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TRADITIONS
Every culture has its own practices, policies and traditions. The Natives also have the beautiful tradition of oral knowledge which is passed along each generation to help guide members in the journey of life. Aboriginal children are taught from young ages the practices of their ancestors. As one Inuit community member explains, “Our parents and grandparents taught us how to live, survive on the land, and to be a good person.” One key lesson that is instilled into the aboriginal children from a very young age is to be observant of the environment. By observing the environment and its animals, one can understand “how the animals think”, forecast the weather, and predict the mating and migration seasons of the animals. They could then use that information to help make educated decisions about when to hunt, when to set camp and when to flee. However, due to our industrial society, we have managed to poison our environment and be then ignorant of the many ways in which we are doing so. The Natives living in the elements, however, have noticed how the quality of the biosphere is degrading with time due to the pollution and global warming. The drastic changes in the climate have had very destructive effects on the living conditions of the indigenous populations since they can no longer put the skills and strategies they learned as youth in practice, since they are no longer relevant. With the depletion of the environment, it has become increasingly difficult to predict weather and animal behaviour. This means that the Natives no longer have a stable source of food and rely heavily on modernized tools and sometime sheer luck in order to survive. As nominee of 2007’s Nobel Peace Prize and Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloudier explains, “The warming of our climate is connected to the sun. According to my knowledge and research, pollution is like a blanket over our Earth. Our Earth is having a hard time breathing and then overheats…This is dangerous to people worldwide…however, its most noticeable in our homeland.” This is a fact that can be corroborated not only scientifically but also by most Aboriginal people living in the extreme north. A member of one Inuit community explains how “the ice used to last until the end of June…Now, the ice starts to melt in December.”
These issue which directly effect Indigenous populations has created immense amounts of frustrations and tension between the Natives and the “southerners.” A lack of understanding only exacerbates the problem as it is very easy to play the blame game, and the question remains; How can we nurture our environment while maintaining a stable economy?
EDUCATION
What is your definition of an educated person? Perhaps to you it’s a person with the ability to read and write and has adequate math skill. Someone else may define an educated person to be one who has obtained a high school diploma, a masters degree or a doctorate. As the definition of an education varies person to person, it also is different for the Aboriginal community. Education to those living in isolated northern communities is knowing the environment and its animals, being skilled at hunting and having the ability to survive rather than being able to derive the Pythagorean theorem.
The way in which we receive our education also varies greatly from place to place. For example, as Albertan we are taught under a curriculum that is much different from that of perhaps Ontario or Nova Scotia. In the same fashion, the Northern communities receive education much different from ours. Currently with very few schools, high school dropout rates remain high while the rate of Aboriginals pursuing post secondary education is dwindling. And the lack of education has had a toll on the people.
However, an educated community can prosper in many ways. Education can teach people that their voice matters and that they can voice their opinion in many different ways. an educated person can also learn how to communicate with other groups about their issues
DEVELOPMENT
The Aboriginals have a simple policy by which they abide: “Nurture the environment and take only what you need.” This ideology can also vey easily be incorporated into our industry sectors. With the mass production of everything from the clothes on our backs to the food packed away in our backpacks, the only outcome the majority of our leaders are concerned with economic benefits. While economic stability is important, it shouldn't be the only that we centre our environmental policies around as there can be detrimental effects to that. An example of this is the conditions in China. Although in the past 3 decades China has worked immensely hard to boost its economy (with the 2rd largest GDP in the world) and become a world super power, it has also overworked its environment and now faces challenges including “foul air, badly polluted water supplies, and tainted food.” In order to avoid progression of such policies, we must incorporate the wisdom of the Natives to help maintain our environment while meeting the needs of our growing populations. One way to do so is to promote the meaning of being a global citizen. We must teach other to rid themselves of the mindset that we should only be concerned with issues if it directly effects us. Instead we must think as one, and understand that our actions can have amplified effects on both our environment and others. Thinking differently can have astonishing effects on people but in order for the effect to be widespread we must communicate and educate other with the issues of our world. We must collaborate with the indigenous populations, our leaders and our locals to bring awareness through programs designed to educate others on how to conserve our environment while empowering economic growth in a sustainable fashion. An example of this is UNESSO’s Man and the Biosphere Program. With over 600 biosphere reserves belonging to the global network and over 200 projects and activities in Canada alone, the program works locally to “nourish the collective vision to conserve biodiversity and cultural heritage, foster economic and human development, and provide support for research, education and information exchange.” Education is vital for the advancement of outworld but sometimes actions speak louder than words. With our education, we must make educated decisions regarding the leaders of our country, and voice our opinions regarding issues that may not be reflective of our beliefs. We have to join rallies and peacefully protest and lobby our politicians to bring good change.
Sources:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/china_at_crossroads_balancing_the_economy_and_environment/2710/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHxeOTJaiHI
http://www.ammsa.com/publications/windspeaker/canada’s-aboriginal-education-crisis-column
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/why-fixing-first-nations-education-remains-so-far-out-of-reach/
https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=en&n=C3C7E0D3-1
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/30/canada-aboriginals-resource-development_n_4178464.html
