Vancouver`s Aboriginal People and Thier LifeStyle

Introduction

According to the census conducted in 2001 , 3 .3 of population professed that they had aboriginal descent (Statscan Canada 2001 . Sections 25 and 35 of the 1982 Canadian Constitution Act recognizes aboriginal peoples in Canada as indigenous peoples denominating as Indians or First Nations , Mytis , and Inuit ( Aboriginal peoples in Canada , 2006 . Aboriginal people ' is a very braod term that encompasses pure lineages and mixed ones and a differentiation is made between them and those who are classified as having Status Indian (Durst , 2006 ,

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The Royal Commission on Aboriginal

Peoples commissioned in the early 1990 's assessed legislation and policies that concern aborigines in Canada . The commission formulated programs for aborigines that aim to prevent marginalization or discrimination and to afford all benefits given to Canadian citizens (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples [RCAP] , 1993 . However , the Canadian Employment Equity Act and Statistics Canada do not consider aborigines as a minority and of the programs proposed by the RCAP have been implemented ( Aboriginal peoples in Canada , 2006

Aboriginals of Vancouver

Surveys done at the end of the 19th century documented that aboriginal peoples in Vancouver were situated in northern parts , coasts and mainland across of Vancouver as well as in the southern parts of Vancouver and Fraser Valley . The survey only mentioned the Hapltsa Noutkans or Wakash and Tsihapli Selish . The estimate was 10 ,500 individuals or 10 of those surveyed in Canada in 1871 (Statistics Canada , 1998

As of 2001 , about 1 .9 Million make up Vancouver 's aboriginal population which is 51 of all aboriginal people population in British Columbia (see Table 2 . The registered aboriginal populations comprise around 2 of the city population . Among them Indians are the most in number followed by Mytis and then Inuit . The population a little older than that of British Columbia averages (Statistics Canada , 2001b . One of the reasons for this is Vancouver 's urbanization and development of ancestral territories (Cardinal Adin , 2005 . Though British Columbia and Canada have fostered aboriginal peoples , numbers have continued to decline significantly in recent years

Issues and Concerns

According to Cardinal and Adin in their recently published report studying the indicators of quality of life among aboriginal people in the Greater Vancouver region , there are three essential factors that have to be considered : society , economy and the environment . Frideres and Gadacz (2001 ) earlier pointed out the need to focus on conflicts that have risen between the government , non-aboriginal population and aboriginals not just as disputes but comprehensively , considering all socioeconomic and political factors . According to both studies , though there have been popular efforts to raise the quality of life of aboriginals , little progress has been done to alleviate their status This has prompted many of them to leave their traditional way of life (Chartrand , 2001

Cardinal and Adin (2005 ) point out that Canada 's status as having one of the highest levels f human development and levels of quality of life is not cascaded to it s Aboriginal citizens . Their study , focusing...