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Education is considered a human right in Canada. Yet, while Canada has one of the world's highest levels of educational attainment, the graduation rate for Indigenous students remains far lower than that of non-Indigenous students. How is that possible? The answer lies in the history of Canada.

In 2015, we published an article outlining the eight key issues of primary concern for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Since then, the article has been viewed over 620,000 times, making it the most-viewed article of the hundreds on our Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples® blog. Due to the continuing high interest, we decided to take a deeper look at each of the eight issues.

By Bronte Phillips

Changing their last names after marriage and sharing their bodies with their unborn children are two ways in which many women and mothers have given up pieces of themselves. First Nations women and mothers in Canada are no exception and no strangers to loss. Starting in 1851 and for the next 116 years, women lost their entire identity through the loss of their status due to the patrilineal Indian Act. Under section 12, the legislation stated that; “any Indian woman who married a non-Indian man would cease to be an Indian anymore.” In losing their status, Indian women also lost; treaty benefits, health benefits, the right to inherit family property, the right to live on a reserve, and lastly, the right to a burial near family on a reserve.

The descendants of European settlers are brought up believing that it was their ancestors who celebrated the first thanksgiving after surviving the harsh weather, and overcoming the uncertainty of ingesting unknown plants and animals of their new “home”. This is not true. But where did it begin? Here’s a brief look at its origins.

In National Indigenous Peoples Day: 10 Ways to Celebrate we have suggestions for celebrating this important day. Most of the suggestions involve attending an event or visiting a site. What a difference a year makes. National Indigenous Peoples Day 2020 celebrations are among the many events that have been cancelled due to the pandemic. We didn’t want you to miss out so we’ve compiled a list of 10 activities you can enjoy at home.

As the clock runs out on the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages we wanted to take a look at the language around the stars and constellations. Stars and constellations identified in the early days of astronomy were typically given Greek and Roman names. In general, those are the names that come to mind because they are the names taught in schools.

“Anishinaabe, Métis, Coastal Salish, Cree, Cherokee. We have nothing much in common. We’re all aboriginal and we have the drum. That’s about it.”

Thomas King writing about a drum circle in “The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America”

What does Indigenous knowledge (IK) mean? That’s a big question because “there are approximately 370 million Indigenous people in the world, belonging to 5,000 different groups, in 90 countries worldwide. Indigenous people live in every region of the world...” [1] At this point, there isn’t a hard and fast definition accepted and recognized by all; it can mean different things to different societies and cultures.

Definition: Chief (n.)

c. 1300, "head, leader, captain; the principal or most important part of anything;" from Old French chief "leader, ruler, head" of something, "capital city" (10c., Modern French chef), from Vulgar Latin *capum, from Latin caput "head," also "leader, chief person; summit; capital city" (from PIE root *kaput- "head"). Meaning "head of a clan" is from 1570s; later extended to American Indian tribes. Commander-in-chief attested from 1660s. [1]

In October 2017 a school district board in Ontario passed a motion to remove “chief” from all job titles out of respect for Indigenous communities. The action was, according to a school district spokesperson, a proactive step toward reconciliation. There was a mixed reaction to the move but the most common response, from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, was confusion.

The worldview of many Indigenous Peoples includes the principle of connectivity - that everything in the universe is connected. The spirit world is connected to the mortal world, the sea is connected to the land, and the sky is connected to the ground. Connectivity explains the connection people have to their communities, their traditional territories, and the ecosystem on those lands.