The Politics of Indigeneity by Augie Fleras

Author:Augie Fleras
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Otago University Press

Aboriginal Policy: Problem or Solution?

Do government Aboriginal policies create problems or provide solutions? Do they facilitate or block Aboriginal initiatives to cope with the problems in their communities (Fleras and Spoonley, 1999)? The role of government policy in the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples has been well documented and there is little benefit in rehashing the negative consequences of actions by politicians and bureaucrats – whether well-intentioned, focussed on promoting national interest rather than protecting Aboriginal concerns, or in the interests of careerism and empire-building (Ponting and Gibbins, 1980; Ponting, 1986; Shkilnyk, 1985). The state’s performance in advancing Aboriginal interests can be graded as ambivalent. While the state has proven quite capable of introducing progressive policies to enhance indigenous rights, it is equally capable of regressive measures that may exclude, deny, or exploit (Spoonley, 1993).

In Canada Aboriginal relations with the state have long been mediated by legislative and policy ideals marred by duplicity and expediency. Canada’s Aboriginal policy was characterised by reaction, crisis management and denial of Aboriginal difference, with the result that Aboriginal peoples have often had no choice but to subvert policies if they wished to survive (McNab 1999). Aboriginal policy can be seen as evolving through a series of overlapping stages. An initial period of co-operation and alliance-making gave way to a largely misguided and paternalistic policy of assimilation involving racist assumptions of white superiority as basis for control and coercion. Initial policies were based on perceptions that Aboriginal peoples were inferior or irrelevant, impediments to land and resources who had to be removed to facilitate Canadian society-building, and in need of salvation through civilisation and Christianity (Adams, 1999). The treatment of Aboriginal peoples as captive ‘wards’ was intended to facilitate their eventual absorption into the mainstream, but with little success. A shift from assimilation to integration and ‘ordinary citizenship’ gathered momentum after World War II. Integrationist policies and programmes sought to ‘normalise’ relations with Aboriginal peoples by terminating their unique relationship with the Crown and placing Aboriginal people on the same ‘footing’ as ordinary Canadians.

Federal efforts to desegregate and then integrate Aboriginal peoples had the unintended effect of mobilising Aboriginal peoples in protest. Aboriginal communities took the lead in advancing Aboriginal rights in the policy vacuum following the White Paper proposal, but grassroots initiatives eventually shifted toward constitutional debates (Kulchyski, 2003). Recent government and Aboriginal initiatives have tended to endorse a conditional autonomy model, by exploring the implications of Aboriginal peoples as ‘peoples’ with an ‘inherent’ right to self-government within the constitutional framework of Canadian society. Time will tell if the rhetoric and reality of contemporary policies will reflect a growing willingness to walk the talk of Aboriginal empowerment. Evidence to date suggests a cautious optimism.

On the surface, it appears as if government policy has evolved in profoundly different directions, but appearances are deceiving. Shifts in Aboriginal policy notwithstanding, the focus has never wavered from a fundamental commitment to foster Aboriginal self-sufficiency through cultural assimilation and economic development (Miller, 1996). There are ingrained obstacles that have made

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