* It is internationally known that Canada is one of the world’s most powerful states, and its economic record have become the envy of the rest of the G7 countries (Team Alcock, 2004). However, poverty has been a problem for many generations and the mass majority has known about the problem and yet, no solution has been made to help these individuals out. Poverty within the aboriginal communities on the other hand is a topic that is recognized geographically however, ignored globally. Little to nothing is known about the welfare state that goes on among indigenous peoples; therefore, this essay will describe how the forced assimilation to a European style of living has caused the aboriginal population the proper education needed to succeed, it introduced violence within the nuclear family, as well as the introduction to alcohol and other illicit drugs. As a result of these negative aspects, the aboriginal population was left with nothing but recognition of a society that subsists on what the government provides and nothing else.
According to the Center of Social Justice on Aboriginal Issues, they believe that the roots of poverty for Aboriginal communities can be found back to the forced relocation of indigenous peoples onto plots of land that are known today Indian reservations. The beginning to this tragedy started in 1851 when the US government enforced assimilation and the European fur traders and settlers took over aboriginal land leaving thousands of people without a home. While the solution to this was Indian reserves; with zero community development, infrastructure or an economy to set up, the process of assimilation was at the beginning.
Education played a significant role towards poverty among aboriginal families and Indian youth in the mid 20th century. This was the real start of assimilation towards the European way of life. Although residential schools were made to be a positive experience in the child’s life, many negative aspects...