Motivations for Canadian government to assimilate aboriginals

A few days ago, I read about an article of young aboriginals' lives in the residential schools. It gives detailed information about how the residential schools, which was founded up by Canadian government, wiped off young aboriginals’ own culture and identity to meet with the standards of mainstream society. The article also demonstrates how young aboriginals suffered in the residential schools and how their life changed by attending the residential schools. At the beginning of the article, the author mentioned the main purpose of residential schools was based on the Indian Act of 1880. This Act was a long-term program issued by Canadian government for liquidating  the ‘Indian problem’ and eliminating of the Indian culture. Unfortunately, the author fails to explain what is the “Indian problem” and why the Canadian government had to assimilate the aboriginal culture. Based on these doubts, I did a little research online to find out what was the Indian problem and what were the motivations for Canadian government to decide the Indian culture has to be eliminated.

The so-called “Indian problem” can be interpreted differently from different perspectives. Based on the information gathered, I believe the “Indian problem” mainly arose from the disagreement of aboriginals’ human rights between Canadian government and aboriginals. Aboriginals considered themselves as isolated, independent and self-supporting while Canadian government was striving to gain dominant govern over aboriginals and their land. Different recognition on treaty rights also deepened divergence between Aboriginals and Canadian government. 

Some scholars may argue that assimilation was the cause for the “Indian problem”. They think the Indian problem was caused by too much pressure of assimilation at the expense of aboriginal differences. The problem was because of aboriginals' resisting to assimilate, with a corresponding drift towards isolation, dependency and underdevelopment. In my own opinion, I think assimilation led to the “Indian problem”, and then, the “Indian problem” pushed forward Canadian government to implement further assimilation policies for aboriginals.

After summarizing the information I collected, I find the motivations for Canadian government to assimilate aboriginals can be concluded into three aspects. First is disapproval of existing life-style, culture and education system of aboriginals. Aboriginals’ education was emphasis on how to build tight relationship with nature. Their content of education was survival skills, such as fishing, haunting or food gathering. Canadian government considered the content of aboriginals’ education could not make aboriginals blend in mainstream society. The second motivation for Canadian government to assimilate aboriginals may due to heavy pressure from religious group. In some region, religious group will press government to amend the Indian Act to avoid “inappropriate behaviors” of aboriginals. The third motivation was Canadian government’s needs for expansion and economic recovery. With increasing number of new immigrants, Canadian government needed land to settle these new comers. Therefore, Canadian government formulated and implemented a series of treaties and acts to weak or even to deprive aboriginals’ rights and claimed that aboriginals’ land belonged to the Canadian government. 

Frankly speaking, I believe that everybody is born equal. No race in the world could determine if other races’ culture should be eliminated. There is no question about that a series of assimilation policies made by Canadian government had caused great impact on aboriginals’ lives, especially the residential school system. Even though I generated three motivations to explain why Canadian government had to assimilate aboriginals, I’m afraid there are more reasons to show that aboriginals would be assimilated inevitably and I failed to detect. During the process of assimilation, aboriginals’ land was taken from government, their culture was eliminated, their tradition can hardly be reserved and their children suffered metal and physical abuse at residential schools. Canadian government had made many efforts to save historic wrongs, such as government amended laws to admit aboriginals’ citizen status and human rights, government officers apologized to aboriginals for residential school system’s damages. Still, aboriginals’ rights remained to be further guaranteed at present days.