Jaiyana Samji/Staff reporter

Over the years, indigenous peoples have been treated as if they are less than others since they do things in a way that some people don’t always understand. As a country, Canada has taken so much from the Indigenous community without giving them the chance or ability to say no. The lack of representation for indigenous peoples in our government as well as the lack of support from the law on behalf of indigenous peoples has led to so much being taken from them without any opportunity to protect themselves.

In the movie The Klabona keepers, the story follows a group of indigenous peoples who continuously have their land used without their permission for things like mining or drilling for oil. The movie shows them trying to fight back and set up blockades, however when they do this, they get arrested for trying to protect their land. The big companies who wanted to use their land would ask the Klabona if it was ok, but if they said no or tried to stop them, the companies would get a government permit and do it anyways. One of the key takeaways from the Klabona keepers is that their land was being taken away from them, but when they tried to fight back, they were the ones who got in trouble. The reason this happened, is because Indigenous people don’t have enough of a voice our government, and even their own lives. One of the Klabona keepers from the movie said that “They used to take the children away from the land and now they take the land from the children.” This quote is meant to say that the government and society has taken so much from the Indigenous people, and it just never stops.

“They used to take the children away from the land and now they take the land from the children.”

Rhoda Quock
Klabona Keepers and their families blockading Shell at the turn off.

According to an article by Réal Carrière and Royce Koop, in the history of the Canadian government, there have been 49 self-identified indigenous MPs and 25 self-identified members of senate. Indigenous people have served in 11 of 13 provincial and territorial legislatures. One of the members of parliament that the article talks about explains how it was difficult for her to shake the feeling of being out of place during her time in Parliament: “As an Indigenous woman, I always feel like that kid who comes to school with everything wrong as I enter the chamber.” Another article from The green party of Canada written by John Chenery explains that the members of their party “have voted to add three seats to the federal council to accommodate indigenous, Inuit, and Metis representatives.” The article explains how “this is the first time in Canadian political history that a national party has included indigenous representative seats on its governing body.” The Green party of Canada is doing a lot to try to give indigenous people more of a voice in their government. For example, “the Indigenous peoples advisory council was incorporated into the party’s constitution and is a unit of the party that is representative of and controlled by its indigenous party members.”

An article by Michael Leach talks about how Countries around the world typically fall back on the “four categories of wanting indigenous people to be heard: Reserved parliamentary seats, devolved self-government, traditional authority councils, and indigenous advisory bodies.” Several countries have reserved seats for indigenous people. In New Zealand, the Māori have 7 reserved seats out of the 120. The article states that “Devolved self-governance involves delegation of certain government powers to indigenous communities themselves.” This approach is used with Australia’s Torres Strait Regional Authority. “Its 20 representatives, elected every 4 years, are tasked to formulate, coordinate, and implement programs for the Torres strait islander and aboriginal people living within the region.” Another example of delegated self-governance is Canada’s Nunavut parliament of the Inuit people. The Traditional authority councils’ model is exemplified by several Pacific nations. They advise the modern state on traditional affairs and were developed for majority indigenous societies. “Indigenous advisory bodies have played a key role in attempts to revitalize indigenous languages.” Canada has an indigenous advisory committee to advise government on policy with representatives from the three indigenous groupings: first nations, Inuit, and Metis.

Our current government system is working towards giving indigenous people more of a voice in our society and in their own lives. However, there is still so much room for improvement and so many ways that they can still improve our current systems. Other countries like Australia and New Zealand have implemented some great programs to give indigenous people more autonomy and a voice. Canada has also taken some great steps, but there is still a clear problem in our society when it comes to the representation of indigenous people that needs to be addressed and fixed in order to make our world a little fairer for the people who were here first.

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