Last Friday’s fantastic Pow Wow brought an explosion of native culture to McGill’s campus. The events of Aboriginal Awareness Week bring the discussion of First Nations issues to the forefront, and though the week has only just begun, it has already rekindled calls from students and faculty for McGill to institute an undergraduate program in Aboriginal Studies.
Aboriginal issues continue to be a major concern for Canada. Few internal Canadian affairs receive as much international scrutiny as the record of our country’s dealings with First Nations peoples. Last February, a United Nations committee condemned the existing health and education gap between First Nations communities and the rest of Canada. The panel pointedly asked why more progress had not been made.
Data from Aboriginal communities over the past decade hardly show improvement. Aboriginal students are four to six times more likely to drop out of high school than non-Aboriginal Canadians. Compared to the general population, five to six times as many Aboriginal people live in overcrowded conditions on reserves and in northern communities. Recurring reports of the lack of access to the most essential of needs—such as clean drinking water and basic medical care on reserves and in the North—put Canada to shame.
Such neglect reflects how removed these issues remain from the Canadian political sphere. Canadians need to be more aware of the state of some of their country’s most marginalized citizens. If McGill hopes to develop the future leaders of Canada, the challenges faced by Aboriginal communities cannot go unaddressed in its curricula.
The Tribune urges the faculty of arts to develop a major—or at the very least, an interdisciplinary minor—in Aboriginal Studies. Such a program is feasible in part because it would not necessarily require the development of new courses. Rather, it would involve piecing together relevant, existing classes from disciplines like Canadian studies, anthropology, history, social studies of medicine, and political science. Such a program would give interested students tools to make informed decisions about the future of Canada—and the role this continent’s first people must play in shaping that future.
An Aboriginal Studies program has both a symbolic and practical role. On one hand, investment in such a program would re-affirm McGill’s commitment to Aboriginal affairs and heritage, and would broaden the scope of its involvement in improving the livelihood of First Nations people. On a more pragmatic level, such a program would provide interested students with a comprehensive survey of Aboriginal history, culture, and politics, as well as a holistic understanding of how Canada can best serve that growing population. Only from there can true activism, outreach, and political change begin to take place.
With clear student interest—and a pressing need to educate a new generation about the mistakes of an earlier one—there is no longer an excuse for McGill to let yet another year, and another Aboriginal Awareness Week, pass without a structured academic program in Aboriginal Studies.
