Unlike the small towns and villages of Manitoba, the First Nations communities are both individual communities and part of a more monolithic culture, stretching back thousands of years.
Marginalized and suppressed for centuries, the aboriginal people of the prairies are being discovered by the rest of Canada, recognized for their uniqueness and the wealth of history and practical knowledge they bring to our country.
My family grew up near a First Nations reservation and many of the friends from my youth were from bands that had been herded, like cattle, into smaller and smaller parcels of land. The settler’s history of destruction of the First Nation’s way of life is no less shameful than that of the American treatment of “Indians,” if less violent.
Not long ago, the Metis of the prairies were recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada as a founding nation. This is one bright spot in an embarrassing saga. Metis are mixed race French (or Scottish/English) and aboriginal. That is testament to how white and non-white in western Canada managed to meld and live together.
Before any of we white descendants become smug, it was less our initiative and more the natives who were accepting of differences. Mostly, it was white men, marrying or joining with native women. Mostly, it was convenience rather than a measure of equality.
Yet, while white settlers were pushing westward, displacing “Indians” from their ancestral lands, those same indigenous people were guiding us, keeping us safe, showing us how to survive in a harsh new world.
The stories of John Ramsay (who lost his family to European smallpox but still devoted himself to helping the Icelanders in the province survive the harsh winters), or Chief Pequis (who led efforts to establish peaceful resolutions between whites and whites & non-whites, but was twice rewarded by being forced out of his own home parts of the province) are just a few of the poorly known examples of how these people sacrificed so much to help the settlers but were abused for their efforts.
The ability of the First Nations people to use every plant in nature to heal or to improve health is an ongoing gift from them. The historical connection to nature only now is being appreciated for its insights, as we become aware of the damage we have done to the environment.
First Nations people did not willingly give up their claim to the land. It was, in many instances, stolen from them. They did not willingly choose the sites of their reservations. That was decided by the white government, who also ensured that prime agricultural land was set aside for the white population, while “granting” the native population small chunks of marginal land, in their own country.
Today, the First Nations populations in Manitoba are split between the reservation lands and the cities, with a resulting cultural divide.
This section of “Life in Manitoba” will explore each community, the First Nations history and the cultural uniqueness of Manitoba’s founding people.