Nearly a million Canadians can claim at least partial aboriginal
ancestry. Aboriginal populations continue to increase, and interest in
their cultural heritage, by aborigines and nonaborigines alike,
continues to grow. However, the term "aborigine" does not indicate a
common or shared culture, only descent from groups of people who arrived
on the continent long before Europeans. Canada's constitution specifies
three categories of "aboriginal peoples": Indian, Inuit and Métis.
The term "Indian" is now recognized as a misnomer, but other attempts to
be more specific, such as "Amerindians" or "Native Canadians", have been
no more successful and you're likely to hear several different terms on
your travels. The terms "First Nations" and "aboriginals" are in vogue
but again there is the possibility of more change. Treated as wards of
the federal government since the birth of Canada, the Indians were put
in a different legal category from all other Canadians by the Indian
Acts in the nineteenth century. Modern legal distinctions divide this
group further into those who are recognized as "Indian" by the federal
government - a status bestowed on more than 800,000 Canadians - and
those who are denied this recognition, the so-called "non-status
Indians". Amongst status Indians there are 633 aboriginal bands (the
term "tribe" has also become outmoded) across Canada. Some communities
number fewer than 100 inhabitants and others more than 5000. Status
enables rights to fishing, hunting and living on a reservation, while
nonstatus denies these rights but allows a person to vote, buy property
and alcohol. Status can be lost and gained through marriage, an act of
parliament or even a band taking a vote on the matter.
Later, as Canada's attention turned to its vast nothern regions, the
Inuit were also recognized as falling under federal jurisdiction. The
Inuit have a separate origin, arriving much later to North America and
inhabiting the inhospitable lands of Arctic Canada. The term Inuit
totally replaced use of the derogatory term "Eskimo" in the 1970s.
Eskimo is an Algonkian word for "eaters of raw meat". The Inuit share a
common origin and a single language and at present number around 27,000.
With a current population of 400,000, the Métis are the product of the
unions between male fur traders, usually French-Canadians, and native
women, particularly Cree. For centuries they were not recognized as
Canadians or aborigines, and with no rights they wandered the country,
unable to settle. After a failed rebellion in 1885, they almost
disappeared from social and political life and became "the forgotten
people", largely poverty-stricken squatters on Crown land. Finally, in
1982, they were recognized as a First Nation in the Constitution.
Because of the distances separating them, each nation and even each
community has its own characteristics. Their personality and culture are
fashioned by history, the environment and by their surrounding
neighbours. A large part of the aboriginal people live in relatively
close contact with nonaboriginal people and interact on a daily basis
with cultures that have a determining influence on their way of life.
If there is any thread linking these groups, it is the cultural revival
experienced over the last forty years. Under the banner of national
political movements, all of these groups have renewed their commitment
to organizing their social world, to re-establishing legal relationships
to the land, and to maintaining and revitalizing their cultures and
languages
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