Indigenous Peoples Rights in Canada

Abstract

Around 40,000 years ago, the lands surrounding present day Canada were inhabited for 643 groups of indigenous peoples. However, about 500 years ago, after the discovery of North America in the 15th century by the Europeans, many Europeans emigrated to North America, including Canada. British and French were the two largest groups emigrated to Canada. Conflicts and wars had taken place between the Europeans and the indigenous peoples for centuries. The Europeans, new comers, who had more civilizations wanted to occupy the lands and assimilate the indigenous peoples to accept European cultures, beliefs, and way of life. Centuries of warfare and assimilations have caused population decline of the indigenous peoples. Currently, there are only about 60 groups of indigenous peoples in Canada. Indigenous peoples have claimed their rights from the Europeans for centuries, such as indigenous peoples identity, land rights, self-government rights, education rights, etc. Nowadays, Canadian laws have widely adopted the rights of the indigenous peoples.