ANBI 375 - lecture #19 PDF

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Lecture notes - Ryan Brooks...

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Aboriginal peoples and agriculture in Canada ! Early agricultural practices ! - Widespread agricultural production that is able to sustain the economy! - Three sister - corn beans and squash. A lot of coups would practice this cultivation of these crops ! - Wild rice production - Algonquin ! - Common use of fire to enhance wildlife habitat - moose and small animals for trapping - also for plant growth. Used to manage plant resources, prescribed burn ! The little ice age ! - Agricultural opportunities were very limited even on a small scale ! - With the shift in climate there was a shift in economic production. Aboriginal groups moved from land cultivation from the three sister to hunting to a steady protein supply ! - Europeans came in at the end of the ice age where the aboriginal people were nomadic and following the bison so there was a misconception that they weren’t hunter and gatherers because of the climate ! Federal Policies of Ethnocide !

- A federal policy was introduced to fix the problem of ‘Indians’ ! - Absorb them into the Canadian population, no treaties, everyone would be the same, assimilation ! Agriculture and aboriginal policy ! - Indian act and treaties were important in assimilation into the Canadian population ! - Indian act dictates aboriginal peoples ! First Nations Farming Provisions ! - They were guaranteed things that were gave to the first nations when they singed this agreement ! - This was a way to jumpstart them into the economy into agriculture ! Early success ! - Production levels surpassed non aboriginal farmers ! - Homesteaders had a problem because they were promised land and wealth and thought that the first nations were benefiting way more since they had a large land mass because of the reserves and the amount of labour ! Four policies introduced though the Indian Act effectively sabotaged the agricultural success of Aboriginal farmers ! - Severalty! - Breaking up the aboriginal land base. Reserves were based on a formula of population. They thought the collective use of labour though it was unfair to homesteader, they wanted private property to reserve system! - Divided it into small plots, each farmer can only have so many acres ! - Once they broke up the farmers if there was a surplus it would be returned back to the federal government who would sell it to non aboriginal farmers ! - Peasant Farmers! - Aboriginal people need to develop an appreciation of agriculture! - They were not allowed to use the same type of machinery as non aboriginal people were allowed to used. It removed any opportunities for them to compete on a commercial level ! - Another policy to protect the economic of homesteaders coming up here ! - The permit system! - You needed a permit from the Indian agent before you could sell anything off the reserve !

- If you did try to sell off the reserve you would be arrested and anyone who bought stuff from aboriginal people !

- The pass system ! - It required all First Nations to acquire a pass before being allowed to leave the reserve for any reason !

- If you were caught out of the reserve you would be arrested ! Question ! - Given the history, and the systematic exclusion of Aboriginal peoples from the agricultural sector, is it reasonable to expect Aboriginal people to now benefits from and take part in the agricultural economy of Canada?! - What factors might contribute to the entry of Aboriginal peoples into agriculture?...