URBAN ABORIGINALS

1) WHY IS CANADA’S ABORIGINAL POPULATION GROWING BUT FEWER PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO CARRY ON A CONVERSATION IN A NATIVE LANGUAGE?

- URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION ARE PROCESSES THAT ERODE OR TRANSFORM TRADITIONAL CULTURES.

INDUSTRIALIZATION: THE PROCESS BY WHICH SOCIETIES ARE TRANSFORMED FROM DEPENDENCE ON AGRICULTURE AND HANDMADE PRODUCTS TO AN EMPHASIS ON MANUFACTURING AND RELATED INDUSTRIES.

URBANIZATION: THE PROCESS BY WHICH AN INCREASING PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION LIVES IN CITIES RATHER THAN RURAL AREAS.

1. ACCORDING TO STATSCAN, HALF OF ABORIGINALS NOW LIVE IN URBAN AREAS, COMPARED TO 47 PERCENT IN 1996 – A SLOW AND STEADY INCREASE – WHAT IMPACT DOES “URBANIZATION” HAVE ON THE ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY?

- OPPORTUNITIES – INDUSTRY (JOBS) AND CULTURE (ENRICHMENT -- FREEDOM AND CONNECTION).

- BUT – AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT IS CHARACTERIZED BY - IMPERSONALITY AND ANONYMITY (CAN BE A LONELY, ALIENATING PLACE).

- TREMENDOUS “PULL” ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TO MIGRATE FOR OPPORTUNITY AND JOBS.

2. ALMOST 83 PERCENT OF NON-NATIVE YOUNGSTERS LIVE WITH TWO PARENTS, WHILE ONLY 65 PERCENT OF ON RESERVES AND50 PERCENT OF NATIVE YOUNGSTERS IN URBAN AREAS LIVE WITH TWO PARENTS. EXPLAIN?

-ABORIGINAL PEOPLE HAVE A GREATER DEGREE OF MAL-ADAPTION AND DYSFUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS TO THE CITY.

{{{{- URBAN SOCIOLOGISTS STUDY HOW PEOPLE ADAPT OR MAL-ADAPT TO THE PROCESSES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION.}}}}}

- [THIS IS WHERE "SOCIAL PROBLEMS" COME IN. THEY ARE CONSIDERED UNDESIRABLE ADAPTIONS, OR MAL-ADAPTIONS, TO URBAN LIVING. REQUIRING CONSTRUCTIVE REFORM. EX: URBAN HOMELESSNESS, POVERTY, CRIME, PROSTITUTION, DIVORCE, CHRONIC UNEMPLOYMENT AND MENTAL ILLNESS.]

- THIS CREATES A TREMENDOUS “PUSH” BACK TO THE RESERVES.

-THE COMBINATION OF “PUSHES” AND “PULLS” IS WHAT IS CALLED “HYPER-MOBILITY” – FREQUENT MOVEMENT BETWEEN CITY AND RESERVE

RESERVES WERE ONCE REGARDED AS TOOLS OF COLONIALISM OR LOCALES OF CHRONIC POVERTY.

INCREASINGLY, HOWEVER, THEY HAVE COME TO BE ENDORSED AS ENCLAVES OF ABORIGINAL IDENTITY – SITES OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND SELF-GOVERNMENT, AND ENGINES OF RENEWAL.

AMBIGUITY – THE VERY ISOLATION OF THESE RESERVES FOSTERS THE “ESSENCE” OF ABORIGINAL BEING, BOTH PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL. YET THERE REMOTENESS CREATES PROBLEMS WITH ATTRACTING INVESTMENT.

RESERVE COMMUNITIES FURNISH SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SECURITY FOR ABORIGINAL PEOPLE, DESPITE HIGH LEVELS OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND DEBILITATING LIVING CONDITIONS.

YET, NOW 50 PERCENT OF PEOPLE LIVE OFF OF THE RESERVES – REFLECTING “PUSH” FACTORS (LACK OF RESOURCES, OPPORTUNITY, OR EXCITEMENT) AND “PULL” FACTORS RELATED TO EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, AND LIFESTYLE.

“HYPERMOBILITY” -- FREQUENT MOVEMENT BETWEEN CITY AND RESERVE

1. GO TO CITY FOR EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION.

2. GO TO RESERVE FOR KINSHIP TIES, IMPERSONALITY OF CITY LIFE.

3. MANY WISH TO PRESERVE THEIR POSITION ON THE RESERVE AND SUSTAIN THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF LEGAL STATUS AS SETTLERS THERE (IN ANTICIPATION OF FUTURE GAINS).

4. PEOPLE LEAVE BECAUSE OF MISGUIDED POLICIES AND FISCAL MISMANAGEMENT.

5. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OFFERS LITTLE IN THE WAY OF SERVICES TO “OFF-RESERVE” ABORIGINALS (CITING JURISDICTIONAL PROBLEMS WITH PROVINCES).

6. THE DIFFICULTIES NATIVES FACE IN URBAN ADJUSTMENT MAY PARTLY BE DUE TO THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THEIR CULTURAL SYSTEMS AND THAT OF THE CITY.