Aboriginal people of Canada

Aboriginal People of Canada

Aboriginal people of Canada are the country's initial inhabitants and are distinguished by long-term residences, agriculture, intricate social structures, and trading cultures. They lead what might be considered a "old age" lifestyle, with a strong sense of custom. Because of the way the aboriginal people are traditionally treated, the majority of aboriginal people are ignorant, which may prevent them from speaking up for themselves or communicating about the accusations made against them. They rely on what little natural communication in their own language that nature has taught them. They are shocked by the completely different society they encounter when they travel to the mainland to face charges. This is a new culture they find hard to adopt.

Vulnerability of Aboriginal Suspects

Most aboriginals prefer not to speak during investigations and this insinuates a notion of guilt towards them, therefore end up being charged over crimes which even themselves don't understand. The language barrier and illiteracy make it hard for law interpretation or interview. By given statistics, the aboriginals are found to suffer much from metal problems e.g., depression, anxiety and negative stereotyping. Most of them end up being innocent victims of crime escapades on cover up grounds and make up to 10% of the Canadian jail population. Such factors make the aboriginals so vulnerable to criminal investigations.

Factors Affecting Aboriginal Suspects

There are factors of aboriginal suspects vulnerability, these include; economic, social, cultural and linguistic factors which harbor the justice system from effectively performing their duties on such a society. Most common being cultural where illiteracy comes in. The society depends mostly on traditional modes of teachings in most cases it means herding and hunting. No formal education is taught. This has led to the main case where the defendant cannot defend himself in court. There are cases where state attorneys try to help out the accused from such a community and it becomes so hard for the aboriginal to prove his/her innocence since the moral traditional rules doesn't apply to the state laws and since there is a misunderstanding between the accused end up being jailed over something he/she may have defended himself. Economy as well has become a main factor since the native communities find no value for money. They depend on the community-based living. They rarely travel to places where they can interact or use money, they don't trade with money. Mostly, they live a life of familyhood where they share their property i.e., land and animals as a clan. What comes out of the land belongs to the community and no man owns anything unlike the modern society where we all have a right to ownership. Due to this, it becomes hard for them to hire a lawyer, pay fines or bonds for their cases. This push for jail terms of the accused.

Government Support and Initiatives

The government of Canada has taken the lead in providing translators for the aboriginal society in order to provide fair judgment to all its citizens. Building schools as well has helped in bringing civilization to the tribes thus curbing linguistic problems. The police also have formed a team to deal with vulnerability in the society, aboriginality being one of them. Since these communities have a right to life and freedom, they are allowed to exercise their own privacy rights. The Canadian government through its social arms has reached out to these communities with special personnel to educate the community about the importance of having a central government and how it governs the country. They as well explain the law to the communities esp. the rights and freedoms of the citizens. Building police bases near the communities to ensure law and order is maintained and foster cooperation and relationship between the government and the community. A translator is present in such stations to curb the language barrier issue and makes sure there is mutual understanding between the two parties.

Reference

Alan Cairns (2000). Citizens plus: “aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state.” UBC Press. p. 116

Armitage, Andrew (1995). “Comparing the Policy of Aboriginal Assimilation: Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Vancouver, Canada.” University of British Columbia Press. pp. 77–78

Cameron, Rondo E (1993). “A concise economic history of the world: from Paleolithic times to the present.” Oxford University Press. p. 92.

Macklem, Patrick (2001). “Indigenous difference and the Constitution of Canada.” University of Toronto Press. p. 170

Merchant, Carolyn (2007). “American environmental history: an introduction.” Columbia University Press. p. 6

Roy Todd; Martin Thornton; D. N. Collins (2001). “Aboriginal people and other Canadians: shaping new relationships.” University of Ottawa Press. p. 10.