Essay Sample on Issues Surrounding Indigenous Groups or Ethnic Minorities

Introduction

There are numerous communities around the world that constitute a minority of their respective countries which leaves them with insurmountable challenges and other conflicting issues. This is a reality that is common in different parts of the world although the best known cases can be found in the developed nations. A few examples include the Aboriginals in Australia and the Native Americans in the United States. This anthropological essay will focus on the Aboriginal ethnic minority in the Canadian society together with the economic activities, social and political organization, as well as the religious beliefs of the indigenous group (Frideres & Gadacz, 2011).

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Economic Activities of the Canadian Aboriginals

The Aboriginal ethnic minority in Canada comprises of tribes like the Metis, Inuit, and the First Nation people. This indigenous group makes a living through formal employment in the labor market where they serve in different capacities. The rate of employment in the community is increasing among its young demographic, although their overall rate of employment compared to other Canadians is still very low. They depend on the employment income for their survival although the same cannot be said of the ones who are still living in the reserves. The Aboriginals in Canada may find themselves working fulltime or seasonal jobs which they undertake regularly. As mentioned, there is a substantial number of Aboriginals still holed up in reserves in various parts of Canada. These are the ones who depend on their traditional economies to stay alive. Fur trade was a vibrant economic activity before the arrival of European settlers disrupted it. They had other forms of executing their economic transactions where goods and services were paid for. They made use of natural resources like rivers to engage in fishing and forests in which they hunted wild animals for meat supply. Sewing was also another major economic activity of the Aboriginal people in Canada.

Social Organization of the Aboriginals

The concept of indigenous social organization among the Canadian Aboriginals is centered on the family unit. However, the common nuclear family unit that is synonymous with most communities did not apply in the case of the Aboriginal ethnic minority. The core family at the center of the Aboriginal society is made up of individuals that are tied together through birth, marital connections, or shared history. The identity, duties, and rights of each family member within the kinship is carefully defined and accorded a sensible meaning. The families that made the kinship were understood based on the social networks of connected individuals. The arrival of the European colonial settlers did not take long before they figured out the strength of the Aboriginal family units. This made the colonialists to implement policies and strategies that were meant to scatter the family units to weaken the Aboriginal communities. Stringent rules saw the women lose excommunicated from their original communities which in turn undermine the social fabric of the Aboriginal people. However, the family ties have remained an integral aspect of retaining the social balance of these ethnic groups. It is through these family ties that they ensured equitable distribution of territorial lands, local production systems, and access to knowledge.

Political Organization

The political organization of the Aboriginal communities in Canada include a leadership structure in which there was a chief at the top. The chief offered his leadership and helped make judgement on various social issues emerging from the community members. The chief ruled with the help of a council that comprised of elderly wise men who offered counsel to the chief. The council is actively involved in the various issues affecting the Aboriginals but it leaves the final decision making to the chief. Under the chief and the council, there is a tribal council that handles the same issues affecting the Aboriginal communities, nut at the tribe level. Down further this political structure there are the provincial Aboriginal organizations. These are small councils that narrow down from the main tribal community to the provincial residents. They deal with a raft of issues affecting the Aborigines at the provincial level. If they cannot handle the matters happening at the provincial stage, the issues are referred further ahead to the tribal or national council. This political structure entails a lot of servant leadership because the leaders are expected to be at the front line of defense for their fellow tribesmen whenever they are faced with sensitive matters.

Religious Beliefs of the Aboriginals

The ethnic minorities in the Canadian society have a different ideological and religious perspective to that of the Westernized society. Their communities lean towards spirituality where they have a core system of religious beliefs that are pegged on to a spiritual world. Their general ideology insinuates that there is not just one truth but many truths, all of which depend on the experiences of each person. Their worldview is also informed by the concept of relatedness in which all people and all things are connected in one way or the other. At the heart of this connectedness is the surrounding environment which makes it easy to give people their kinship and spiritual identities. The Aboriginals in Canada also believe that land is a sacred resources that is naturally given by the creator who is the Supreme Being over all things. In their worldview, time is non-linear in nature with seasons being the main cyclical event that helps in keeping track of the time. The native communities also believe that one's contentedness and comfortable living in this life can only be gauged by the quality of relationships that one has with other people. They also assert that human beings are just a part of the creation and, therefore, not the most important thing in the entire universe. With regard to the creation of wealth and becoming rich, the ethnic groupings suggest that one should amass such wealth for the benefit of the rest of the community and not just for selfish gains.

Conclusion

As can be seen from this discourse, the Aboriginal minority community in the Canadian society are a unique people who have tried their level best to retain their traditions. This can be seen from the economic activities, social and political organization, as well as their religious beliefs or ideological perspectives of the world. They are a distinct group of people whose way of life has been adversely interrupted by the arrival of European settlers in their ancestral lands. They earn a living by enrolling in formal employment like the rest of the mainstream society. However, the informal Aboriginals have stuck to their trading, farming, and hunting ways.

References

Frideres, J. S., & Gadacz, R. R. (2011). Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Contemporary conflicts. Toronto: Prentice Hall.