|
Natives in Canada
In thwe 1986 census, some 700.00 Canadians claimed to be of aboriginal origin. The majority of the Canadian "first peoples" live in the North-West-Territories. Some bands have their own schools with their own curricula, where teaching is conducted in the Native language. The Native peoples have become very rigorous in demanding their rights. Natives no longer accept that provincial or federal governments can dispose of theier ancestral lands. The Mohawk conflict with the Quebec government in 1990 proves that Native peoples are prepared to defend thier rights with arms if necessary. Mohawk "Warriors" occupied the site. Another Mohawk band then blocked the brigdes into Montreal.
The Ethnic Mosaic - Nation of Immigrants
Jaques Cartier`s landing at Quebec City in the 16 th century is the first recorded non-aboriginal settlement in Canada. For the next 200 years, until 1760, most settlers came from France and later from the United Kíngdom. In the 20 th century the pattern again changed dramatically as the bulk of Canada`s immigrants arrived on her shores from Continental Europe and, later in the century, from other continents.
Canada`s Chinese Speakers
Chinese has become the third-most-spoken language in Canada. A huge increase in immigrants from Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan since the 1980s has pushed Chinese ahead of Italian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Montreal`s Chinese community is much smaller than those in Cnada`s largest cities, Toronto and Vancouver. There has been some friction between the new Chinese immigrants and Canadians who were born in the country. The Chinese community across Canada is prosperous. Many arrive from Hong Kong with a financial nest egg. Others have worked their way from poverty to middle-class comfort.
Centuries of discrimination drive separatists
Parti Quebecois is afeeling of cultural differneces and a desire for home rule. They fail to mention the 300 years of discrimination against French-speakers by the English majority in Canada.
Quebec has a proud tradition, and it is not Canada, but Nouvelle France - New Frane. The Premier Lucien Bouchard wants to usher Quebec into the next century as ist own sovereign state. Quebc would be the 10 th largest trading partner of the United States if it broke away to form a free and sovereign state.
The Indians
Winnipeg is a prosperous and cultivated city that also contains the alrgest Indian slum in North America. Indians come down from the reservations in search of jobs and an income. Those lucky enough to find a job don`t hold it for long, and within a month or so the majority of new arrivals can be found in the cheap beer halls.
Indian culture was effectively destroyed across the breadth of North America. Magnificent forests were full of game and made possible the construction of villages more nomadic interior bands. The white man tried to "civilize" the Indians. Finally, alw was introduced to ban the central tribal ceremony. Only little of the cultural life of the Indians is left. The Indians had to give up their traditional skills and a way of life that was perfectly suited to the land, in exchange for what is only a second-rate version of the white man`s lifestyle.
|
