Inequality Between Aboriginals and Non-Aboriginals Living in Canada

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It can be said without a doubt that the indigenous peoples of Canada have had to undergo much turmoil in order to reach the point that they are at today. When one looks at the timeline of events and the laws implemented since the arrival of the Europeans in North America it can be considered a miracle that so many aspects of the rich culture and tradition of these people have survived to see today. It is a blessing that these people have been able to pass down the languages, cultural and societal beliefs, as well as their stories from generation to generation so that the people of North America and the world today may be able to know and study these civilized and multifaceted cultures. The First Nations people of Canada have had to go through many types of oppression since the arrival of the settlers. And even though society has slowly made strides in the right direction in respect to eliminating the oppression on aboriginal peoples there still remains a vast inequality between the aboriginals of Canada and that of their counterparts of European descent in the forms of their educational differences which lead to difficulties in employment as well as an increased crime rate. There is a vast inequality between the education of an aboriginal and that of a non-aboriginal person. “Only 31 percent – about half the Canadian average – of the Aboriginal on-reserve population has a high school education” (Center for Social Justice, 2011). This is a staggering number when we stop to consider how hard it is in our society to become successful in life when one does not have at least a high school education. In the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms every citizen of Canada is guaranteed an education and yet the students on these reserves... ... middle of paper ... ... well-being of aboriginal people . Retrieved from http://www.ccsd.ca/cpsd/ccsd/c_ab.htm Center for Social Justice. (2011). Struggling to escape a legacy of oppression. Retrieved from http://www.socialjustice.org/index.php?page=aboriginal-issues Kavanagh, B. (2006). Teaching in a First Nations school: An information handbook for teachers new to First Nations schools. Vancouver, BC: First Nations Schools Association. Kuokkanen, R. J. (2007). Reshaping the university: Responsibility, indigenous epistemes, and the logic of the gift. Vancouver: UBC Press. Roland, K. A. (2009). Examining the under-representation of Aboriginal scholars in the Ontario professoriate: Implications for faculty recruitment and retention. Windsor, ON: University of Windsor Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Collection. Retrieved from http://winspace.uwindsor.ca/wintheses/roland1.pdf

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