Idle no More

actualy you moved here and there from somewhere just like some 1st nations have moved to be part of the white lifestyle

But the 1st nations live on their land where they have always lived where they had it all, they had the fish they had the game they had land lots of it it was all here and its still all up here cuz whitey hasn't had the chance to completely fuck it up yet

So live in the past, in a place with no opportunity, poor living conditions etc

Hey it's a personal choice … One they are making.

well actualy all along choices were made for them by whitey and why did whitey make the choices he did, well it would have been self interest or stupidity or a mixture of both

ferinstance how did the natives lose their fishery on the skeena that they had owned for generations, did whitey take it away for their own good to manage it properly OR cuz somebody got paid off or did "government management" turn out to be an oxymoron ?

and the way out is forward actualy, I see 1st nations moving along, I seen that fully 1/4 of the room at Forest kerr was 1st nations, BUT do you think Alta Gas really wanted to hire those guys or did they have to ?

And I see the grade school kids come skiing from Hagwilget village or new aiannsh both xc and alpine (you are likely paying for it) but none skiing in the BC yet

I agree with GT. My family has lived in the Lower Mainland since the turn of the century. All of my family, friends, everything I have ever know was there. But I knew that I would have a damn hard time affording housing there, and that good work was tough to find. So I got a degree, moved somewhere I could afford to live and be in the 1% (for the area).

One post / article or something like that in this thread talked about how natives are worried about being left out of mining / oil development because of a lack of training, education, skills. They are given free education. They live in an area of great economic growth. There are a handful of degrees, diplomas, training programs, etc., that would allow someone from the north to live close to their hometown, if not in it, and make a damn good wage.

I love the "free everything" myth…look up how much "free" stuff actually gets down to the folks who need it.

Like Testy, I'm outta this one. To much thinly veiled racism and 1/2 truths and lies to stomach for one thread.

To much thinly veiled racism and 1/2 truths and lies to stomach for one thread.

because this needs to be quoted

I work for a First Nations education group and see how the feds go back on agreements time and time again.
I agree with HT that there is some underlying racism here and most of it is due to ignorance.

here is a story about my ex GF and her family and it is largely based on where my perspective on this comes.

I met this cute native girl while out with friends in 1992, her name is Susan and she lived in Calgary at the time. She had left the "res" when she was 19 to get away from the "Bullshit and bad culture she grew up in" She owns a very nice home, in a good neighborhood and also has a rocking job. This girl was super attractive, cute, good job, smart etc etc

Well over the two years I dated her I learned alot about the people and culture she came from.

Her brother lives on the reserve just outside of Calgary,he lives in a very poor structure for a home, doesn't work much, mostly sits around abusing drugs, drinking and being a victim. Her sister lives on the same reserve, in a spotless house, well taken care of,and worked (at that time) as a nurse. Both of them love their brother, but both of them also loathe his lifestyle and the life he chooses to live.They don't like that he is "a useless fucking indian" THEIR WORDS NOT MINE and they don't like what people like him are doing because all he is doing is prolonging societies poor ideas about what an Aboriginal Canadian represents.

I went to quite a few "native events" with her. I recall going to a big party with her at her bands beautiful rodeo facility. We had a blast, I was made welcome by most of her friends( some were racist white haters,and i was swore at and threatened, but you get this in every race).
As the evening wore down we sat at a table,and you know what they discussed…getting their brother off the reserve and into society, because they thought he would be far better off working and contributing than sitting on the res on his ass drinking himself to death.

I know they tried several times in the two years I was dating her to get him some help and off the reserve, but he wasn't interested in working nor improving his station in life.

Her Mom lived in Edmonton at the time, and was in poor health. Her health was so bad she had to have a major bypass surgery. Sue, her sister and brother all piled into a car and drove to edmonton. after their mom had her surgery the three siblings went to a sports bar for a bite and a drink. Her brother grabbed a sixpack for offsales and they went off to their moms house for the night. They finished off the six pack and her brother started into some his mom had…long story short he got bombed and when they tried to get him under control he tore his moms apartment apart. Sue and her sister sent him home on a bus and spent the next two days repairing and painting their moms apartment and replacing the tv and furniture he destroyed because they did not want her coming home from the hospital to a ruined home.

If a person wants to leave the "res" get a job, contribute, be productive and happy they can.

If a person doesn't want to leave the "res" but wants to live a happy productive life and not buy into the "bad part" of the culture they can

If a person doesn't want to leave the "res" and wants to remain a victim and buy into the "bad culture" they can live in what ever conditions they choose to.

My ex GF and her sister chose to change their lives, one stayed on the res one did not.Both of them chose to break away from being a victim of their past. Both used the programs available to them, got a great education and moved on. They chose to move on. They call the life their brother leads "his choice", do they like it no, but its his choice how he lives.

during the two years we dated we also went to many events in the city, and even a family reunion of mine. I heard people slag Sue for being a native, I saw people in store serve white people before her because she is native. We were seated in shitty corners of good restaurants or worse told the wait would be too long for us" One place was so bad I made a reservation for one, got in right away and when Sue joined me the service attitude changed from completely friendly to completely hostile..they couldn't pick our plates up fast enough to get us out the door. My family reunion was not great either as some of my older aunts and uncles did not like me dating a native and were prety vocal about it, one of them was so mean he made her cry. Fortunately most of them didn't care what color skin she had and were happy we were happy together and made her very welcome.

Where I am going is our aboriginals face racism and bigotry every day, i saw my own kin treat my GF bad. Yet they have lots of help to establish a life that is integrated and part of modern society .Some choose to do that, some choose not to. Some choose to look forward, and move off the "res", some look forward and stay with their people on the reserve and live a great life. Some like her brother choose to look backwards to the past, be a victim and feel they are owed a free living because of what happened in the past.

All three of the children in that family made their choices, all are living how they want, where they want.

This is my last contribution to this thread/

As someone who has worked 110km away from a remote native reserve in northern bc, I'll contribute on my experience. The elders and most other members I spoke to seemed to be in favour of a mine going in nearby, as it would bring much needed high paying jobs to the area. At least a quarter of the people I worked with were native. Even in early stages of the project, there are lots of job opportunities for motivated, persistent people. Unfortunately for them (and me i suppose) those jobs are short term contracts, which leaves a lot of spare time to either look for other opportunities or do less constructive things. Winter on the res doesn't look so promising job wise.

A couple a kids from the reserve came to work for us and they were royal pains in the ass, but that's probably because they were teens, and also because one or both of them had very little supervision when on the reserve and were exposed to substance abuse.

Housing on the res was a mix of mostly shabby domiciles interspersed with new, expensive looking houses.

I imagine that the local people were more receptive to mining exploration because there has already been a lot of industrial development and exploration in that area. Most of the "growing pains" to put it lightly occurred well before I arrived. Yes there are individuals who hang on to resentment for those days but there is also a good portion of people who have put that in the past and are joining the work force.

The issue for the people on the reserve, and frankly everyone else in Canada, is supplying meaningful, well paid jobs that encourage development and productivity rather than staying idle on the governments dime due to lack of opportunity.

It's almost 2013 yet this thread is full of racism, ignorance and denial. If nothing else thanks for reminding me why I'm a teacher. The fact that so many of you are willing to argue and defame a whole group of people based on lies, misinformation, rumours, and sample sizes of one makes me almost ill. Please do some research for yourselves. Look at the numbers and read the accounts of many. Better yet, spend a significant amount of time on one of these delapitated reserves and actually talk to those who live there.

I agree it is bad on some of the reserves, and that there is some work to be done.

But what about the rest of it…Free education, healthcare,university,employment programs, special considerations when applying for government work,programs for business start ups… etc etc etc ?

I also can't imagine with the programs that are made available to our aboriginals why they choose to stay where they are, living under those conditions.Why not begin taking advantage of the many programs available that can lift them from poverty and allow them to become wealthy contributing members of our society.

Let me say it again for you..Nobody can move forward into the future while constantly looking at the past and playing the victim.

They are a victim though. A victim of the abuse from the government through residential schools (which by the way, the last one didn't close that long ago, 1996), etc. They tried to destroy their culture through these schools. Saying Indigenous people should just simply move is not going to fix any problems either.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/The+National/ID/2321185947/

I agree with GT. My family has lived in the Lower Mainland since the turn of the century. All of my family, friends, everything I have ever know was there. But I knew that I would have a damn hard time affording housing there, and that good work was tough to find. So I got a degree, moved somewhere I could afford to live and be in the 1% (for the area).

One post / article or something like that in this thread talked about how natives are worried about being left out of mining / oil development because of a lack of training, education, skills. They are given free education. They live in an area of great economic growth. There are a handful of degrees, diplomas, training programs, etc., that would allow someone from the north to live close to their hometown, if not in it, and make a damn good wage.

The Wetsuetin elders can talk about 8 generations if it is a story they can tell cuz not all stories can be told

and the 1st nations people do what they want not what you want, yes the companys will have to integrate them as the people who own those lands if they want to do business

All the natives up here have been very nice to me but then again I'm not very white

It's almost 2013 yet this thread is full of racism, ignorance and denial. If nothing else thanks for reminding me why I'm a teacher. The fact that so many of you are willing to argue and defame a whole group of people based on lies, misinformation, rumours, and sample sizes of one makes me almost ill.

Speaking of lies. The High Park DJ's incident here people believed was a Aboriginal thing was nothing of the sort. The so called warrior group was in reality a group of white guy's masquerading at Aboriginals. Non of the local tribes in Ontario where involved. And when interviewed by the papers they pointed out that there was no buriel ground as the group claimed. In fact they where pretty much pissing the tribes off.

Funny part was how when people questioned about the fake Aboriginals they where all accused of being racists. They where as white as Justin Trudeau. And the aboriginals I know could confirm they where pissed at the group but where more pissed that their leaders didn't make a stink about the group either. Just silence.

I agree with GT. My family has lived in the Lower Mainland since the turn of the century. All of my family, friends, everything I have ever know was there. But I knew that I would have a damn hard time affording housing there, and that good work was tough to find. So I got a degree, moved somewhere I could afford to live and be in the 1% (for the area).

Haha … coming from the guy who complains about Californians moving to Montana …