3.2.4 Aboriginal Worldviews
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3.2.4 Aboriginal Worldviews
How should contemporary society respond to the legacies of historical globalization?
Who owns the earth? Most Canadians assume that they can own land, a house, and consumer items.
Many Canadians value wealth. The richer a person is, the more successful he or she is thought to be. Popular culture in North America encourages people to admire rich people such as Bill Gates and Oprah. Some might even say North Americans are obsessed with money and what it can buy.
Private ownership is a right in many countries today, but that has not always been the case.
In some parts of the world,
Many Canadians value wealth. The richer a person is, the more successful he or she is thought to be. Popular culture in North America encourages people to admire rich people such as Bill Gates and Oprah. Some might even say North Americans are obsessed with money and what it can buy.
Private ownership is a right in many countries today, but that has not always been the case.
In some parts of the world,
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women could not own land
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only certain classes of people could own land
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people believed in shared ownership of property
Image courtesy of Colette Moskalyk
Stewardship: First Nations and Inuit people had various ideas about how land could be owned. In some First Nations, both men and women had the right to own land but they also believed anyone could cross their land or even use unused parts of their property. Others believed in living in harmony with nature and acting as stewards of the land and that land was not owned — just as air and water were not owned.
They shared the wealth of the land and respected the land's gifts. They did not have money, and they bartered the goods they had in exchange for goods they wanted. If they had something their neighbour needed, they would give it away, knowing that another gift would come to them when they needed something. Ceremonies such as the potlatch celebrated giving rather than taking.
Fort Chipewyan, 1831, painted by Sir George Back
While camped at the now famous oilsands, Back wrote "... at no great distance from the bank of the river a fluid — coal pitch — issued from several small apertures in the earth."
Courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
While camped at the now famous oilsands, Back wrote "... at no great distance from the bank of the river a fluid — coal pitch — issued from several small apertures in the earth."
Courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
Graveyard at Fort Qu'Appelle Saskatchewan, 1889, by O.B. Buell
Courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
Courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
The image is a notice for Aboriginal people to sign Treaty Eight in northern Alberta.
Courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
Courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
When the Europeans arrived, a clash of values occurred. Europeans came to Canada seeking their fortunes. They took over the land and its resources. They fenced property, cut trees for timber, built homes, cleared land for farming, and they signed treaties or legal agreements exchanging most of their land for certain rights such as health care and education.