-
Chapter 4 Aboriginal People in the City
- University of Ottawa Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Chapter 4 Aboriginal People in the City Roy Todd Many Canadians think of Aboriginal people as living on reserves or at least in rural areas. This perception is deeply rooted and persistently reinforced. Yet almost half of Aboriginal people in Canada live in cities and towns (RCAP, 1996c,p.519). Introduction There is an apparent emphasis upon Aboriginal People on reserves in public discussion in Canada, in the volumes of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and in the academic literature. The most common topics of discussion, including land claims, treaty rights, disputes about clear-cut logging and conflict over hydro-electric schemes, are matters which primarily affect First Nations in territory which is away from the cities. News reporting, with an emphasis upon incidents and conflict, provides a similar shape to Aboriginal matters. Throughout the 1990s incidents and confrontations such as that at Oka and blockades of access roads give an emphasis to the struggle for Native Peoples' rights away from the cities. While these struggles and negotiations have been going on there has been a quiet and gradual re-location of Aboriginal people through migration to urban areas. This chapter is concerned with these Aboriginal city dwellers and their relations with other Canadians. There are three main sections. First, there is a discussion of the migration of Aboriginal people to the cities. This includes information about their demographic and socio-economic profiles, work and 93 Roy Todd education and explores aspects of social inequalities within the urban Aboriginal population. Second, there is an overview of the ways in which Aboriginal people have encountered the criminaljustice system. Finally, there is an outline of material gathered from two Canadian cities, analysing the ways in which Aboriginal people are negotiating relationships with police services to provide support for their urban communities. Here the main focus is upon the reshaping of relations between the police and Aboriginal people and the construction of Aboriginal identity in this context. The Aboriginal organisations studied form a hub for the provision of a wide range of social, health and educational services to the Aboriginal people in the cities. Therefore, the questions which emerge from this analysis relate to the possibilities of Aboriginal people in urban areas gaining equitable access to a range of services as well as achieving the benefits of fair treatment with regard to criminal justice. The case studies can be broadly conceived as related to the negotiation of social inclusion and citizenship rights for urban Aboriginal people: integration by contrast with a potential destiny of social exclusion and marginality. Aboriginal People in Urban Areas The Social and Demographic Characteristicsof Urban Aboriginal People What is the magnitude of the population withwhich we are concerned? In the 1996 census, just over a million people (1,101,960) reported Aboriginal ancestry. The balance between single and multiple ancestry favoured the latter: 477,630 claimed Aboriginal ancestry only, whereas 624,330 claimed Aboriginal ancestry as part of a multiple response. The figures for identity are lower: 867,225 reported NorthAmerican Indian ancestry, while 535,075 reported North-American Indian identity (Statistics Canada, 1998). These figures can only be taken to be approximate for undercounting in the census is acknowledged asaproblem because of lack of access to Aboriginal communities. It is possible that under-numeration is particularly significant in cities with a transient population including homeless people lacking hostel accommodation. Consequently, population estimates by those who work amongst urban Aboriginal 94 [54.163.195.125] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 06:06 GMT) Aboriginal People in the City people are often significantly higher than those derived from census data. The trend towards urbanisation of the Canadian population as a whole is being mirrored by the Aboriginal population. Just over three-quarters (77% in 1991) of Canada's population lives in urban areas (Canada Year Book, 1997) and although the Aboriginal population is less urbanised than the non-Aboriginal population, the trend towards greater urbanisation has been continuing, with a particularly large increase in the 1960s. The growth of Aboriginal populations has occurred at the same time as the major Canadian cities are becoming more global in their profiles. Social and political institutions are adapting to these changes and questions can be raised about the extent to which local government, educational, social and police services areresponding to the Aboriginal people intheir midst. Table 1: Percentage of Urban Aboriginal Peoples, 1871-1991 1871 1.7 1881 0.6 1901 5.1 1911 3.7 1921 3.7 1931 3.9...