Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality

by Bob Joseph

There is a misconception that First Nations are one homogenous group who share the same culture, traditions, language, worldviews, needs, and desires. That could not be further from the truth.

A generic or homogenous “Indigenous People of Canada” does not exist.

One issue with the elected chief system is that chiefs are elected by the community, but their role is to administer the Indian Act. They work for the federal government, not for the people who elected them.

For most Canadians, the only time they saw Indigenous Peoples was in stereotypical roles in movies or in the news. And if they were in the news, it was because they were “drumming, dancing, drunk, or dead,”3 as an elder put it to broadcaster Duncan McCue.