How are natives viewed in your country? - Page 2

Spikeke

Canada106 Posts

May 08 2012 18:17 GMT

#21

I grew up along the Canada-USA border, around Ontario/New York/Vermont. Natives get their own lane for crossing the border, while everyone else has to queue up. Natives aren't filthy rich around here, I think. The stereotype I learned while growing up was they are obnoxious, alcoholic, and only drive massive vehicles like hummers. And alot of the cases, this was true. Not all cases, obviously, I had friend in school that was native, and didn't come close to the stereotype. Awesome guy.

There's also a big problem with smuggling weapons and drugs across the border. Contraband cigarettes are easy to get as legal cigarettes. (A bag is a fraction of the price compared to a carton, but they taste like shit to me).

Honestly I never hear anything about natives anymore, but that may be cause I moved into the city. I see them once in a while on TV, protesting for land rights, etc. But I think for the most part, they are ignored.

StarStruck

25339 Posts

May 08 2012 19:31 GMT

#22

I used to study Canadian/Aboriginal affairs and I must say it's pretty appalling how they're treated.

X_X

Their rights are a complete joke and they get next to nothing from our government.

Enki

United States2548 Posts

May 08 2012 20:07 GMT

#23

A great great grandfather on my dads side was full blooded Cherokee. Not enough for me to still have any Cherokee blood in me or anything though. Indians though have probably among the worst history among any race in the world. Their homeland was invaded, they were practically almost exterminated from diseases the europeans brought with them. Then they were forced halfway across the country to reservations in the Midwest where they were forced to stay, many dying along its way. It's just another skeleton in the closet for the U.S though. You really never hear anything about Native Americans nowadays.

rewired

Canada630 Posts

May 09 2012 17:42 GMT

#24

Depending on which side of the country, either negatively or neutrally

StarStruck

25339 Posts

May 09 2012 18:00 GMT

#25

rewired please explain further because everything I've heard and read about in literature is very bad for the Natives in Canada.

Roe

Canada6002 Posts

May 09 2012 18:03 GMT

#26

I think some people view them as getting a free ride and being lazy. I guess that's just like any other ethnic prejudice.

HardlyNever

United States1258 Posts

May 09 2012 18:46 GMT

#27

My girlfriend studies Native American ("indian") Folklore, so I probably know a little bit more about "real" Native Americans than a lot of the stereotypes, but not a ton more (she is the one that studies them, not me). She has lived on a Nat. Am. Reservation for 2 years, and is about to go back to one for a year or so this summer. She studies in particular the "Lakota" tribe which lives primarily in South Dakota at this point. She has learned/is learning their language (which is dying out quickly); she is not Native American in any way. I will be speaking primarily about the Lakota, but most of what I say could be generalized to most Nat. Am. tribes, but certainly not all.

The two things most Americans (I would guess) associate with "indians" are reservations and casinos, which are related. Reservations are places where the US government, over the course of time (mostly in the 19th century) battled and eventually herded Nat. Am. Tribes to. Most are not where they originally lived ("pre-contact") , or marginally so. Not surprisingly, being the losers of wars, and the way white people tend to treat the rest of the world, most reservations are situated on pretty undesirable land. This is land that, for the most part, no one else wanted. This is where casinos come in. Reservations have a sort of odd legal status, in that they are governed by the nat. am. tribes, not the state or federal goverment. Of course, there are some laws that apply still, and it is consider part of the US, but they get to have a lot of their own laws. Since gambling is illegal in most US states, casinos show up on reservations, where they can do it legally.

The "lazy" and "handout" stereotypes comes from treaties/deals with the government. Most of these go back to the 19th century as well, and this is particularly true for the Lakota (they don't have casinos). My gf was a teacher at one of the schools, and she says one of the biggest issues is the mentality of wanting a hand-out; they don't want to work for something or earn something, they feel like they are owed something (this is particularly true for where she was, I've heard it is not as bad on other reservations). Most of the residences receive government assistance, and good portion live off of it entirely. On the reservation my gf lived on, the unemployment rate was over 80%. Yes 80%. There is nothing there, no businesses want to be there, and there is no reason to live/work there unless you were born there.

The last stereotype is their issues with alcohol, which for the Lakota at least, is also true. Alcohol is not allowed to be sold on the reservation, but it makes it in anyhow. I think it is more of a symptom than a cause for the extreme poverty there.

I don't know if that covers what you were asking. I plan to visit one of the reservations myself possibly this summer or next year. I've seen pictures, and it is extreme poverty that you might not think exists in the US or other first-world countries.

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