Exploitation of Canadian Abori essays

Exploitation of Canadian Abori essays Exploitation of the Canadian Aboriginal The Plains Natives of Canada, two major tribes being the Cree and the Blackfoot, faced many obstacles in their pre-treaty days. These obstacles made them more open to a change in life-style proposed to them by the inflow of Europeans to the West of Canada, Native land. Although these propositions seemed to be the answer to their problems, more issues arose then the Plains People were capable of dealing with. The largest issue was the onset of cultural shock due to the assimilation into European culture, and the loss of their traditions and identities. In order to understand the reasons why the Natives of Western Canada felt obligated to sign a treaty that would end traditional life-styles, it is imperative to first consider the restraints that they were facing pre-treaty. Basically, the Plains Indians were nomadic, and relied heavily on their primary source for food and utilities. This treasured animal was the buffalo. Upon the introduction of horses and guns by European traders, hunting buffalo became easy and successful. The unfortunate effect of these untraditional hunts, was the disappearance of this food source. Also, Non-Natives contributed to this exhaustion of buffalo by hunting for hides. "Non-Native hunters were particularly objectionable: they used repeating rifles to kill countless buffalo for their hides, and they poisoned the carcasses with strychnine to destroy wolves so that they could obtain these animals too." (Ray, p.210) This, of course, had major repercussions for the Plains Natives, who were in desp erate need to find a new way of survival. The Europeans entered this scene with a solution to the Native's dwindling food source. They brought with them the techniques of farming and ranching, which they offered to teach the Plains People. "One of the major feature of Treaty 7 that distinguished it from the previous numbered treaties was the commitment by the...