The struggle for the rights of Indigenous people of Canada only truly began in the 21st century, and so far, the situation of this population group cannot be called favorable. Indigenous people continue to experience discrimination despite the numerous affirmations from the Canadian government that it will provide a better environment for them. According to Hossain and Lamb, “Indigenous people tend to suffer greater rates of psychological distress than non-Indigenous Canadians, often associated with depression and suicide”. However, the situation is the worst for the Indigenous women, who became the victims of the slave trade most often after being departed from their families. This phenomenon became known as Missing Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The MMIWG issue is devastating, and existing programs do not help Indigenous women; hence, a new radical approach, such as an assimilation program that regards past mistakes, should be considered.
Women and children remain the most vulnerable part of Native population, as they are often kidnapped to be sold for sex trafficking or murdered. In June, the Canadian Indigenous Women’s Association released a report that over the past 30 years, more than 4,000 Indigenous women have been killed or missing in the country. Families of Indigenous people struggle to maintain their household and experience higher degrees of unemployment than any other population, which leads and, at the same time, ensues from the MMIWG issue. It should be noted that such a situation is largely caused by the racist perception of non-white Canadians as uncivilized and savage, guilty of their own problems. Monchalin et al. add that “the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls must not be separated from the structural embeddedness of colonialism and the impacts of patriarchy”. Moreover, the lack of policies that regulate the protection of Natives’ rights also largely contributes to the issue.
In fact, there are no instruments for the international protection of the rights of women belonging to ethnic minorities – the states themselves decide how to behave in this area. Moreover, the main problem is that for most countries, any national minority looks like a potential source of separatism and social division. Moeke-Pickering et al., for example, add that “the media plays a large role in facilitating negative racial and gender ideologies about Indigenous women”. Years of slave trade, exploitation and prejudice are over, but the situation of Indigenous women does not meet the high standards of Western society. The overwhelming levels of violence against Indigenous women and girls are not perceived by the officials as an important issue and, hence, are not addressed by the existing programs against discrimination of Indigenous women. Since such a problem exists primarily among Indigenous people and is somewhat caused by low integration into modern society, an assimilation program might be proposed as a solution.
However, the previous attempts of inducing assimilation onto Indigenous people have had devastating consequences. For decades, the authorities forcibly took Indigenous children (especially girls) and sent them to Catholic schools. This practice continued from the 1880s to the 1990s, during which time thousands of children were separated from their families. Moreover, they were often treated rather cruelly in these boarding schools: beaten, starved, and mocked. Girls were sexually harassed and experienced psychological problems on this ground. If a child died – and this happened constantly – they were buried in an unmarked grave and their relatives were not informed about the child’s death. These practices are entirely unacceptable and yet they do not suppose that the assimilation approach is completely flawed.
A new assimilation program could be designed in a way that would consider the past mistakes. As such, this approach would suppose integration of the Indigenous culture of women and girls with skills and ideas of the Western society instead of implantation of these values and knowledge. Women and children could participate in courses that would inform them about their rights and security measures. Moreover, the program might present them the introduction to skills needed for employment and further personal and professional growth. The courses could be conducted near the areas of Indigenous people tenancies, which women and children would visit voluntarily and would not be taken from their families. Thus, this approach to slight assimilation through integration might enhance the wellbeing of Indigenous women.
Conservative inertia did not allow a significant improvement in the situation in the sphere of the rights of Indigenous women, and the need for radical reforms still persists. Recently, a policy of multiculturalism began to be pursued, but the policies of the authorities did not lead to the full inclusion of Indigenous people in Canadian society. However, the lives of Indigenous women and children could be saved and enhanced through the new approach of assimilation through integration.
References
Hossain, B., & Lamb, L. (2019). Economic insecurity and psychocal distress among Indigenous Canadians. The Journal of Developing Areas 53(1). Web.
Humphreys, A. (2019). Report on missing, murdered indigenous women calls for significant change to police services across Canada. National Post. Web.
Moeke-Pickering, T., Cote-Meek, S., & Pegoraro, A. (2018). Understanding the ways missing and murdered Indigenous women are framed and handled by social media users. Media International Australia, 169(1), 54–64. Web.
Monchalin, L., Marques, O., Reasons, C., & Arora, P. (2019). Homicide and Indigenous peoples in North America: A structural analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 46, 212–218. Web.