Colonialism: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Social Essay

Past and Present Colonization in Canada
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The past impacts the future and regarding colonialism, it is no different according to Patricia Monture (2007: 207). The deeds of the past have impacted the present Canadian society and to understand why one must look into past trajectories and relationships in order to get a well-developed historical understanding of colonialism. One of the societies whose present has been affected by colonialism is the Aboriginal People which is unfortunate because the Canadian people have little understanding of the origin of the relationship between Aboriginal People and non-Aboriginal Peoples. It is not all down to the Canadian people however as the Colonial country paint a different picture with their narrative of the role of police in the containment and management of the Aboriginal population. This essay is meant to explain the concept of colonialism and how Canadian law got to influence the life of the indigenous people in the past and present.
Colonialism which is the act of taking control and influencing the political structure in a country began in Canada in the seventeenth century. The main intention was to construct a white settler society which in turn meant that the indigenous people were alienated. They were however valued for their skills but this came with restriction of their mobility and they had to relinquish their land to the government. The passing of the Indian Act acted as a confirmation towards the sexist and racist approach being used by the Canadian government agencies in dealing with the indigenous people. This law heavily impacted the mobility of the indigenous people as its intentions were to shape the “confinement of natives to reserves”. To control them, they were relegated to smaller tracks of land and a rule was imposed on them in 1885 that required them to have a pass from the Indian agent in order to move out of their reserves. Failure to secure a pass meant that they risked getting charged for trespassing. Other restrictions included the outlaw of Potlatch (ceremonial gift-giving) and Taman a was (medicine or healing ceremony) that warranted imprisonment of two to six months for any Aboriginal person caught in violation.
This arrangement meant that indigenous women were marginalized from the dominant societies and were forced to live along boundaries and highways. Poverty levels among them were high and they also had to deal with the “squaw” stereotype which labeled them as promiscuous. CITATION Mor16 \l 1033 (Morton, 2016) This made them vulnerable to violence and unable to acquire basic needs such as employment and education.
Colonialism in the present age has not disappeared rather it has evolved into new forms to accommodate contemporary times. The Aboriginal people have been portrayed as savage, uncultured and in need of heightened surveillance and control which creates a radicalized discourse. The radicalization means that the larger Aboriginal population is associated with poverty, crime, and violence leading to their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. Today's infrastructures have allowed inequality in which the indigenous people are socially excluded and the sad trut...