Ok first let me get one thing very clear - I am in no way racist and I find the native american/canadian culture totally fascinating!
However we are looking to move to a rural town in the Okanagan, that is very close to several first nation reservations. In a previous thread (back in 2007) this area was described as dangerous as it was primarily an Indian town! I found this remark quite shocking, but I have to admit it's got me worried. We have 2 young boys and one of our reasons for moving to Canada was to offer them a safer environment to grow up in!

I just wanted to get others more recent feelings on this matter. How do the first nations people effect day to day life?

They make it easier to get hold of cheap ciggies, and if you find yourself pining for the UKs public displays of drunkenness then they can help out with that too.


Don't know why anyone would describe the reserves as dangerous particularly. Sad, Deprived, Underprivileged would all be higher up my list of adjectives.

White man came from Europe destroyed killed stole and took their land and pushed the only group of people (North American Indians) on earth to actually not rape and pilage the land into reservations, they will love you and welcome you with open arms into their community!

Ok maybe not but you can buy cheap ciggies and see lots of drunk people!!

Be very careful what you say.

It depends on the reserve, how its governed. They vary considerably. I drive through one on my way to work and it looks no different to the village next to it.

It is not a race thing. Crime (or at least the kind of crime the OP is talking about) is a consequence of relative poverty. The reserves in and around the Vancouver area seem to be prosperous, well managed and as safe as anywhere else.

The stories you hear about the conditions on some of the reserves in rural Canada would make you want to weep.

Please be a bit more specific, so people can be helpful. There are no "indian towns" in the Okanagan.

Most of rez-life is isolated i.e. what goes on on the rez stays on the rez. Occasionally some areas will have "overspill effects" where crime spews over into the local suburban area/downtown core. IMO that doesn't seem to happen in Kelowna, as most of the crime seems to be honky white trash street crime. There would be reasons why native crime doesn't spread into downtown Kelowna but that's outside the scope of this thead.

Lytton and Lilloet, areas such as that, are very "rural-native-sketch-poor" but they're not in the Okanagan.

R.

You mostly see the ones in our village hanging round the bottle shop!

Pembo has an interesting rural residential area heading out to Whistler.

R.

I have an English friend (in Hastings) who is fascinated by our Indians but pretty much hates yours.

Theres a few reserves not far from where we live,to be honest i have no problem with the first nations.Sure its them that are drunk down at the bar but so what ,better than the terrorists that are abundant in england.Most you meet are very polite and love talking to you and finding out about england.

At least they're not chavs, skinheads or football hooligans!

I take it you were often bombed. How often did you have to move house after the previous one was blown up?

You take it wrong...know it all

Well, how were the abundant terrorists apparent to you? Were you kidnapped and held hostage? Did you see people being necklaced most days?