- Peter Foster: The chiefs have no clothes
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Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry is a great book on Canada’s flawed aboriginal politics, marred only by a flurry of anti-capitalist rhetoric
By Peter Foster
M
any Canada Day celebrations this year were marked by performances of traditional aboriginal drumming and dancing. Such displays — while an undeniable part of Canada’s heritage — increasingly invoke uneasiness. That’s because the state of aboriginal people in Canada is a national disgrace.
UNICEF recently “celebrated” the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child with the release of a report on aboriginal children’s health. To nobody’s surprise, it was considerably worse than that of the average Canadian child. The report’s authors call for more “culturally appropriate health and social services.” But if you’re sick, do you want the latest medical science, or something “culturally appropriate?”
Anybody who seeks the “root causes” of aboriginal plight — and of the role of notions such as “cultural appropriateness” — should read Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry. The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation, by Frances Widdowson and Albert Howard.
I’ve always had a little trouble celebrating Canada Day.
2 comments:
The authors of 'Disrobing' are atheists who denigrate Aboriginal spirituality and the Aboriginal rights that exist in the Canadian constitution.
They defy the 'rule of law' in Canada and seek to impose their own.
While accurate in some respects regarding the inefficiency of the self-sustaining 'aboriginal industry', the authors fail to respect the rights that underlie the land claims. The inefficiencies result from the fact that the political governments of Canada have no intention of settling all the claims: They exist only to "minimize the liability of the Crown" - ie, drag it out as long as possible, until leaders and negotiators are beaten down and accept peanuts on the dollar.
What does being an atheists have to do with anything? If atheists are bad then christians must be good.
I have been asking for years what happens to the $9-11 billion allocated in the budget for "indian affairs" goes....
Personally I believe land claims should be settled immediately and let the indians fend for themselves.
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