1. Amanda Iliadis
December 10th 2013
HZT4U
Mr. Dolighan
Gathering Strength
Aboriginal people face many tribulations in their everyday lives. They endure ill-health,
polluted water, inadequate education, poverty, run-down and overcrowded housing, and family
problems. The livelihood of Aboriginal people is in worse condition than anyone else in Canada.
The only way for them to heal and move forward is to be awarded the respect, pride, dignity,
sharing, hospitality and mutual aid that they deserve. The only way to achieve this is through a
connection made between the self, family, community and eventually between nations.
Abuse and family violence are the most dramatic problems that the Aboriginal people
currently face; but they are just the tip of the ice berg. One source of family disruptions is a
breakdown in their traditions as Aboriginals. When people are stereotypical and make
judgements against the Aboriginals and their customs/culture; they are degrading the
Aboriginals as human beings resulting in them to act out irrationally. Another source, is the
removal of children from the home. According to tradition, children are gifts from the spirit
world and must be treated well, or will be returned back to that realm. Failure to protect a
child is the greatest shame that can befall a family. However assaults on children and their
rights occur every day. Children are removed from their families against their will and told to
reject their homes, language, heritage, and even themselves. From there, they are abused and
deprived of their needs and wants. When a child is abused while growing up, they usually grow
up to be abusive based on that upbringing. This is known as social determinism. Sigmund
Freud described social determinism as “behaviour…determined by some force over which
he/she has no control…such as his/her genetics or upbringing” (Gomez). Ultimately, violence
arises from a fundamental imbalance of power between men and women causing loss,
humiliation, frustration and anger. We need to come together as a world and change this, as
people on the outside of the problem. We should not continue to stereotype all Aboriginal
people as violent automatically without knowing anything about the individual person. To help
these people, rehabilitation services should be created to promote healing and recovery for
parents with serious problems. In addition, there should be preventative services to support
families beginning to get into trouble. Every life deserves to be saved, even before the danger
arises.
Aboriginal people suffer with ill-health frequently, causing them to die an average of 7
to 8 years earlier than other Canadians. The Aboriginal Commission looked at infant, child and
maternal health, infectious dieases, chronic and degenerative diseases, substance-abuse,

2. disabilities and community health (poverty, environmental hazards). Today, Aboriginals also
suffer with diabetes, hypertension, being overweight and having poor nutritional status. Health
and healing should be promoted through an interconnectedness of harmony between personal
and collective life, control within a community, herbal medicinal therapies, and a
connectedness of human systems-body, mind, emotions and spirit; economic factors; personal
responsibility for health and wellness; health of the environment; and childhood health. The
reasons behind the Aboriginal’s ill-health, is that they are living in poor conditions, have limited
water, not enough money to care for themselves and their families, and are overall depressed
because of the state they are living in.
Ensuring that Aboriginal people have safe housing and adequate water and sewage
services should be a high priority for Government action as it reduces threats to their health,
and avoids a shelter/services crisis. However for a long time, the Federal Government
disagreed that the Aboriginal people’s full needs are a treaty right. But eventually it was
established that Aboriginal people and communities should help to meet their housing costs;
while federal, provincial and territorial Governments can take on 2/3 of the cost. Regional
Aboriginal Institutions can also be established to manage the financing, construction, and
maintenance of homes and community infrastructure. Many things can be done to help build
safe, happy and comfortable homes for the Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal people have been dealt a very metaphorically ruthless hand of cards. They
suffer from family disruptions and violence, ill-health, and poor living conditions every day of
their lives. The Government is only now seeing what needs to be done to save these innocent
people from a worse fate. To end this crisis, the Government needs to take more direct action
and face these issues at hand, and the citizens need to respect the needs and rights of the
Aboriginal people.