I Read: 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph

Admittedly, because of my privilege of being of European descent I haven't had to put a lot of thought into how the Canadian indigenous people have been treated. I studied the War of 1812 in school, and the "Indians" helped in that so I never really thought about what the situation might have actually been like.

Recently, I've had the opportunity to see materials in an Aboriginal cultural safety training program and it's made me genuinely interested in the topic. Which is how I found this book.

It sounds horrible to me to say that I wasn't even aware of an "Indian Act" that still existed. I knew there were some rules and laws that affected aboriginal bands but it never really occurred to me that there was an entire Act that actually was enacted back in the 1800s. And while there have been amendments to it, there really haven't been any improvements. But having seen the training materials, and now reading this book, the only improvement that could be made is to get rid of this act.

Why should aboriginals in Canada have to follow, and be subjected to different laws than those who came and settled the land? They're not savages, as much as the original settlers might have thought so. They should be allowed to have their own religious customs, and elect their own leaders, and do everything else the same way that we're allowed to. But they're still ruled by an Act that wanted to assimilate them. To "solve the Indian problem". The rest of the country is based on accepting everyone for who they are - why do we not give the indigenous people that same privilege?

It makes me beyond sad that we haven't done better. And I'm complicit in my lack of knowledge. I just didn't pay attention, and when I should have been taught about Canada's proper history no one was talking about this. I hope we can bring up the next generations knowing how important it is to learn everything about our history - not just the pretty stuff. We don't want the effects to continue, and we don't want to repeat the mistakes.

#15-2021