No.... its called losing

Failing to evolve in this world comes at a very high price, they're not the only civilization or culture to be destroyed nor will they be the last

I didn't say that, this is what I have been led to believe is their position.

Debatable and interesting point
Historically Tibet has been in and out of Chinese rule for thousands of years with it last burst of independence in 1913, the issue is should they be managed by a democratically elected government even if it was an aggressor such as the peoples republic of china or ruled by an outdated religious leader such as the Dali lama
You could consider it dragging those backward third world provinces into the 21st century and replacing religious rule with a more democratic process, similar to what we have attempted to do in Afghanistan

I'd totally agree with what China is trying to do, but maybe not always with their methods

Would leaving them to become backward third world ghetto' s surviving on world bank handouts and voyeur tourism and being run by ever more fundamentalist religious leaders be better?

When did The Peoples Republic of China become a democratically elected government ? Did i miss something ?

Whatever we as immigrants believe is, or ought to be, the status of "Indians" in Canada they have the following"

A history here on the land dating back over 10,000 years;
Rights under the constitution as First Nations;
Various Treaty Rights;
A moral right to exist as a people and as nations.

If the traditional first peoples way of life and traditions were to die out we would all be the poorer.

Re: "natives" dying out. There are 1 million first nations people, half of whom are under 23. They are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population.

What a load of old nonsense that is.

OK - go to the nearest reserve, go to the band council office and you tell them that face to face.

That is what they believe.






Oh.... and good luck!

I'd no more do that than I would walk into a church, mosque, whatever and tell them what they believe is a big bag of bollocks. It would be madness to do it.

I should add that I do actually respect peoples right to believe in any craziness they want, however this doesn't extend to respecting the actual beliefs themselves (cos they are simply incorrect and/or mad).

Mad according to who?

Not to them.

And having worked in corrections for a number of years, with the "native" population, I know how transformative those beliefs can be. Alienated from their roots through alcohol and drugs and the echoes of the residential school system, suffering from cultural anomie, lonely and alone in large cities, clinging to other drug abusers for comfort and support natve men and women become empty shells. However, I have seen beaten men and women come to life inside jail when they have access to native healing sessions, sacred circle, smudging ceremonies, and the sweat lodge. And many/some/ not all cetainly - take that spirit back to their bands with them.

Whether we share their beliefs or not is irrelevant..... and it's very irrelevant to them. The last thing natives want is some white liberal affirming them, telling them how valuable their beliefs are. They don't want to be patronized, they just want to get on with it.

It was our "opinion" of their culture, language and beliefs that caused the cultural genocide that affects native people today. Our opinions, as white immigrants (for the most part) should, out of respect, be kept to ourselves.

Using spiritual belief as a crutch isn't unique to First Nations, most of the population of the world does it to one extent or another. However belief in fairy stories doesn't make them facts. The fact is that the creator that they believe in (like all other "creators") does not, and never did, actually exist.

You don't have to believe what they believe. Just believe it makes a difference to them. To go beyond that is to harken back to the "history behind much native american legislation and the circumstances that led to the way things are today" and to repeat the mistakes of the past.

It seems you want to understand native peoples so you can catalogue them according to your cultural bias, and then dismiss them as irrelevant.

yes.............

It may be recent and quite limited by western standards
But china has elections and isn't some hard nosed dictatorship some would like to pretend

The first nations peoples "way of life" as it pertains to life before Europeans is long dead. There is no going back to the hunter gathering lifestyle for these people anymore than Europeans are going back to the cro magnon days. Many Mi'kmaq peoples near me still hunt and fish, armed with the latest hunting rifles and crossbows, driving to their generator powered cabins as far as their $50,000 king cab 4x4 will take them and then hoping on their $10,000 quad the rest of the way. Many of them look nothing like what you would expect a native NA to look like, some even have blonde hair and blue eyes. Most wear jeans, baseball hats, nike's and shades. The native dress comes out about as often as the Mountie's red serge.

http://www.millbrookfirstnation.net/culture.php
A quote from the bottom of the page "Finally, do not come with any preconceived ideas as to what "Indians" are supposed look like. We come in all shapes and sizes, all different shades, eye and hair colors. It has been 500 years, after all."

A few pictures, http://www.millbrookfirstnation.net/powwow.php

There are many small native communities in the north who lived in homes made of snow and hunted walrus, seals, whales, and dealt with polar bears and arctic wolves. They hunted Bison, Moose and all the big game animals. They are no longer nomadic and live in wooden bungalows paid for by the government of Canada and own Bombardier's that can clip across the snow at 150km/hr, while watching satellite TV or playing xbox and listening to rap music and heavy metal.

My point is that the First nation's people are widely diversified across the continent. The Mi'kmaq people of the east would have never heard of the Haida people or the Blackfoot or the Inuit. When the natives peoples of different nations speak to each other they use English as they would not be able to understand most others native language. The eastern based natives had much earlier contact with Europeans than the western nations as a result of the settlement of the continent. Centuries earlier in many cases. Too often people make the mistake of thinking about native people like they are all from the same place, thinking of them like they are recent immigrants from the same country and all look the same.

This clip shows the different nations that lived in Canada prior to the arrival of Europeans. The names of the different native nations starts at about the 5 minute mark for those not interested in the first part.


When it comes to "rights" from the federal government, how far is this suppose to go? If someone is 1/8 native and 7/8 European should they really be considered native and entitled to benefits? Should they receive funding from tax dollars? What about my future unborn grandchildren and the future unborn grandchildren of a native person the same age as me? What about the 5 year old living in China whose parents are immigrating to Canada and will one day become a Canadian citizen and have grandchildren? What about the British children who have moved to Canada in 2009?

In many native cultures their is a strong sense of shame, which I think is made worse in cases where they are living off of government assistance. These people lived for thousands of years off the land completely independently. I think that the only way forward is for the native people to become independent. THEY do not need to help from everyone else to live. They lived in places like the Arctic without help, they can make it in modern Canada. They need to be set free. It won't be easy, but IMO it is the only way.

The way we can honor the native peoples is to embrace their history as that of human history as all of our ancestors lived this way off the land whether they be Iroquois or Cro Magnon. They also have very interesting folk lore and some very relaxing and inspirational music as well.

I think you are reading to much into what I am saying.

I'm not a hypocrite when it comes to religion - every single religion or similar belief system is lies and nonsense. I wouldn't deem to patronize first nations peoples with a different view of spirituality specifically for them.

My view is that people should be treated decently whatever their crazy theories about creators, sons of god, etc are. This doesn't mean they have the right to not be offended - such a right does not exist.

Edit to add: Realize my view of religion is a bit in your face. Anyway - this is also off topic. So apologies.

Let me begin by saying i'm not up to speed with the whole First Nations issues etc but a couple of things spring to my mind.

1, How much does Indoctrination affect the later generation First Nations and their thoughts, expectations?
2, How much does the old "Act the victim, become a victim" come into play?

Just pure curiosity questions from my side and in no means meant to be offensive in any way.