How much do you know about the history of Indigenous people under Canadian rule?

Some comments lately (nothing negative really) and some things I've been studying have left me thinking about how to have a dialogue around unsettling topics such as racism and bigotry. I feel for the most part the people here are either fairly enlightened about or at least more open to discussions on these sorts of topics, which is a tip of the hat to the nsmb community in general. Personally, I've developed a greater appreciation for the issues Indigenous peoples face in Canada and there is a great TV series called First Contact that explores some of these issues by taking six Canadians who have little knowledge or understanding of Indigenous people and throws them into the fire so to speak by immersing them in different Indigenous communities across Canada to hopefully gain a better understanding of Indigenous people and their history. The series is not without criticism and can be unsettling for some, but imo it's a great exploration into why the divide between colonial Canada and Indigenous people exist. You can watch it on TVO (TVOntario) or APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network)

https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/first-contact-ep-1

https://www.aptn.ca/firstcontact/episode-guide/season-1/

Do I have to sign up for their streaming service?

Oh, and the answer is not that much, but it is a lot to cover.

Posted by: chupacabra

Do I have to sign up for their streaming service?

Oh, and the answer is not that much, but it is a lot to cover.

not sure but you can also watch it on TVO as well without needing to sign up

https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/first-contact-ep-1

Agreed First Contact is a good show.  I enjoy many shows on APTN for both the content and a different perspective.  Surprisingly to me I tune in to that channel probably more than the other 1000 channels on TV.

I didn't until a few years ago.

I had a conversation with someone who provided counseling to indigenous victims of the residential school system. An hour later I sat there with my jaw hanging open. It's an ugly part of Canadian history that I had no knowledge of.

I have a drastically different outlook now

Looks pretty amazing. Thanks for bringing this up

https://youtu.be/yPivaI8-dvc

Posted by: DaveM

I didn't until a few years ago.

I had a conversation with someone who provided counseling to indigenous victims of the residential school system. An hour later I sat there with my jaw hanging open. It's an ugly part of Canadian history that I had no knowledge of.

I have a drastically different outlook now

That's a big part of why the oppression continues to this day, is that the history has been essentially erased from our collective mindset and it doesn't fit in with the view that most people have of who we are as Canadians. It's a difficult thing to accept, but like one of the people in the first episode says while we may not be directly responsible for what took place we do have a responsibility to make things better.

edit - Not saying you personally Dave, but collectively as a society we just don't realize the extent of the damage that's been done and we know nothing of how Indigenous societies work which makes it even harder to understand why things are they way they are today.

**pulls up a chair on the sideline**

and BC is even way more fun becuz by the time they got to BC the brits just didn't wana pay off the FN so there are unsettled landclaims like Delgamuuk

but there are ways around that ^^ as Christy Clarke showed us, even if they have no authority just deal with the band council instead of the hereditary chiefs the whole CGL project is on Wetsueten lands they fought over in Delgamuuk and again with the Westsueten blockades on the CN main lines in Hazelton & the Mohawks back east

that was costing industry a LOT of money i think i heard 1 million per day

Last residential school didn't close until 1996. 

And we still have MPs that will say they were a good thing.

Beyak is not an MP she is a senator, she IS a dumbass so she got the boot from her plum cushy senator's job, flunked re-education, eventualy got back in has finaly been booted and/or retired for good so now she still spouts that line. Murry Sinclair had recently talked about beyak re the whole situation, he had said she was going to be history... now she is

any Politician who has been stupid enough to say residential schools were a good thing or may have benifited the FN has got themselves in major shit, even if it was a true statement its politicaly a very stupid thing to saywhen they could just say nothing at all

Dennis Mckay the ex-rcmp/ liberal MLA up here made that statement 10-15 yars ago and got shit, there hasnt been a liberal elected up here ever since maybe cuz 1/3rd of the population is FN

Posted by: JBV

there are vested business interests, a whole industry of professionals that will continue to foster the us versus them, perpetual victimhood mentality. they created the trendy 'settler' label that's so hot right now, as well as the 'decolonize' "movement".  this industry will continue to pit Canadian vs Canadian as long as it's profitable to do so.

I feel like there is a lot to unpack in your post that can’t easily be addressed in one response. So for now I’ll just ask a couple of things. First what do you think it means to decolonize or what is decolonization all about? Second, why do you think there is an industry that’s interested in us vs them and just who or what is this industry?

Posted by: JBV

there are vested business interests, a whole industry of professionals that will continue to foster the us versus them, perpetual victimhood mentality. they created the trendy 'settler' label that's so hot right now, as well as the 'decolonize' "movement".  this industry will continue to pit Canadian vs Canadian as long as it's profitable to do so.

I do not like this whole "settler" thing.  It is exactly what you are saying and it is psychological tool.  Trump used imagery effectively with things like "lock her up".  It created a picture in people's mind of Clinton behind bars which leads to people thinking she must actually be criminal in their minds (maybe she is, but not my point).  By calling non-natives "settlers" it is the same thing.  It is the image of white men with muskets landing on the shores of America and it is not helpful if we are ever going to move forward together.

I watched a bit of the first episode and it is a great concept.  I thought the part where the native man was trying to explain to the white woman that the kids running around barefoot and unsupervised is what happens when the people don't have the tools to deal with their life or parenthood and she kept saying that if she can overcome her obstacles they should too.  This is huge part of the missing conversation IMO.  We tend to think of their lost culture as living off the land and the traditions, etc, but that is jsut the window dressing IMO.   it's the loss of the culture within their family structures that isn't as obvious that is by far the most destructive.  When kids were taken from their families and sent to residential schools that crucial part of who they were was severed and it can take generations to reclaim that.  It is the same thing that happened to blacks in the US.  They were taken from their homes, abused badly and forbidden to even keep their names, then their kids were sold and never seen again.  Any knowledge they had to pass down on how to be a good member of their community is just gone and replaced with fear and confusion.

I got a beer drinking buddy with a " cultural management " business,  we talk about this shit over craft beers which is always an interesting perspective, the white man especialy in industry so gets it wrong, the message the timing every thing, having someone to tell you what you are doing or about to do wrong might be a good thing ? 

Buddy  was made a band member his indian name is something about chasing golf balls in the rough so he  understands the feast system,goes to weddings goes to funerals knows band business pre covid often had hereditary chiefs sitting on his office couch