History of Canada and its Indigenous People

The land of Canada has been inhabited by a diverse group of indigenous peoples since ancient times. Europeans such as the British and French came across the Atlantic to settle the land, and the present-day Canada was established in 1867. In Canada, a new country still less than 200 years old, the indigenous peoples still face various challenges due to this historical background. While staying in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which borders Niagara Falls and the U.S. state of New York across the border, I participated in a guided tour organized by a support group for indigenous people in Canada, hoping to learn as much as I could about the challenges they are facing today.

The Friendship Centre, NCCT in Toronto.

December 2023, photo by the author.

Located in the heart of Toronto, this center is called the “Native Canadian Centre of Toronto,” or NCCT for short, and its purpose is to provide a variety of assistance to indigenous people living in Toronto.

Native Canadian Centre of Toronto is a membership-based, charitable organization located in the heart of downtown Toronto in a beautifully renovated heritage building. NCCT offers a wide range of programs and services based on Indigenous cultural traditions and teachings. All are welcome.

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In fact, there are now more than 100 such centers that support indigenous peoples, and they are called “Friendship Centers. Friendship Centers not only provide facilities and services like community centers in Japan, but also play the role of government offices that support the actual lives of the indigenous people by providing insurance, housing, employment, and so on.

The 90-minute guided tour I visited was a part of the Center's activities, and was designed to inform non-indigenous people about the culture and lifestyle of the indigenous people, accompanied by an indigenous student as a guide.

December 2023, photo by the author.

Various indigenous artworks were displayed on the walls of the center.

Digital art inspired by traditional Native Canadian art

On the first floor, where we were taken after the tour, the entire large space was a market for aboriginal crafts and other items, including traditional earrings, necklaces, digital art, and a variety of other items for sale.

Challenges facing Indigenous peoples in Canada today

At the end of the tour, we all gathered in a cozy social space and listened to the summary speech of the student who had guided us throughout the tour. There, he used the unusually high suicide rate among indigenous Canadian youth as an example, while telling us about the many other challenges facing indigenous peoples living today. I still have a strong impression of the way he delivered his speech, sometimes with tears in his eyes, and the way he conveyed their current situation.

When I later looked into more specific challenges they are facing, I could easily find various examples.

According to Statistics Canada data, the suicide rate among Indigenous youth is five to seven times higher than that of non-Indigenous youth, and the suicide rate among Inuit youth is 11 times the national average, one of the highest in the world.

In December 2018, a shocking revelation was made that the forced abortion of indigenous women had continued from the 1930s until 2017.

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Looking to the past, we find the following examples.

According to a report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in the 1940s, ”6,000 indigenous children died as a result of abuse.”

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Works and cultures that tell about and respect indigenous people

There are many works in various media that tell the histories and stories of indigenous peoples. Films such as “THE REVENANT,” about the European settlement of Canada, and “THE GRIZZLIES “ are examples. The book “Unbroken” written by a woman who is still active as an indigenous person, is a resource that gives a more realistic picture of the life of indigenous people.

In Canada, there is a custom in all events to have the hostess make a clear statement of respect for indigenous peoples in her opening comments, as part of the culture of respect for indigenous peoples. At the event I attended in person, the MC began by stating that the land where the event was being held belonged to the indigenous people, specifically naming the indigenous groups that lived there. This practice is called “Land Acknowledgement.

I hope that my experiences in Toronto and my subsequent research will not be confined to my own personal life, but will be conveyed to the readers through this article, and that they will be inspired to think about the issues facing indigenous peoples in Canada.