Chapter 4 & 5 Flashcards
Canadian Indigenous Demographics
- Young and growing population
- 44.2% live on reserve
- 51.8% live in metropolitan areas
- 4.3% of the total population of Canada
Aboriginal Indigenous Child
ages 0-4
- 60% live with two parents
- 34% live with one parent
- 10.5% one parent
- 1.8% live with grandparent(s)
- 3% foster care
Families before Confederation
- Complex political, social, economic and family structures based on kinship networks
- Many lived communally, shared resources and responsibilities
- Gender roles much more egalitarian
- Many matrilineal
Fur Trade
- Indigenous gamily and gender systems respected
- European traders married into Indigenous communities
- Collapse of fur trade, rise of agriculture
Colonization
- Westward expansion and agriculture development
* Treaties a way to acquire land for the influx of settlers
Treaty
An agreement negotiated between nation states
Indian Act of 1876
- Interfered with political, economic and family life
* Formalization of dependency on the State
Colonization and Families
Colonization sought to dismantle Indigenous gender and familial systems
- Indian Act 1876
- Residential schools
- Child welfare system
Indian Act and Families
- Patrilineal lines legally enforced
* Indigenous women lose Indian status if married to non-Indigenous men
Residential Schools
*Educational system created by Canadian government, administered by Churches
2 Primary Objectives of Residential Schools
- Remove and isolate children from their families and communities
- Assimilate them into the Euro-Canadian Christian culture
Child Welfare System
“Sixties Scoop”
- Large scale removal of Indigenous babies and children from their families without proper investigation
- Based on assumptions about “race” and character by provincial agencies
- 20,000 children
Family Trends Today (Indigenous)
Resiliency and resistance
- Intergenerational and extended family nurturing
- Indigenous understandings of family persist despite colonial structures
- Efforts to redress injustices
Immigration Patterns
- Record number of immigrants early 1900s
- Beginning of 20th century, most immigrants from US or UK
- WW1 halt immigration
- 1920s –> immigrants from Europe
- 1970s onward –> increasing immigration from non-European countries
State Policies, Immigration and Family Life
Historically, immigration policies designed to help populate the country and contribute to labour force
