Aboriginal Land Claims

Term Paper # 103923

Canadian Studies > First Nations

This paper explains the link between the First Nations' land claims and their Aboriginal culture.

1,659 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the First Nations land claims, an ongoing saga in Canadian political and legal circles, are as a result of the Aboriginal culture's different attitudes towards land and property. The paper refers to the book "Green Grass Running Water" by Thomas King and shows how it partly reflects the differences between Aboriginal and white Canadian society in their distinct understandings of land and property.

Outline:
Introduction
Distinct Cultures, Distinct Concepts
The Roots of Difference
Lost in Translation

From the Paper:

"One of the fascinating aspects of the interaction of First Nations culture and European settler culture in the early years of Canada was how the two peoples often seemed to be speaking as "cross purposes" to one another. This applies particularly to the concept of land and its use. While both First Nations peoples and European settlers saw the land as a resource that could be used to support human survival, the First Nations peoples seem to have been surprised at the devastation the European settlers imposed on the environment that had supported Aboriginal populations for centuries."

Sample of Sources Used:

King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. Toronto: Harper Perennial, 1993.
McNab, David. Circles of Time: Aboriginal Land Rights andResistance in Ontario. Waterloo: Canada Wilfred Laurier UP, 1999.
Nadasdy, Paul. "Property and Aboriginal Land Claims in theCanadian Subarctic: Some Theoretical Considerations."American Anthropologist. 104.1 (2002): 247-262.
Phenix, Patricia. Private Demons: The Tragic Personal Lifeof John A. MacDonald. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,2006.
Usher, Peter. "Environment, Race, and Nation Reconsidered:Reflections on Aboriginal Land Claims in Canada."The Canadian Geographer. 47.4 (2003): 365-383.