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Promises, Promises: First Nations People Still Waiting

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Instead of sending money overseas, why not help those in need in Canada.
It's a great feeling to see First Nations people turning their lives around. I always believed if you were as educated as the whities you could beat them at their own game. '
By Citizen Correspondent Pauline VanKoll , Canada
Date Posted: 07/03/07
Reader Rating: rating

Promises, promises. I see protesters all over the country taking action to educate people about the problems within the First Nations community. There have been too many broken treaty land promises. How is anyone capable of letting people live in conditions where there is poor water quality and poor housing etc? Instead of sending monies overseas to other children, why not help the people right here in our own Kanata, aka Canada? I may not agree with some of the protest methods taken by fellow First Nations people, but I agree something needs to be done!

I've been to some reserves where the water systems sucked and the house wasn't worth fixing. I was sure grateful to have the home I lived in and to have clean water coming out of my taps. It's disgraceful to see our people living in such circumstances.

My husband always wondered why native houses looked the way they did. He asked why they didn't take care of them before they got to such a drastic state. I wondered that myself. One of my brothers lives on the reserve and his house now looking pretty shabby. He can't afford to fix it up. I can't understand why they'd give you a house and then not assist in helping to keep it maintained.

About a decade ago, due to a background similar to mine, most lived on welfare. Today however, there may be a handful that lives on welfare. However, it's not just the First Nations people that live on welfare; many of the white society are welfare recipients. I also see many Asians in the welfare lineups. However, there are more and more First Nations people working and becoming educated. It's a great feeling to see First Nations people turning their lives around. I always believed if you were as educated as the whities, you could beat them at their own game.

*****

I'm not sure if I'm in agreement with the protests by First Nations people that block highways and railway tracks. It not only hurts them, but it hurts innocent bystanders as well. There has to be a more efficient way to get heard.

I know TV crews and journalists are always looking for a story to tell, so why not bring them on to the reserve into some of the homes and show them the terrible conditions.


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Comments

I really feel for the first

By luyen, July 4, 2007 at 17:11

I really feel for the first nations people, despite so many historical and not so recent grievances against them, the political process to recognize them as distinct peoples, has been very slow, forget about any kind of restitution.

Having been at first nation educational conferences and ground-breaking legislation signings, i'd definitely say there are people in government who genuinely care, but i think on the political party level, unless push comes to shove, things will always move very slowly.

Here on the west coast, many first nations communities have steady funding for educational systems that they devise, within the K-12 provincial system, and that's very encouraging.

The first nations people will never stop waiting, i think they will have to find the strength to re-invent themselves into a stronger peoples, because waiting for the government to give them back what they lost, will be a really long wait!