Murdered Indigenous Women

Introduction Marleen bird was a 50-year-old aboriginal woman from a northern reserve in Saskatchewan. Bird suffered from substance abuse issues and homelessness. In 2014 Bird was viciously attacked and set on fire in a parking lot in Prince Albert Saskatchewan. As a result of the attack Bird lost both of her legs and much of her eyesight (Canadian Press, 2017). Bird suffered from years of victimization due to the injuries she suffered from the attack, the constant news articles reporting on the attack and the subsequent trails.

This criminal code encourages sentencing judges to have recourse to a restorative approach to sentencing. Also, the enactment of s. 718.2 (e) is a definite direction by Parliament to pay particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders during the sentencing process because those circumstances are unique and different from those of non-Aboriginal offenders. Further, when sentencing Aboriginal offenders, courts must take judicial notice of such matters as the history of colonization, displacement, and residential schools. And they should look at how that history continues to translate into lower educational accomplishment, lower income, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse, suicide, and, of course, higher levels of imprisonment of Aboriginal peoples. (Canadian Law, an Introduction 6th Edition: Neil Boyd 2015; page,

The two authors used the killing of Colton Boushie as background to explain how certain settler-colonial narratives and stereotypes present in the Prairie region of Canada created perpetual forms of racism. More importantly, the authors allude to the fact that these tendencies will continually affect Indigenous peoples unless there are profound

This is the exact tactic Canada used on Indigenous people” (Elliott 105). This quote illuminates how the structural genocide by the Canadian government caused Indigenous people to become reliant on them. Under those circumstances, their freedom, autonomy, and agency are stripped away. In her essay “Not your noble savage”, Elliott discusses how Trudeau pretends to be pro-Indigenous but his government is not doing enough for reconciliation: “True reconciliation with Native peoples requires Canada to stop its paternalistic, discriminatory policies and, most important, stop interfering with our sovereignty over our identities, communities, and lands. These are by no means easy or comfortable actions for Canadians to undertake, but they must be undertaken regardless” (Elliott 163).

There is a great concern to today’s inequity regarding Aboriginal people’s health, education, culture and language. Stereotypes and racism are preventing the Aboriginal people from seeking the benefits they deserve. As Treaty People in Canada, reconciliation must be a top priority to support the healing process of Canada’s history. The treaty relationship has a significant impact on all Saskatchewan and Canadian citizen’s personal beliefs, societal and political positions, and the process of reconciliation.

Inequity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is highlighted throughout the book, where Talaga describes the discrimination that happened to the youth before and after death as well as the historical mistreatment of Indigenous people in Canada. The deaths of the youth spawned an inquest and led to numerous recommendations to ensure the safety of Indigenous students in the future, but many problems still exist and Talaga draws parallels in the book

A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done. No matter how brave its warriors or how strong its weapons.- Cheyenne Proverb. In “Round House” this quote was fitting because the sexual assault on the mother nearly destroyed her and the family.

Gender performance is perpetuated by the conditioning and experiences of children from birth which also perpetuates the gender safety gap. Women and men are not as biologically different as once thought. They are simply held to different expectations in society, as explained by Nicholson’s Interpreting Gender. The Break is able to explore the lived experience of being an indigenous woman and how their relationships have evolved over time. As well as remaining strong when faced with the intersections of sexism and

Throughout the course of American history, Native American women have repeatedly become primary targets of sexual violence from non-native men. Around one in three Native American women has been raped or had undergone attempted rape, which makes them the largest race to experience sexual abuse than any other race in the United States. Before any contact was established between the Natives and the European settlers, the Native population had thrived off the land and they had their own criminal justice systems, which was meant to help all Native citizens find justice (Griffith, 5). Unfortunately, their efficient way of life would soon be interrupted forever following the arrival of white setters upon their lands.

According to Anzovino and Boutilier (2014), “the legislative definition of Aboriginal peoples includes all persons of “Indian” blood who were known to belong to a specific band, living on specific land, with their descendants [and] all persons intermarried with any such “Indians” who resided among them” as well as all children and persons adopted in infancy (p. 90). These persons are immensely proud of their good character, race, beliefs, values and morals. However, they are receiving abuse and a lack of promised assistance from the government. How can Canada act so neglectful and inattentive to those that live north of the suburban area? Are we not all equal and deserve the same rights, especially basic living conditions in order to survive?

Canada is known for its amazing healthcare and it is considered one of the best in the world. In Canada, healthcare is ‘universal’ to its citizens under the Heath Care Act. However, not everyone has equal access to healthcare, Aboriginals being some of them. Aboriginals have trouble getting the access they need because of socio-economic status, geography, lack of infrastructure and staff, language or cultural barriers an more. Aboriginals on reserve face many barriers when it comes to access to healthcare, they include cost, language, distance, climate, education and more.

Introduction The Sapphires illustrates the ways in which the stolen generation continues to have repercussions against the indigenous community. The stolen generation was a period of time where children were violently snatched from their families and forced into houses and institutions that lied, abused, and humiliated them. When the children were taken away, relationships were ripped to shreds as the children lost their sense of belonging alongside their beliefs. This loss in connection left unresolved conflicts and impaired relationships that by the time they reunited years later, the resentment towards each other had built and the argument was brutal enough for the relationship to become inrepairable.

Historically the highest risk factor of domestic violence followed colonization (Brownridge 2008, p. 355). The loss of history and way of life has caused violence against the Aboriginal women to become normalized through the pathway of poverty, lack of education, substance abuse, and the european worldview. When comparing the violence ratio of Aboriginal woman and non-Aboriginal women the Aboriginal female has an eight time greater chance to be a target of violence such as spousal homicide and severe abuse (Brownridge, 2003, p.66). Aboriginal women were noted to have a significantly higher rate of violent victimization in comparison to a non-aboriginal females. Statistics showed that one quarter of aboriginal women will have experienced partner violence in comparison to only 8% of non-Aboriginal women (Brownridge, 2008, p. 355).

The problem appears to become evident right from birth with aboriginal woman twice as likely as non-indigenous woman to have a stillborn baby and twice as likely to give birth to an underweight baby (ed. Healey 2000, p.4). During the period between 1991 and 1996, life expectancy for indigenous people was around 20 years than that of their non-indigenous counterparts. The lives of indigenous people are affected by many other health factors, one of most concern is alcohol related problems that impact on their well-being, family structure, and even aboriginal traditional life because they tend to drink more haphazardly. Some of the health risks to which indigenous people are exposed can be attributed the differences between the health of indigenous and non-indigenous people.

The colonization of Indigenous peoples has dramatically affected their health, and health-seeking behaviours, in a myriad of ways. The Indian Act of 1876 was, in essence, created to control the Indigenous population. The Indian Act laid out laws and regulations that tightly regulated the lives of natives economically, ideologically, and politically. This included a wealth of ways in which their identities were stripped away, and in which they were taken advantage of by the Government of Canada. This has resulted in a reduced quality of life for Canada 's indigenous population, as well as adverse health problems, and prejudicial perceptions that we still see the impact of today.