Explanation of Terms

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Explanation of Terms EXPLANATION OF TERMS Many Indigenous Aboriginal Peoples of Canada • An elder shares his/her under- • The first peoples in Canada and standings through teachings, ceremonies, stories and/or songs. people prefer their descendants • Individual elders hold different • Includes First Nations, Métis terms based on gifts or talents. and Inuit their specific • The role of an elder and the appro- • Each group is distinct and has its priate protocols for approaching own history, culture, protocols, community an elder vary from community to traditions and languages. and traditional community. • Usually used as a term in • An elder does not have to be a names for government policy senior citizen; the carrying of identification. • In November 2015, the Canadian knowledge and the recognition by government renamed Aboriginal the community are the key factors Affairs and Northern Develop- in determining who is an elder. ment to Indigenous Affairs and (Guiding Voices Northern Development. www.learnalberta.ca/content/ fnmigv/index.html) Bill C-31 Indian Eskimo • A person who gained or regained • Eskimo is derived from the Cree Indian status because of the Act word Askipowak meaning raw to Amend the Indian Act, 1985 meat eaters. This term, however, • Prior to Bill C-31, status Indian is offensive to Inuit in Canada women lost their status, band because it is viewed as derogatory membership and all associated and discriminatory. rights when they married • Eskimo is the commonly used non-status men. acceptable term for Indigenous people of Alaska and is defined in Ceremonialist American policy and legislation. • A highly respected member of a First Nations or Métis community First Nations • Recognized and identified by mem- • First Nations refers to status and non- bers of the community as being status Indian peoples in Canada. knowledgeable about spirituality • Not a legal term; the Canadian and spiritual practices constitution and legislation still (Guiding Voices use the term Indian www.learnalberta.ca/content/ • Term used by the Assembly fnmigv/index.html) of First Nations (www.afn.ca/en /about-afn/description-of-the-afn) Elder • Refers to the over 617 distinct • A highly respected member of Indigenous groups in Canada a First Nations, Métis or Inuit community • Each Indigenous group has its own distinct culture, language, • Recognized and identified by traditions and protocols. members of the community as carrying important wisdom, • First Nation is also used to oral traditions and knowledge of replace band when referring their culture to communities. Walking Together: Education for Reconciliation FNMI Métis • An acronym for First Nations, • The Métis are one of three Métis and Inuit used in many distinct Indigenous peoples in Alberta educational publications Canada recognized under the • This acronym should not be used 1982 Canadian constitution and to refer to First Nations, Métis have a culture, language and and/or Inuit peoples as it is traditions distinct from First Nations and Inuit. considered offensive by many and often misunderstood. • The historical term used to describe children born to Indigenous Peoples First Nations women and • Term used globally to refer to the European men; it has become original inhabitants of any region the accepted term to describe all NEXT STEPS children born of First Nations • Includes the three groups of women and European men. Indigenous people in Canada: »»» • The Supreme Court of Canada First Nations, Métis and Inuit identified three broad factors Educators always want to be respectful in Inuit in determining who is Métis: self-identification, ancestral their conversations and • “The people” in Inuktitut connection to the historic working relationships language Métis community and with people of a different • Inuit is plural and the singular community acceptance culture. This includes form is Inuk. (http://albertametis.com/metis- using the culturally • The Indigenous people in North- rights/who-is-metis/). appropriate terminology ern Canada who live in Nunavut, when working with First the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Non-status Indian Northern Quebec and Northern • A First Nations person who is not Nations, Métis and Inuit. Labrador. Specifically, Inuit orig- registered or who has lost their The terms defined in this status under the Indian Act inated in the central and eastern fact sheet are general Arctic and Inuvialuit originated guidelines, and best in the western Arctic. Status/Registered Indian • A First Nations person who practice is to confirm with Knowledge Keeper meets the requirements and is the individual beforehand • A member of a First Nations, registered with the Canadian how they wish to be Métis or Inuit community government under the Indian Act addressed. For example, one should not assume • Recognized and identified by Treaty Indian elders of the community as being that an individual can be • A status Indian whose ancestors knowledgeable about cultural introduced as First Nation signed a treaty (legal document practices, products or world views as they may prefer to be between nations) with the Crown (Guiding Voices introduced using their www.learnalberta.ca/content/ band name. fnmigv/index.html) Stepping Stones | COMMON TERMINOLOGY FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF CANADA.
Recommended publications
  • Aboriginal Census Data in Canada: a Research Note
    ABORIGINAL CENSUS DATA IN CANADA: A RESEARCH NOTE James C. Saku Department of Geography Frostburg State University Frostburg, Maryland USA, 21532 Abstract I Resume Aboriginal census data in Canada are characterised by numerous structural and administrative problems. This research note examines the problems associated with Aboriginal census data. In particular, the changes of the ethnic question and its impact on total counts in Canada and the Northwest Territories are explored. The analysis indicates that while the total popula­ tion counts in the Northwest Territories are similar to projected annual population growth, the counts for Canada vary significantly. Les donnees du recensement des autochtones au Canada se caracterisent par de nombreux problemes administratifs et structuraux. Cette note de recherche se penche sur les problemes en relation avec les informations sur Ie recensement des autochtones. Les changements qui sont surtout etudies concement la question ethnique et son impact sur Ie denombrement de la popUlation totale au Canada et dans les territoires du Nord-Ouest. Bien que Ie denombrement de la population totale dans les territoires du Nord-Ouest soit semblable aux previsions de la croissance annuelle de la population, I'analyse indique que Ie denombrement pour Ie Canada varie beaucoup. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies XIX, 2(1999):365-379. 366 James C. Saku Introduction Within the past four decades, research on Aboriginal Canadians has increased tremendously. While some researchers generate their own data through
    [Show full text]
  • Scaling Memory: Reparation Displacement and the Case of BC
    Scaling Memory: Reparation Displacement and the Case of BC MATT JAMES University of Victoria In British Columbia, people tend to view history as something that happened last weekend.... Happily, it doesn’t matter here who your ancestors were or who did what to whom 300 years ago. Lisa Hobbs Birnie ~1996! Racist injustices have played a central role in shaping British Columbia; it could hardly be otherwise in a white-dominated settler society built on an ongoing history of Indigenous dispossession and 75 initial years of official racism against Asians. Yet despite the spread of an “age of apol- ogy” ~Gibney et al., 2008!, characterized in many locales by a growing introspection over patterns of historic injustice, considerations of repara- tion still seem marginal in BC, an anomaly to which this article responds. Charting the contours of an amnesiac culture of memory, the follow- ing pages argue that BC’s aloofness from the age of apology reflects a phenomenon I call “reparation displacement.” While some recalcitrant communities resist calls to repair injustice by denying responsibility or claiming no injustice has occurred, reparation displacement works more subtly, redirecting understandings of responsibility instead. In the BC case, reparation displacement is intertwined with the politics of federalism; issues of racist injustice in BC have been conceived almost exclusively— not only by officials but often by redress activists themselves—as mat- ters of federal rather than provincial shame. While more informed debates about Canadian belonging have followed federal apologies for wrongs inflicted on various groups, including Japanese Canadians, Chinese Cana- dians and Indigenous peoples ~James, 2006: 243–45!, BC is a different Acknowledgments: The author would like to thank Caroline Andrew, Alan Cairns, Avigail Eisenberg, Steve Dupré, Chris Kukucha, Daniel Woods, and the two CJPS reviewers for helpful comments on earlier drafts.
    [Show full text]
  • Indigenous People of Western New York
    FACT SHEET / FEBRUARY 2018 Indigenous People of Western New York Kristin Szczepaniec Territorial Acknowledgement In keeping with regional protocol, I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and by honoring the sovereignty of the Six Nations–the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora–and their land where we are situated and where the majority of this work took place. In this acknowledgement, we hope to demonstrate respect for the treaties that were made on these territories and remorse for the harms and mistakes of the far and recent past; and we pledge to work toward partnership with a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration. Introduction This fact sheet summarizes some of the available history of Indigenous people of North America date their history on the land as “since Indigenous people in what is time immemorial”; some archeologists say that a 12,000 year-old history on now known as Western New this continent is a close estimate.1 Today, the U.S. federal government York and provides information recognizes over 567 American Indian and Alaskan Native tribes and villages on the contemporary state of with 6.7 million people who identify as American Indian or Alaskan, alone Haudenosaunee communities. or combined.2 Intended to shed light on an often overlooked history, it The land that is now known as New York State has a rich history of First includes demographic, Nations people, many of whom continue to influence and play key roles in economic, and health data on shaping the region. This fact sheet offers information about Native people in Indigenous people in Western Western New York from the far and recent past through 2018.
    [Show full text]
  • First Nations People, Métis and Inuit in Canada: Diverse and Growing Populations
    Catalogue no. 89-659-x2018001 ISBN 978-0-660-25446-3 First Nations People, Métis and Inuit in Canada: Diverse and Growing Populations Release date: March 20, 2018 Statistics Statistique Canada Canada How to obtain more information For information about this product or the wide range of services and data available from Statistics Canada, visit our website, www.statcan.gc.ca. You can also contact us by email at [email protected] telephone, from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the following toll-free numbers: • Statistical Information Service 1-800-263-1136 • National telecommunications device for the hearing impaired 1-800-363-7629 • Fax line 1-514-283-9350 Depository Services Program • Inquiries line 1-800-635-7943 • Fax line 1-800-565-7757 Standards of service to the public Note of appreciation Statistics Canada is committed to serving its clients in a prompt, Canada owes the success of its statistical system to a reliable and courteous manner. To this end, Statistics Canada has long-standing partnership between Statistics Canada, the developed standards of service that its employees observe. To citizens of Canada, its businesses, governments and other obtain a copy of these service standards, please contact Statistics institutions. Accurate and timely statistical information could not Canada toll-free at 1-800-263-1136. The service standards be produced without their continued co-operation and goodwill. are also published on www.statcan.gc.ca under “About us” > “The agency” > “Providing services to Canadians.” Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada © Minister of Industry, 2018 All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Tea and Bannock Stories: First Nations Community Poetic Voices
    Tea and Bannock Stories: First Nations Community of Poetic Voices a compilation of poems in celebration of First Nations aesthetic practices, such as poetry, songs, and art, that speak about humankind’s active relationships to Home Land and her Beings Simon Fraser University, First Nations Studies compiled by annie ross Brandon Bob Eve Chuang and the Chuang Family Steve Davis Robert Pictou This project was made possible by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC) Background: First Nations Studies, the Archaeology Department, and the School for Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, is the origin place for Tea and Bannock Stories. Tea and Bannock Stories is a grass-roots, multi-generational, multi-national gathering of poets and artists. Together we have learned from and informed one another. Our final result is this compilation of poems and images presented in a community event on Mother Earth Day, April 21, 2007, at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Center amidst family, friends, songs, dances, art, poetry, tea, and bannock. Tea and Bannock Stories began as research inquiry into poetic First Nations aesthetic forms between aboriginal artists and poets, the principal researcher, annie ross, SFU student researchers Brandon Bob, Eve Chuang, and Simon Solomon, and students during the years 2004 – 2007 to investigate First Nations environmental ideas in the poetic and visual form1. First Nations Artist Mentors to SFU students were: Chief Janice George and Willard Joseph (Squamish), Coast
    [Show full text]
  • Inuit Harvest and Trade of Polar Bear in Canada
    CITES & LIVELIHOODS CASE STUDY 2019 Inuit harvest and trade of Polar Bear in Canada SPECIES, USE AND TRADE POLAR BEAR Ursus maritimus Canada is home to approximately provincial and territorial legislation, 16,000 polar bears, around two- through which harvesting is thirds of the global population. regulated and managed. Polar bears are apex predators APPENDIX II and play an important role in the Inuit have legally protected rights ecosystems of Canada’s vast to harvest and use wildlife in Arctic and subarctic regions. Canada, and harvest polar bears for food, cultural, and livelihood VULNERABLE The most significant and long-term purposes. Some of the harvest is threat to polar bears is climate undertaken through Inuit-guided change, although its impacts on sport hunting. Exports of polar populations are uncertain and will bear specimens includes products vary across the species’ range. from both subsistence and sport hunting, and includes hides, skulls, Polar bear population status and rugs, bone parts, taxidermy trends assessment includes both mounts and scientific samples. scientific information and indigenous (Inuit) Knowledge. In Canada, polar Management is coordinated bears are considered a species of locally and regionally, and Special Concern under Canada’s further coordinated at the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), national and international levels requiring a management plan with the goal of long term (currently under preparation). conservation of the species. They are also protected under LIVELIHOOD BENEFITS Polar bears are culturally, spiritually harvested bears are taken directly by and economically significant for Inuit, for food, clothing, and cultural Canadian Inuit communities, who purposes, and hides may be sold have been harvesting them for internationally or within Canada.
    [Show full text]
  • Indigenous Peoples/First Nations Fact Sheet for the Poor Peoples Campaign
    Indigenous Peoples/First Nations Fact Sheet For the Poor Peoples Campaign “Who will find peace with the lands? The future of humankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up their responsibilities to all living things. Who will listen to the trees, the animals and birds, the voices of the places of the land? As the long forgotten peoples of the respective continents rise and begin to reclaim their ancient heritage, they will discover the meaning of the lands of their ancestors. That is when the invaders of North American continent will finally discover that for this land, God is red”. Vine Deloria Jr., God Is Red Indigenous Peoples and their respective First Nations are not only place-based peoples relationally connected to their traditional homelands, but have their own distinctive cultures, traditions, and pre-colonial and colonial histories since European contact.1 The World Bank 2020 Report states the global Indigenous population is 476 million people, or 6% of the world’s population, live in over 90 countries, and through the cultural practices of traditional ecological knowledge, protect about 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity2. Within the United States (U.S.), Native Americans/American Indians/Alaska Natives/Native Hawaiians comprise about 2% of the entire United States population. There are, indeed, more than 6.9 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives3, and in 2019, there were 1.9 million Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders4. Within the U.S., there are 574 federally recognized Indian nations, 62 state-recognized Indian nations5, and hundreds of non-federally and non-state recognized Native American nations6.
    [Show full text]
  • Death and Life for Inuit and Innu
    skin for skin Narrating Native Histories Series editors: K. Tsianina Lomawaima Alcida Rita Ramos Florencia E. Mallon Joanne Rappaport Editorial Advisory Board: Denise Y. Arnold Noenoe K. Silva Charles R. Hale David Wilkins Roberta Hill Juan de Dios Yapita Narrating Native Histories aims to foster a rethinking of the ethical, methodological, and conceptual frameworks within which we locate our work on Native histories and cultures. We seek to create a space for effective and ongoing conversations between North and South, Natives and non- Natives, academics and activists, throughout the Americas and the Pacific region. This series encourages analyses that contribute to an understanding of Native peoples’ relationships with nation- states, including histo- ries of expropriation and exclusion as well as projects for autonomy and sovereignty. We encourage collaborative work that recognizes Native intellectuals, cultural inter- preters, and alternative knowledge producers, as well as projects that question the relationship between orality and literacy. skin for skin DEATH AND LIFE FOR INUIT AND INNU GERALD M. SIDER Duke University Press Durham and London 2014 © 2014 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ∞ Designed by Heather Hensley Typeset in Arno Pro by Copperline Book Services, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Sider, Gerald M. Skin for skin : death and life for Inuit and Innu / Gerald M. Sider. pages cm—(Narrating Native histories) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978- 0- 8223- 5521- 2 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978- 0- 8223- 5536- 6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Naskapi Indians—Newfoundland and Labrador—Labrador— Social conditions.
    [Show full text]
  • Utkuhikšalingmiut Uqauhiitigut Uqauhiliurut. Dictionary Of
    REVIEWS • 435 NIC, extending to personal slights, is described; but there (NLCA). Article 23 of the NLCA provides for measures were also cases in which territorial ministers were insulted intended to achieve representative Inuit employment within by NIC Commissioners, and such instances are generally the Government of Nunavut and in federal departments not mentioned. The book does record that the chief com- within the territory. Meeting the objective of Article 23 will missioner of the NIC wrote to Minister Irwin, describing be critical for decentralization to meet its goal of providing the GNWT as a “so-called government” and referring to significant Inuit employment benefits in the decentralized Minister Todd “who loathes NIC because we will not do his communities. bidding” (p. 67). The authors’ conclusion is that “Ultimately, the success This particular letter was sparked by the GNWT’s of this effort will be measured in large part by both how refusal in 1997 to nominate two commissioners for appoint- efficient and appropriate a government the GN evolves into ment to the NIC. It should be noted that the appointment and by how much the decentralized communities them- of commissioners to the NIC was dealt with in Section 55 selves feel about the economic and social impacts” (p. 327). of the Nunavut Act, which required that three commission- Another way of expressing this would be to say that the ers be appointed from a list of candidates to be supplied by success of the effort depends on how effective the Nunavut the premier of the Northwest Territories. The Nunavut Act government is in overcoming its capacity problems and, as did not authorize the DIAND minister to recommend such part of this process, in training and recruiting local Inuit to appointments except from the premier’s list, and this point fill the decentralized positions.
    [Show full text]
  • Inuit Identities, Language, and Territoriality Donna Patrick
    Document généré le 27 sept. 2021 22:55 Diversité urbaine Inuit Identities, Language, and Territoriality Donna Patrick Plurilinguisme et identités au Canada Résumé de l'article Numéro hors-série, automne 2008 Cet article offre un cadre pour comprendre la complexité sociale des liens entre la langue, l’identité et la territorialité (ou l’attachement au lieu). Reposant URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/019563ar sur une recherche qualitative faite parmi les Inuits de l’Arctique canadien et DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/019563ar d’Ottawa, j’y discute des identités inuites en relation avec le rôle joué par les processus locaux, régionaux, nationaux et mondiaux dans la construction de Aller au sommaire du numéro l’« Inuitness » et la transformation des identités indigènes sur les plans national et mondial. Cet article mettra en lumière que, bien que l’inuktitut soit soutenu par des structures institutionnelles et politiques au Nunavik et au Nunavut, l’anglais et le français sont devenus de plus en plus importants dans la vie Éditeur(s) quotidienne nordique. En même temps, la migration inuite vers les villes du Groupe de recherche diversité urbaine Sud a présenté de nouveaux défis et a établi de nouvelles priorités dans la CEETUM formation du plurilinguisme nécessaire à la vie inuite urbaine. ISSN 1913-0694 (imprimé) 1913-0708 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Patrick, D. (2008). Inuit Identities, Language, and Territoriality. Diversité urbaine, 91–108. https://doi.org/10.7202/019563ar Tous droits réservés © Groupe de recherche diversité urbaine et CEETUM, 2008 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur.
    [Show full text]
  • In Memoriam: Jean L. Briggs (1929–2016)
    Document generated on 09/26/2021 8:51 a.m. Études Inuit Studies In Memoriam Jean L. Briggs (1929–2016) Bestiaire inuit Inuit Bestiary Volume 41, Number 1-2, 2017 URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1061444ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1061444ar See table of contents Publisher(s) Centre interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches autochtones (CIÉRA) ISSN 0701-1008 (print) 1708-5268 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this document (2017). In Memoriam: Jean L. Briggs (1929–2016). Études Inuit Studies, 41(1-2). https://doi.org/10.7202/1061444ar Tous droits réservés © La revue Études Inuit Studies, 2019 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ In Memoriam Jean L. Briggs (1929–2016) ean Briggs was born in the United States on May 28, J 1929. She told (Michael) Conor Cook and me that this day coincides with the blooming of bridal wreath or Spiraea, which is certainly the case in Toronto every year. I first met Jean when I taught linguistics at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where she was Henrietta Harvey Professor and then later Professor Emerita after teaching anthropology there for over four decades.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory
    Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory September 2017 CAUT Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory September 2017 The following document offers the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) recommended territorial acknowledgement for institutions where our members work, organized by province. While most of these campuses are included, the list will gradually become more complete as we learn more about specific traditional territories. When requested, we have also included acknowledgements for other post-secondary institutions as well. We wish to emphasize that this is a guide, not a script. We are recommending the acknowledgements that have been developed by local university-based Indigenous councils or advisory groups, where possible. In other places, where there are multiple territorial acknowledgements that exist for one area or the acknowledgements are contested, the multiple acknowledgements are provided. This is an evolving, working guide. © 2016 Canadian Association of University Teachers 2705 Queensview Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K2B 8K2 \\ 613-820-2270 \\ www.caut.ca Cover photo: “Infinity” © Christi Belcourt CAUT Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples and Traditional Territory September 2017 Contents 1| How to use this guide Our process 2| Acknowledgement statements Newfoundland and Labrador Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia New Brunswick Québec Ontario Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta British Columbia Canadian Association of University Teachers 3 CAUT Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples and Traditional Territory September 2017 1| How to use this guide The goal of this guide is to encourage all academic staff context or the audience in attendance. Also, given that association representatives and members to acknowledge there is no single standard orthography for traditional the First Peoples on whose traditional territories we live Indigenous names, this can be an opportunity to ensure and work.
    [Show full text]