History shows that even after signing peace treaties with First Nations, laws were enacted in Canada offering bounties for scalps of Indigenous men, women and children. The treaty negotiation process itself was conducted under conditions of starvation or threats of violence, some argue that these acts were pre-Confederation, and how it became Canada.
The "Indian …show more content…
Many Aboriginals say that he has no right to speak about reconciliation before he makes amends himself. Canada can’t ask any aboriginals to talk about moving forward until the prime minister takes responsibility for what their institutions have done to Indigenous peoples. Celebrating Indigenous art in Canada's 150th celebration won’t stop the pain, suffering, suicides, police abuse, sub-standard health care, housing and water, or the extinction of the majority of Indigenous languages. Canada has reconciled, truth and reconciliation commission officially labelled it cultural genocide in only …show more content…
The United Nations definition in article 2 of the genocide act describes it as; Killing members of the group, causing serious harm including mental harm to members of the group. Enforce the prevention of births within the group, and transfer children of a group to another group. But, international law expert William A. Schabas notes the final version of Article 2 end up being “a much-reduced version of the text prepared by the Secretariat experts.” To this day it does not mention cultural genocide. Schabas explains, the final version we have today includes “an exception to this general rule, allowing ‘forcible transfer of children from one group to another’ as a punishable act.” Political correspondent Mary Agnes Welch writes: The idea of cultural genocide is particularly important for Canadian First Nations because few mass killings or instances of direct physical destruction occurred in Canadian history. But, there are many cases of policies whose indirect intent was to destroy culture. Scholars are arguing that destroying a group’s culture amounts to genocide. If genocide is “destruction of group life rather than lives within a group,” Canada’s indigenous peoples, means that understanding what makes them a group, what defines their cultural unity, depriving First Nations of access to their land so European pioneers could settle and railways could be built, is