Keywords: Indigenous Canadians, Burial Rites, Aboriginal

Treatment of Indigenous Canadians
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Abstract
Keywords: Indigenous Canadians, burial rites, Aboriginal
This paper is about the treatment of indigenous Canadian tribes as seen through the handling of burial and cultural rites. It uses work on beliefs and culture as separate from the racism which indigenous Canadian tribes have experienced and continue to experience at the hands of European Canadian, and introduces the concept of the ‘other’ as a way of explaining how the colonists could demand respect for their own traditions while simultaneously allowing the desecration of indigenous burial sites and the complete dismissal of indigenous beliefs regarding the importance of proper burial and connection to their land right down to the present day.
Treatment of Indigenous Canadians
Indigenous Canadians (also referred to in some legal texts as Aboriginals) are the indigenous tribes which currently reside within the borders of modern day Canada. These include the First Nations, Inuit and Métis groups. The culture of these groups was initially characterised by permanent settlements, an advanced agriculture, civic architecture and a complicated series of trade route around the country. All three groups had different reactions to the introduction of Europeans into their lands and cultures; the Métis mixed-blood culture can be traced to this time, as the native Canadians interbred with the European, while the Inuit people had very limited contact with them during the same period. The First Nations enacted treaties with the Europeans to allow them to continue to govern themselves within their own communities, and with regards to their own history and culture. This paper will argue that the ways in which the indigenous Canadians of and around Ontario are treated with regards to their customs and beliefs are mostly in relation to the differences in culture between them and the colonial settlers. To do this, the paper will pay particular attention to burial rites, and the cultural context which surrounds them, as well as how that is expressed through the racist behaviour against indigenous Canadians which has been recorded in the past.
Beliefs
Every culture has their own particular set of beliefs, and indigenous Canadians are no exception to that rule.
Exposure to Aboriginal traditions and understanding is vital to developing the sensitivity required to discern connections in the face of documentary gaps and inconsistencies (Johnston, 2006, 3)
Much of the cultural context behind the rites and beliefs of indigenous Canadians around the Great Lakes can be tied to their connection to the land (Johnston, 2006, 2). This belief has shaped both them and their own culture, with the result that their actions (in this case, their burial rites) are all based on that connection. As Johnston says, to understand a culture is to better understand its people (Johnston, 2006, 2-3), and this is particularly true when it comes to burial customs. The Christian burial committal of ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’ (Wohlers, n.d.) is a good example of this, as it shows how our belief in an overarching God has shaped the way in which we mourn our dead. The same is true of the indigenous cultures in Canada – their origin stories tell them what place they have in the life of the world, and how to show that (Johnston, 2006, 24-25).
The ‘Other’ and Racism
The way in which indigenous people of all stripes and cultures are treated has a lot to do with the way in which racism manifests itself – the concept of the ‘other’ is something which can dog every interaction if we do not take care (McLaren, 2007, 1). This is not to say, of course, that some cultures and ideologies are completely incompatible, but more to say that people need to keep an open mind if they want to truly connect with people from other cultures.
The metaphors examined are found in the “mythology” of western European culture and they are examined to understand how that culture perceives the indigenous culture of Turtle Island… a culture is revealed in its stories and, less directly, in the way it looks at the world through the lenses of its institutions. (McLaren, 2007, 12)
McLaren’s main point in his writing is that people tend ...