TAKE HOME EXAM INDG 1001
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Trent University *
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Course
1001H
Subject
Medicine
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
8
Uploaded by ChiefSnowRam44
1.
In this course, we discuss how treaties with Indigenous peoples have created Canada and continue to inform the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada. Discuss how the treaty process has created this country, using specific examples, and how the treaty process is continuing in Canada today. Treaties can be understood as nation-to-nation relationships entered between the Indigenous communities and the government of Canada. They have played an integral role in making Canada what it is today, with treaties covering most of the country’s land mass. Without treaties, we would not have the land division be what it is right now. Treaties can be negotiated orally – common with the Indigenous peoples – or through the written document –
common with the Canadian government. Either way, they mark the beginnings and ends of a relationship as well as the rights and responsibilities allowed to the Indigenous people and the
government. As a result, they are incredibly sacred documents for the Indigenous people as they mark an agreement between people and the Creator. The legal recognition of treaties was central to the discussion surrounding assimilation 45 years ago and continues to be relevant. Historical treaties are important to First Nations people as they view the treaties as significant to their relationship with the state (Bear, 2015). Historians have divided up the treaties into three sections: the Pre-Confederate treaties, Upper Canada treaties, and Post-Confederate treaties. The Pre-Confederate treaties are the Peace and Friendship treaties (1725-1779), a period of frequent warfare often occurring after peace negotiations between France and Britain. They were several treaties between the crown and the Indigenous communities on the east coast. They mainly concerned
things such as military alliances or neutrality, protection of resources and relationships, etc. the upper Canada treaties (1764-1836), which includes the treaty of Niagara of 1764, were mainly regarded as land cessation documents to accommodate the United Empire Loyalists, with negotiations taking a long time, being complex in nature, and involving many peoples
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and their rights. Historical artefacts of these would prove to be very short and not representative of all that was discussed. The post-confederate treaties, which include the numbered treaties (1867-1923) and the Williams treaties of 1921, were viewed as ends, with the crown granting rights at the pleasure of the government and the Indigenous people safeguarding their existing rights. They were moral documents created to avoid conflict (Morin, 2005). Over the past 250 years,
many treaties were negotiated and some continue to be (Townshend, 2022). They are an integral part of maintaining the relationship between the Indigenous people and the government of Canada, so treaties do and will continue to be negotiated.
2.
In this course, we have provided several teachings about Medicine Wheels/Circles. Choose one of these teachings and use it to discuss what you have learned in the course and how it connects you to reconciliation.
The medicine wheel is a sacred teaching among Indigenous peoples that teaches us to balance our mind, body and spirit to live a fulfilling life. They involve the four quadrants of our physical self, our emotional self, our mental self, and our spiritual self. There are several different interpretations of the medicine wheel and its teachings. I have used the Medicine Wheel Teaching with Elder Esley
(2020) of the University of Alberta’s First Peoples’ House. She uses the Medicine Wheel in this specific context to talk about young people and the balance of their four internal quadrants. She discusses it as a way to regulate the self. She relates these four quadrants to the four stages of life. The physical represents the child, the emotional represents the adolescent, the mental is the adult, and the spiritual the senior. Thus,
as we grow older, we are moving from one stage to the next. This teaching has also helped me with understanding this course as it was going on.
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A root of Indigenous culture is relationships and how they are ongoing and crucial to maintaining and developing a better society. The medicine wheel in itself has an interconnectedness within it. The four quadrants of the self are reliant on each other. It would not work to prioritize our bodies, for instance by exercising, but simultaneously neglect our mental health. That is not an adequate method as we would still be lacking in one or more important areas of our health. Reconciliation is the ongoing process of the Canadian government and the Indigenous people working to repair their relationship with one another. One of the four aspects of reconciliation as envisioned by Indigenous leaders is harmony (Newhouse, 2016). This relates to the civil relations between the Indigenous people and the “settlers.” We can say that this stage of reconciliation incorporates the medicine wheel as it involves building an interdependent relationship for the benefit of all involved, similar to how
the wheel’s philosophy functions.
3.
Using the four reconciliation areas in the Newhouse article provided to you in the course (copy at the end of this question) entitled, “Indigenous Peoples, Canada and the Possibility of Reconciliation” to answer the following: To achieve reconciliation in your lifetime, what advice would you give the Prime Minister of Canada?
Reconciliation is the long process that Indigenous people and the government of Canada have been working on to repair and fix the relationship between the two. The article Indigenous Peoples, Canada and the Possibility of Reconciliation (Newhouse, 2016)
talks about reconciliation and ways in which we can achieve reconciliation. Newhouse outlines four primary ways in which we can achieve reconciliation, based on the vision of Indigenous leaders. These are equity (closing the gap), harmony (the relationship between Indigenous people and the settlers), restoration (the renewal of nation-to-nation relationships), and critical conversation about Canada.
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The equity component focuses on improving the conditions of living for Indigenous people, which have been in the works since 1973 with the restoration of lands and resources to Indigenous jurisdictions beginning with the creation of the Indian Land Claims Commission along with the announcement of an Indian land claims policy. The harmony component is focused on improving the relationship between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people. Restoration is about the nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous people and the government of Canada and its renewal and improvements, along with the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ interests and their rights to lands, resources and territories. This component is one that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is focused on making his core objective,
as he indicated in his December 2015 speech to the chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations.
There is so much to achieve when it comes to reconciliation in our lifetime. There is still a long way to go in terms of bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Opportunity is an important aspect of allowing people to further their lives instead of
remaining in the same position, be it financially or socially. I would advise the Prime Minister to open up the doors for Indigenous people to succeed in whichever field they may prefer, in order to build themselves a better quality of life. So much of Indigenous culture is rooted in artistry and other creative outlets, and so to
provide them with platforms to highlight their talents and give them the means to improve their skills would largely benefit them and us as a whole. This artistry is also a form of activism as they use their skills to fight the issues of urbanization. For instance, the Algonquin Water Song has been historically and even presently used to fight the government's pollution of their water sources (Fishman, 2019). In addition, playwright George Ryga was commissioned to write The Ecstasy of Rita Joe in 1967, the first play about
Indigenous people in mainstream theatre and the issues they face there. It opened National Arts Centre in Ottawa and was the only play written by a Canadian playwright (Nolan, 2019).
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This is especially significant of Indigenous resilience as the Indian Act of 1867 banned all Indigenous dance and ceremony (Joseph, 2018). Harmony is the second aspect here. Prime Minister Justine Trudeau should utilize the 94 Calls to Action set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Report (TRC, 2015). It is not enough for us to be aware of the atrocities committed by the government and colonization, we must actively seek to do better. Be it through making Indigenous education mandatory in school curriculums, looking deeper into the cases of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and children, or providing Indigenous communities with the adequate resources they need to heal and process the harm they have had to endure for centuries. Restoration, focused on the nation-to-nation relationships with the government, is the component that has been the primary focus of the Prime Minister. I would advise that he maintain this priority while also prioritizing all three other components of reconciliation as they are present because they are of importance to Indigenous leaders. Lastly, Critical Conversation about Canada is perhaps the most important aspect of all. It requires us to take a step back and examine ourselves and where we come from. It is imperative that we do not forget the history of this land and the long arduous journey it took to become the land that it is today. But even so, the work is not done. Canada is a nation working on self-improvement every day. We may never truly rectify the damage caused to Indigenous peoples, but we can always try to be better than we were.
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References
Bear, L. C. (2015, December 8). The contemporary relevance of the historical treaties to Treaty Indian peoples. Active History. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://activehistory.ca/papers/the-contemporary-relevance-of-the-historical-treaties-
to-treaty-indian-peoples/
Commission of Canada, T. R. C. (2015). (rep.). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. Retrieved December 11, 2022, from https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_Eng
lish2.pdf
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Fishman, S. H. (2019, July 29). Women of the world: Sing the Algonquin water song. Artists & Climate Change. Retrieved December 11, 2022, from https://artistsandclimatechange.com/2019/07/29/women-of-the-world-sing-the-
algonquin-water-song/
Joseph, B. (2018). They Rose Against Us
. 21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act
(pp. 64-76). Indigenous Relations Press.
Morin, J.-P. (2005). Treaties and the Evolution of Canada. In D. R. Newhouse, C. J. Voyageur, & D. Beavon (Eds.), Hidden in Plain Sight: Contributions of Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture, Volume 1 (pp. 19–34). University of Toronto Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/9781442688230.8
Newhouse, D. (2021, February 24). Indigenous peoples, Canada and the possibility of reconciliation. IRPP. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://irpp.org/research-
studies/insight-no11/
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Nolan, Y. (2022). A Prayer For Rita Joe. In K. Irwin & M. J. Day (Eds.), Performing Turtle Island: Indigenous Theatre on the World Stage
(pp. 113-130). University of Regina Press
Reports, -. (2022). (rep.). National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Retrieved December 11, 2022, from https://nctr.ca/records/reports/
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Townshend LLP, O. K. (2016, October 31). Are treaties still relevant? - OKT: Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP. OKT. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.oktlaw.com/treaties-still-relevant/
YouTube. (2019). We are all Treaty People. YouTube. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TePIVr2bgCY&t=205s
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YouTube. (2020). Medicine Wheel Teaching with Elder Elsey. YouTube. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=0cweuuLPKIc&t=1s
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YouTube. (2021). Medicine Wheel Teaching. YouTube. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGC1EncFa50
.
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Appendix One
Check List for Indigenous Studies 1002H papers
☒
Separate Title Page APA style with following text: Assignment Title, Name, Student Number,
Seminar Code, Seminar Leader’s Name, Date
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Single use declaration appended on last page
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Page Numbers on all pages but not on title page
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Pages are within the page count of the assignment
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Document is double spaced
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Pages are in correct format: 1” margins all around, Times Roman font, 12 point
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Citations in APA Format
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No Wikipedia, Canadian Encyclopaedia or Encyclopaedia Britannica references or citations
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Paper is print ready, i.e., paper has been run through grammar and spell check and results verified with a human being other than the author
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There is a formal introductory paragraph
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Indigenous, Aboriginal, Inuit, Métis appropriately capitalized
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Aboriginal, Indigenous are not used as nouns but as adjectives
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Please sign the following statement: For individual assignments
“I certify that this work has been prepared as a result of my own effort. I have not submitted this work for grading in any other course.” Name
Dhanya Punchinilame
date 11
th December 2022