Essay on Honour of the Crown Review

Honour of the Crown Review Aboriginals, often regarded as a pestilence to the well-being of the state due to the exposure that the public gets from the media, were the original inhabitants of this land. Before the European conquest of what we now know as North America, the land had belonged to the first nations (or as some say, "natives"). Their territory stretched far across the landscape, and they adapted to the terrain in all aspects of life. However, once the Europeans stepped onto what is now known as Canada, the peaceful way of life for the aboriginals were thrown into disarray. Suddenly having to "share" their land with a group of foreign men who claimed to be from the other side of the endless ocean, the aboriginals were quickly overcome by diseases such as smallpox that the foreign men were immune to, yet carried over from their European homeland. Those who were not as affected by such natural disasters carried on to form "partnerships" with the Europeans, ones that would eventually turn into treaties that the same aboriginal population of today would have a very difficult time in trying to get the Canadian government's attention to act accordingly as the treaties state. "Honour of the Crown" focuses on a specific group near Northern Alberta known as the Chipewan tribe. The film itself stars the tribe's spokesperson, François Paulette. François and his brother, Jerry, jump through the legal and bureaucratic holes that the government of Canada has imposed on their group of first nations peoples for nearly a century, trying to reclaim land that was once theirs. As one watches the film, thoughts such as "how could a country known for its peacekeeping be like this to the aboriginals?" often occur. To the international community, the image that Canada presents is one that is incredibly friendly and supportive; yet the situation of our first nations’ tribes suggests otherwise. The film itself gives a glimpse of what life is like being a member of a first nations tribe that still struggles to retain their identity as much as possible without the disturbance of actually being a member. The film's most response invoking moment was the confirmation of the actual fulfillment of the 100 year old treaty by the government of Canada, but the documentary of the journey itself was awe inspiring with the perseverance of the Paulettes throughout the years to make it possible. Land claims with indigenous groups should be settled by the federal and provincial government if the claims are allowed within treaties that were written by the crown centuries ago. This is not because of the fact that a piece of paper states that the crown needs to set aside land for first nations people, but rather of the fact that the treaty itself should be honoured by the Crown because it was a representative of the Crown that wrote it, and agreed on it. Furthermore, the aboriginals were the original inhabitants of the land. It seems only fair that the aboriginal population have a portion of the land that they used to occupy. Granted that Canada has been “developed” mainly by Europeans, there should still be a certain level of respect for those who were here before the conquering of the new world. It becomes a matter of ethics, rather than a legal policy – would anybody like to be pushed out of their homes after the seemingly friendly “enemy” said that they would like to co-exist with you? Furthermore, the treaties themselves were extremely unfair in terms of what were to be given to the aboriginals in the first place, taking advantage of the fact that they could not read. Essentially exploiting aboriginal weaknesses, the Canadian government essentially forced the native population out of their lands in order to profit off the land themselves – conquering the land without bloodshed. The specific claims process in the film was shown in a rather negative light, the primary issue was that the fact that there

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