Who are the Original Inhabitants of Canada
Before the colonists explored Canada, there were peoples living in it for thousands of years, so who are the original inhabitants of Canada?
Table of contents:
- Introduction
- Who are the Original Inhabitants of Canada?
- Languages are spoken by Indigenous of Canada
- The number of the Aboriginal in Canada
- Are native Americans still in Canada?
- The suffering of the aboriginal groups of Canada
Introduction
Many questions may come to people’s minds about the Canadian aboriginal peoples:
- Who are the aboriginal peoples of Canada?
- What is the difference between aboriginal peoples and indigenous peoples?
- Where did Aboriginals come from?
In this article, we will show you some answers on those questions.
Who are the Original Inhabitants of Canada?
When talking about the origins of the inhabitants of Canada, this takes us to three names of peoples who were among the first inhabitants of Canada and recognized in the Constitution of Canada, and they are as follows:
The Indigenous peoples of Canada are a small but influential community that remind Canadians of their country’s ancient past and their contemporary responsibilities to its first residents.
First Nations: is one of three groupings of Indigenous people in Canada, Constitution Act of 1982 declares that Aboriginal peoples in Canada include Indian (First Nations).
Métis are people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry, and one of the three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
Inuit are an Indigenous people, the majority of whom inhabit the northern regions of Canada.
According to official statistics in Canada, their number until 2016 reached nearly 1.6 million, when they constituted approximately 4.9% of the total population of Canada.
In Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, “Aboriginal peoples of Canada” includes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. “Aboriginal peoples” is a legal term encompassing all Indigenous peoples living in Canada.
Languages are spoken by Indigenous of Canada
Not only English or French are the two languages spoken in Canada, but there are about 53 other indigenous languages in addition to many dialects. Some of them are still alive and used today.Over 60 Aboriginal languages reported in 2011.
There are languages that you may hear for the first time in Canada, such as the language of the indigenous American, Indians in Canada, whose name is Cree.
There is also the Ojibwe language, which is a language adopted by some of the indigenous peoples of Canada, in addition to the Inuktitut language, which is adopted by the indigenous people of Canada, specifically in northern Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, and others.
The number of the Aboriginal in Canada
In statistics dating back to 2016, the number of the indigenous population of Canada reached 1.673.785. In addition to the presence of approximately 977.230 people belonging to the first Nations peoples, 5.87.545 people belonging to Miti people, and 65.025 belonging to the Inuit.
Today, the total population of Canada for the year 2022 is approximately 38.381.136 Canadian citizens, including the original inhabitants of Canada, making up a total of approximately 0.483 % of the world’s total population
Are native Americans still in Canada?
The answer is Yes. They exist and receive support today from the Canadian government, while there are laws that have been enacted to support and integrate them into local communities.
The law today is known as Bill-45 and aims mainly to integrate them, but the integration policies were a subject of contentation and groups of native Americans tried to provoke a hunger strike, protests against their integration into the local people, but the Canadian government continues to pursue this policy.
However, we find that many of the meetings that the Prime Minister of Canada had during the past years were with officials of these peoples.
The suffering of the aboriginal groups of Canada
After answering the question of who are the Original Inhabitants of Canada? and talking about the languages that are spoken by Indigenous of Canada, let’s move on to talk about the suffering that the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Canada.
Mass massacres and racist crimes perpetrated by the first Prime Minister of Canada and graves are still newly discovered, with expectations of many mass graves belonging to the indigenous people of Canada.
A long story in which details are brutal racist crimes against humanity, and perhaps the so-called ‘ boarding schools” funded by the Canadian government in the nineteenth century witnessed these crimes.
In 2021, an unmarked mass grave was discovered, bringing its number to 1100 across Canada, while documents indicate massacres against indigenous peoples in Canada in the past.
In 1998, the federal government acknowledged that there had been incidents of violations against boarding school students, and in 2019, nearly 2.800 children were documented who died in these schools.
It is worth noting that there are reporters today about the danger of extinction of the indigenous people in Canada in particular and the general areas in which they congregate in general, when the governments of countries are seeking to integrate them in local communities seriously.
For more information, you can watch the following video:
