by Xin Ping
Every June, Canadians mark the National Indigenous History Month to “recognize the rich history, heritage, resilience and diversity” of Indigenous Canadians. However, a shadow has been cast over this year’s celebration, as two reports published by The Globe and Mail on May 5 sparked an outcry over the treatment of Indigenous women in Canada.
Two distressing facts in the reports stand out as the primary target of public outrage. One is that Indigenous women account for as much as 50 percent of the female population in Canadian federal prisons, a disproportionately high ratio as only one out of every 20 women in Canada is Indigenous. The other is that at the Canadian Senate’s human rights committee, several Indigenous women recounted their horrible experiences of being sterilized without their prior consent. According to one victim, such an inhuman practice is “nothing short of genocide” and it is still happening today.
This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the unfair treatment of Indigenous Canadians. According to Canadian media reports, Indigenous men are “26 percent less likely than their white peers to be paroled in the first year they’re eligible.” James Makokis, an Indigenous Canadian doctor, pointed out that Indigenous patients are more likely to be neglected in the country’s medical system, “resulting in poor health and unnecessary death”. Unmarked graves have been found in Indigenous boarding schools, where Indigenous children were tortured to death. A research by the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability shows that Indigenous women in Canada are 16 times more likely to be murdered or missing than white women. Be it in the criminal justice system, or the education system, or the medical system, discrimination and violence against Indigenous Canadians is widespread and systematic.
Although the Canadian government has vowed more than once to eliminate disparity, little has been done to address the root cause of the chronic malaise of racial discrimination against Indigenous Canadians. It has already been legalized and institutionalized, making it intractable like a malignant tumor.
In 1876, the Canadian government introduced the Indian Act to administer the Indigenous people. The law was based on a number of colonial laws that “aimed to eliminate First Nations culture in favor of assimilation into Euro-Canadian society”. Regarding the rights of the Indigenous people as something granted by the whites, the law has remained discriminatory in nature despite two significant amendments to become otherwise.
In 2016, Bob Joseph, the founder of Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. and a member of the Gwawaenuk Nation, posted an article on the Canadian Broadcast Company’s website, revealing the 21 discriminatory restrictions imposed by the Act on native Indians in Canada, which include belittling Indian women, forbidding First Nations to speak their native languages or practice their traditional religions, and confining them in reserves, among others.
Based on the idea that the white way of life is superior, the Indian Act actually acquiesces in racial discrimination against the native Indians. The existence and enforcement of a biased law like this speaks volumes about the fact that racism in the form of white supremacy is embedded in the Canadian legal system. As the Canadian Indigenous leader and activist Arthur Manuel put it, “White Supremacy is the law of the land.”
Every time a scandal is exposed, the Canadian government apologizes and promises to make a change. But according to the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, during the five years between 2014 and 2019, 33% of Indigenous Canadians experienced discrimination, 10 percentage points higher than the previous 5-year period.
The upcoming National Indigenous History Month may well be an occasion to reflect on the trauma and pain caused by racial discrimination, for there is little for the Indigenous Canadians to celebrate.
(Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for the Global Times, China Daily, etc. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com)
