Department Of Indian Affairs Case Study

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Pages: 7

The department of Indian affairs, the name at the time, was first established during the colonial times where Britain was the superior power. They created the department of Indian affairs because they wanted to manage the crown-first nations, which is building a relationship between the Crown and First Nations. Its purpose is to include their beliefs and values while also implementing Canada’s customs into their communities. It is extremely important for the Canadian Government to have a relationship with the indigenous communities because for the longest time, they were treated like they weren’t important and didn’t consider them Canadian. With this department, it allows the Canadian government to work together with indigenous people to integrate …show more content…
This department was a great way for the government and to work together to create an alliance against others who entered the country. The problem that this department created for aboriginal people was that creating this relationship among both sides, allowed Britain to gain control over them to secure military control throughout North America (Canada, 2011). But eventually times started to change which meant the department had to As times began to change, so did the department. This department’s foundation then became about building a relationship between the Canadian government and the three aboriginal groups; First Nations, Metis and Inuit. The fact that they were able to change the foundations of department was a big thing because it demonstrated that the government was willing to adapt to new change and focus on new priorities.
The Indigenous and Northern affairs department are responsible for ensuring that the Canadian Governments’ commitments to the First Nations, Inuit and Metis are met. The main responsibilities that the department has is to have constant communication with aboriginal communities to make sure that the government is always up to date with any issues that need to be fixed. With these responsibilities, it will improve between the indigenous people and the rest of
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Each name changed has demonstrated new values and beliefs that the department has wanted to change and implement. Just looking at the different names the department has gone through has shown us the change in outlooks on aboriginal culture and their place in Canada. As the names changed, we began to see how much more accepting Canada was and how they realized that they are an important part of our identity and that they have rights like other Canadians. The most recent major change in the name has now included northern affairs in it. This is a major change in the objectives of this department as it is now recognizing that the northern people do need support from the federal government in maintaining their land and other things. We come to learn with this name change that Minister Bennett explained that the name change, “came from indigenous people in this country” — and that she's viewing her new role as “Minister of Reconciliation.” (Lum, 2015). This is a great example of progress being made as this shows that indigenous people are beginning to have their voice when it comes to relations regarding