Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada are
Indigenous Peoples recognized in the
Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, sections 25 and 35, respectively, as
Indians (
First Nations),
Métis, and
Inuit. It also refers to self-identification of Aboriginal Peoples who live within Canada, but who have not chosen to accept the extinguishment of their rights of Sovereignty or Aboriginal Title of their lands. These Indigenous Peoples who assert that their Sovereign rights have not been extinguished point to the
Royal Proclamation 1763 which is mentioned in the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, Section 25, as well as to the
British North America Act and the
1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of which Canada and Great Britain are signatories to, in support of this claim.
The term
"First Peoples" has also been used synonymously, and is occasionally used as a descriptive term by U.S.
Native Americans in solidarity with their Canadian relatives. As of the
2001 Canadian Census there are over 900,000 Aboriginal people in Canada. This includes approximately 600,000 people of First Nations descent, 290,000 Métis, and 45,000 Inuit. National representative bodies of Aboriginal peoples in Canada include the
Assembly of First Nations, the
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the
Métis National Council, the
Native Women's Association of Canada and the
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. These bodies however are not recognized by some Indigenous Peoples in Canada as representing their interests. Some such Indigenous Peoples prefer to rely upon their traditional laws and governance and pick their representation accordingly.
The
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was an important commission undertaken by the
Government of Canada in the
1990s. It assessed past government policies towards Aboriginal peoples, such as
residential schools, and provided many policy recommendations to the government. Of the many recommendations made by RCAP, not one has been implemented by the Federal Government of Canada to date.
Under the Employment Equity Act, and in the view of Statistics Canada, Aboriginal peoples are not considered members of a visible minority.
[Definition of "visible minority" at Statistics Canada]Today, there are more than 50 different languages spoken by Native peoples, most of which are spoken only in Canada and are in decline. Among those with the most speakers include
Ojibwe and
Cree, together totalling up to 150,000 speakers;
Inuktitut, with about 29,000 speakers in the
Northwest Territories,
Nunavut,
Nunavik (Northern Quebec), and
Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador); and
Mi'kmaq, with around 8,500 speakers, mostly in Eastern Canada.
Two of Canada's territories give official status to Native languages. In Nunavut, Inuktitut and
Inuinnaqtun are official languages alongside English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in government. In the Northwest Territories, the
Official Languages Act specifies no fewer than eleven official languages:
Dene Suline,
Cree, English, French,
Gwichʼin, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun,
North Slavey,
South Slavey and
Tåîchô. However, besides English and French, these languages are not vehicular in government; official status entitles citizens to receive services in them on request and to deal with the government in them. It also allows their use in the
Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories.
Policies regarding the capitalization of "Aboriginal" differ from organization to organization. The Government of Canada's
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs advises that the term should always be capitalized
[1]. However, the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Official Dictionary of the
Canadian Press (ISBN 0195418166), instructs that the term should not be capitalized when used as an adjective. Some proponents of capitalization argue that "Aboriginal" should always be capitalized just as other
ethnic terms are, such as "
Japanese", "
Irish", or "
German".
To many people in the
U.S. the capitalized term
Aboriginal suggests the native people of
Australia, who are elsewhere known as
"Aborigines"; whereas the uncapitalized common adjective
aboriginal simply means "indigenous", or as a noun refers to any indigenous person.
*
Indigenous peoples of the Americas*
List of Aboriginal communities in Canada*
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network*
Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics*
List of place names in Canada of Aboriginal origin*
National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation*
National Aboriginal Day*
MBC Radio*
Aboriginal Canada Portal*
Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples*
Naming guidelines of the
Government of Canada's
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs*
Map of historical territory treaties with Aboriginal peoples in Canada*
Hidden from History: Residential schools*
CBC Digital Archives - The Battle for Aboriginal Treaty Rights* Collection of Historical Images of the Canadian
kwakiutl Natives
*
A History of Aboriginal Treaties and Relations in Canada This site includes links to digitized primary sources and summaries of primary source documents, such as treaties.
