Changing Canadian identity.

I feel that the federal government should have treated the Aboriginal people much better. The government did nothing to help them he just made their lives worse. The government created residential school hoping that he could help educate the Aboriginal children, but that was not the case.  Children were taken from their families and forces to go to the Residential schools they were not even allowed to speak their native language. It was not until the early 1960s the residential schools started phasing out. It was not until 1998 that the federal government issued an apology to the Aboriginal people and offered then 350 million dollars for the people that had suffered abuse at the residential schools. The Aboriginal people were more appreciated for the apology then the money they were offered. The acknowledgment of the wrong that had been done to the Aboriginals was a huge step toward gaining equality in Canada.


The Aboriginal people have suffered hardship and difficulty from the arrival of the Europeans so many centuries ago.  There have been numerous difficulties with the Canadian government from land rights, voting and residential schools. 

From 1945 - 2000 there were many changes that occurred with the Aboriginal people and the Canadian government.    The instalment of the residential school system for the Aboriginal children was a black mark in Canadian history.  Initially it was to be for their benefit, but ultimately it left most broken, empty and scarred.  In 1960, aboriginal Canadians were no longer required to give up their treaty rights in order to qualify to vote. This was a huge step towards equality for the Aboriginal people. This was the first thing that the government had ever done to give the Aboriginals something that they had being fighting to achieve for many year. Although this was a big step for Aboriginals,
they still continued to suffer from many difficulties.  Problems like poverty, poor health care and lack of education. Many aboriginals did leave the reserves to hope to fine life to better, but it turned out to be worse.  They could not get a job since they had no education or job skills. The aboriginal people in Canada have had to overcome  great adversity throughout generations.  I feel Canada has not done all it could have done to help this people group become fully recognized as one of the beneficial members of Canadian society.