There have been several attempts made by the government all these years to take-over lands of sentimental and materialistic value belonging to the Aboriginal people. One of the instances of great significance is “The Standoff at Oka” where the government along with the support of the white settlers in Quebec, wanted to extend the golf course of the town by refurbishing the ancient Mohawk cemetery. The Mohawk people thus, made an appeal to the court for the ban on the construction operation and as a result they did not receive any response from the court regarding the issue. Without much of a choice they formed an armed barricade for 78 days in front of the cemetery ground lead by the Mohawk women and children refusing to allow the entry of anyone. Another instance is the “Ipperwash crisis”, in which originally the government had taken the land from a reserve to build a military base, in the process they destroyed the homes of twelve families residing there and refused to give back the land to the rightful owners when it was claimed from them as they would incur a heavy cost due to the clean up of the area because of the extensive amount of weapon testing conducted. Next is the famous “Innu Struggle”, where to date the Innu people are fighting to protect their land and natural resources such as timber, fish etc against unjust and extensive commercial exploitation by the government, with the desire of conserving their resources wisely for future use by the upcoming generations.
In addition, there has been absolutely no effort taken from the government’s side to find constructive resolutions to the problems such as land claims, recognition of aboriginal rights according to previous treaties signed between the native people and the crown etc. This accusation is clearly evident through cases like that of the West Bank, which is located in the Okanagan region. Here the tribe members out of frustration and desperation started cutting down trees on privately owned property without a legal license. The prime reason for this impulsive action of the tribe members was the lack of interest by the government for settling land rights treaties, because of which they had no choice but to log trees for a decent living. It is primarily, due to the lack of organizational activities by the government in order to aid the Aboriginal people that there persists a problem of 22% unemployment rate within the Aboriginal community in Nunavut because of the lack of development in employment sources.
In addition to this, the Canadian government has not only been ignorant towards the Aboriginal issues but has also suppressed any voices that rose against the government demanding justice. Like in “The Oka Standoff”, the only solution that the government thought worthwhile of implementing to solve the problem of renovating the burial ground of the aboriginal people was the storming of bullets by the provincial officers at the Mohawk people. The similar stand was taken by them in the “Ipperwash Crisis” to break the aboriginal protest for the right to occupy the ancestral burial ground situated in the provincial park, which lead to the physical assault of three victims by officials. Amongst the fatalities were Nick Cattrel and Dudley George. Moreover, when the Aboriginal people try to make the government pay attention to their apprehensions through forced retaliation like the ones in Emish or Voisey Bay in order to protect their land, the protestors face imprisonment and other forms of torture. Thus, the war of the Aboriginal people to be accepted as a part of Canada has been raging for a long time in history.
Fundamentally, the Aboriginal people are striving to achieve the goal of equal opportunities on all grounds for native Canadians. In conclusion, an integral part of a democratic institution like Canada is in fact to guard people from taking more than their “share of the cake”. Unfortunately this is what they have failed to do time and again. The government policies such as assimilation and residential schools and other forms of negotiations in the past and also in the present have only reflected racism and genocide. Due to the government apathy towards the Aboriginal people and their issues a much more “articulate, resourceful, militaristic generation has emerged today who are determined to fight for their rights and well deserved recognition” in Canada. The social liberation movements along with the civil rights movements incorporating the Aboriginal rights have been the trademark for the latter part of the century for the Aboriginal people. Someday they hope to live in complete harmony with the Non-Native people in Canada. Therefore, it is a strong belief that it is the “sovereign right of the Aboriginal people to live and flourish by a different set of rules” now.
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