population, but rather at the dysfunctional system that has created the social maladies that perpetuate this unfortunate cycle. We’re not going to remedy hundreds of years of abuse with some bandaid programs and social handouts, and rather than blame the victims, we should be lobbying our governments for real change.
But hey, we’re Canadian. Most of us sit and criticize from a comfortable middle class bubble. We’d rather be divisive, sit around and talk smack about other provinces or other social groups, rant and rave in anonymous forums, and just generally be apathetic while the government lies, swindles us, and destroys any sense of what our country stands for.
Anyway, yeah. We should totally be pissed at the Natives. Look at them all living high on the hog. I’d trade places with them in a….oh wait….no I wouldn’t.
Well said meOw!
The native blood in my veins doesn’t hold me back from accomplishment any more than my caucasian blood does.
well said me0w.