Aboriginal People Case Study

Introduction

The issue of aboriginal people in Canada is not new. For a long time, it has been heatedly debated by academic scholars and by the general public as well. By no means does this issue have a straightforward solution to it. RCAP (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples) is one of the institutions largely responsible for the aboriginal issue. Unfortunately, the problems RCAP faces are too intractable to settle in a relatively short time, due to which there are some unresolved problems intimately related with the life of aboriginal people awaiting to be dealt with soon in an effective and politically sound way. The complexity of the issue calls for more intellectual discussion beyond the scope of the immediate present aboriginal reality.

The power structure between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people always plays some role to impede a kind of equal dialogue between them. Non-aboriginal people on average are more affluent than aboriginals. Also, the social infrastructures in some off-reserve major metropolitan cities are much more mature than on-reserve areas. The inequality between aboriginals and non-aboriginals makes non-aboriginal policy makers be inclined to bring their own sense of superiority to the analysis of aboriginal issues, which could likely lead to policies with biases and prejudices. Perhaps an effective conversation between aboriginal and government can lead to a better outcome because aboriginals’ own voice would be heard. In this essay, I will demonstrate why, when compared with Flanagan’s assimilationist proposal, Cairns’ concept of “citizen plus” is more persuasive as an effective approach to aboriginal policy. Firstly, I would outline the debate between Thomas Flanagan and Alan Cairns on aboriginal policy. A brief compare and contrast between their opinions will be made. Secondly, with some other academic sources in my mind, I would state the reasons why I stand aside with Cairns more than with Flanagan. Some advisable

Flanagan holds a perspective almost close to the classic conception of assimilation: they should be regarded as a collective more than individuals; they are already very similar to other non-aboriginal people so they should be treated as the same way as non-aboriginal people. Especially for those aboriginal people living in the major cities, the modern society has a kind of sweeping power which assimilates them in a fast pace: they eat the same food, drink the same beer, celebrate the same festivals, live out the same kind of lifestyle, have similar ideology, hold similar self-identity with other non-aboriginal people. Although he is uncertain about when aboriginal people will become completely assimilated into the Canadian mainstream society, he is sure that that day will come sooner or later. It is unfair to claim that Flanagan is unaware of the difference between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. However, he thinks the difference is negligible to a large extent (Cairns and Flanagan, 2001). The fact is that most aboriginals who choose to spend most of the time at on-reserve places are either kids or senior people. A large number of aboriginals are quite flexible in terms of their living places. They go to off-reserve for jobs. When necessary, they return back to on-reserve for festivals and family re-union (Hanselmann, 2001). The boundary between