Not Strangers in These Parts | Urban Aboriginal Peoples

Not Strangers in These Parts “Canada’s urban Aboriginal population offers the potential of a large, young and growing population — one that is ambitious and increasingly skilled. Let us work together to “ensure that urban Aboriginal Canadians are positioned and empowered to make an ongoing contribution to the future vitality of our cities and Canada.” Not Strangers in These Parts The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P. Urban Aboriginal Peoples Federal Interlocutor for Métis” and Non-Status Indians Lead Minister for the Urban Aboriginal Strategy Presentation to the Expanding Prairie Horizons – 2020 Visions Symposium, Winnipeg, Manitoba, March 7, 2003 70 % | 0 % Urban Aboriginal Peoples Percent Distribution of Aboriginal People in Winnipeg – 2001 Edited by David Newhouse & Evelyn Peters Not Strangers in These Parts Urban Aboriginal Peoples Edited by David Newhouse & Evelyn Peters CP22-71/2003 ISBN 0-662-67604-1 Table of Contents Preface . .3 Acknowledgements . 4 Introduction . 5 Urban Aboriginal Populations: An Update Using 2001 Census Results . 15 Definitions of Aboriginal Peoples . 20 The Presence of Aboriginal Peoples in Quebec’s Cities: Multiple Movements, Diverse Issues . 23 Fuzzy Definitions and Population Explosion: Changing Identities of Aboriginal Groups in Canada . 35 Aboriginal Mobility and Migration Within Urban Canada: Outcomes, Factors and Implications . 51 Urban Residential Patterns of Aboriginal People in Canada . 79 Aboriginal Languages in Canada’s Urban Areas: Characteristics, Considerations and Implications . 93 The Challenge of Measuring the Demographic and Socio-Economic Conditions of the Urban Aboriginal Population . 119 The Marginalization of Aboriginal Women in Montréal . 131 Prospects for a New Middle Class Among Urban Aboriginal People . 147 Ensuring the Urban Dream: Shared Responsibility and Effective Urban Aboriginal Voices . 167 Exile on Main Street: Some Thoughts on Aboriginal Over-Representation in the Criminal Justice System . 179 Is There a Need for Aboriginal-Specific Programming for Aboriginal Offenders? . 195 Educational Outcomes of Aboriginal Students in British Columbia: The Impact of “Good Schools” on Test Scores . 201 Urban Aboriginal Economic Development . 217 The Invisible Infrastructure: Urban Aboriginal Institutions and Organizations . 243 Urban Aboriginal Governance: Developments and Issues . 255 Urban American Indian Identity in a US City: The Case of Chicago from the 1950s Through the 1970s . 267 Conclusion: The Way Forward . 281 About the Authors . 285 Preface Edited by Professors David Newhouse, Trent University, and Evelyn Peters, University of Saskatchewan, this volume is a collection of papers devoted to analyzing the realities of urban Aboriginal peoples in Canada. It is the first volume in a series of thematic publications of proceedings from the Aboriginal Policy Research Conference. Held in November 2002, the conference was co-hosted by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the University of Western Ontario (UWO), with the participation of over a dozen federal departments and agencies as well as four national Aboriginal organizations. The conference was the largest of its kind ever held, with over 640 Aboriginal community leaders, academics, and policy-makers coming together to examine and discuss state of the art research on Aboriginal conditions in Canada. During the conference, representatives of the Policy Research Initiative (PRI), the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians Division, INAC, and UWO agreed to produce a series of thematic publications. As with this volume, subsequent publications will be based primarily on presentations from the conference, but will also include related studies not available at that time. With an increasingly important number of Aboriginal people living, studying, and working in urban areas, there is a particular need for multidisciplinary research into the many issues facing Aboriginal people in urban settings. The papers contained in this volume are both timely and relevant, not just to interested researchers and policy-makers, but to all Aboriginal people for whom the urban experience forms an integral part of either their own lives or the lives of family and friends. On behalf of the PRI, I am extending my thanks to our colleagues at the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians Division, INAC and UWO, to our editors, and to the many authors who have contributed to this collection. I would also echo Professors Newhouse and Peters in acknowledging the many Aboriginal people, indeed all people, who are working within urban centres to ensure that more Aboriginal people are able to lead healthy, rewarding lives in those communities. We are confident this book will provide a broad range of insights into the complex issues that face Aboriginal peoples in Canadian cities. Jean-Pierre Voyer Executive Director, Policy Research Initiative For more information on the conference or for updates on forthcoming publications, readers can visit the conference web site at <http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/sociology/aprc-crmpa/>. Accessed June 16, 2003. 3 Not Strangers in These Parts | Urban Aboriginal Peoples Acknowledgements The editors want to acknowledge the many Aboriginal people who are living in urban centres and working hard to create places of dignity and respect for Aboriginal individuals, communities, and nations within them. We hope our small contribution may assist in their efforts. We owe special thanks to many whose contributions made this text possible. First to the authors who agreed to write and share their research with us. Writing is no small feat. As the project managers responsible for this book, Roger Roberge and Johanne Valcourt of the Policy Research Initiative shepherded us through the laborious process of editing, revisions, production, and design. A very special thanks to Danny Jette who took on the difficult task of co-ordinating the various authors and working with us to keep us on track and on time. We owe similar debts of gratitude to Alfred LeBlanc, Eric Breton, and Jeff Frank, whose vision and dedication in the early stages of this project were instrumental to the realization of this collection. Special thanks also go to Jean-Pierre Voyer, Executive Director of the PRI, for backing this project and seeing it through. Susan Anzolin, Mary Lou Kenney, and Allan Macdonald of the Office of the Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians were enthusiastic and essential contributors to this project, bringing to the table authors, ideas, and necessary support. Dan Beavon of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, along with Jerry White and Paul Maxim of the University of Western Ontario, welcomed the association of this project with the Aboriginal Policy Research Conference in November 2002. Many of the authors featured here were presenters at the conference, speaking on issues of tremendous importance to Aboriginal peoples in Canada. We are pleased that this collection will serve as the first of a series of publications from the Aboriginal Policy Research Conference, and we are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the legacy of that historic conference. 4 Introduction David R. Newhouse Department of Native Studies Trent University Evelyn J. Peters Department of Geography University of Saskatchewan “You have to live in the world you find yourself in.” Fred Wheatley, Ojibway Elder in response to Trent student question about tradition and modernity, circa 1985. Aboriginal people live in cities. This simple declarative statement hides a complex reality. Life in small towns and large cities is part of Aboriginal reality as is life on reserves and in northern and Métis communities. Relationships with urban landlords, searching for employment in urban economies, making spaces for Aboriginal cultures and languages in city places, interacting with neighbours from different cultures and building urban Aboriginal programs and institutions is as much a part of Aboriginal realities as are land claims, conflicts over logging, hunting and treaty rights, and rural economic development. City life is now an integral component of Aboriginal peoples’ lives in Canada. This fact generates new mental images, research frameworks, and policy challenges. In 1951 the Census of Canada showed that 6.7 percent of the Aboriginal population lived in cities.1 By 2001, that proportion had increased to 49 percent. Now 245,000 Aboriginal people, or 25 percent of the total Aboriginal population reporting Aboriginal identity, live in 10 of the nations largest cities: Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Saskatoon, Regina, Ottawa-Hull, Montréal, and Victoria.2 Aboriginal people are now a part of the urban landscape and will remain so, most likely in increasing numbers, over the decades to come. Understanding this complex reality in sufficient detail and depth is a major research challenge. Using this understanding to guide policy-makers is the policy challenge. 5 Not Strangers in These Parts | Urban Aboriginal Peoples Many Canadian cities emerged in places used by Aboriginal people as gathering spots or settlement areas. Understanding contemporary processes of Aboriginal urbanization means we also need to acknowledge the story of Aboriginal peoples’ removal from emerging urban centres, a facet that is not a familiar part of Canadian urban history. While there are no histories that examine urban Aboriginal peoples and cities, there are numerous examples to suggest the general absence of Aboriginal people in cities

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