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[–] [S] 207 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Explanation: For those of you who are not aware of European colonial history in the Americas, the First Nations 'agreed' to move only at gunpoint - when, of course, they were not shot outright and agreements eschewed completely. The phrasing here makes it sound much less like ethnic cleansing, when, you know, it was ethnic cleansing.

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  • [–] 88 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    In Canada, they made these agreements to force my people onto small reservations with limited supports, services or funds. Part of my treaty heritage is that we get an annual payment for signing onto the treaty - everyone gets a bit of money every year. When they signed onto the treaty in 1904, they agreed on giving $2 per person every year ...... we still get that $2 every year. Every other historic agreement with the Royal family or international agreement is adjusted to inflation .... but Indian treaties (they're called 'Indian' because that is what the original term was, so it is kept in use when referring to treaties) they all remained the same.

    They can adjust agreements made with Europeans to adjust with the times

    They don't, won't or can't adjust monetary amounts when it comes to Indian treaties in Canada.

    .... but the main reason why they even settled on these treaties in the first place was that it was planned, hoped and encouraged and expedited to have all 'Indians' either die, disappear or become naturalized as just Canadians with no land rights within a few decades .... 100 years ago!

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  • [–] 47 points 1 year ago

    Bank of Canada's inflation calculator only goes back to 1914, and that says $2 CAD from then is worth $54.47 CAD today (39.83 USD, 35.06 EUR) so it does not look like that was any type of good deal back then, nor would it be today even if it increased with the CPI.

    Totally shameful what the governments continue to do in regard to native people. It's not like they forget you're there, since I'm guessing they have to approve the payment every time, so it seems to be an active and ongoing choice each time to deliver that slap in the face. Makes it hard to say it was just a mistake in the past but those of us alive now have no responsibility in that.

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  • [–] 40 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    A bit more:

    If we're talking about US history, this page would be in reference to Europeans arriving in the 1600s. By that time, the population of North America had been dramatically reduced by foreign disease. For the comparatively small number of foreigners showing up, there kind of already was "room" because of that.

    Later on, when the US government was actively relocating people, different groups of people responded in different ways. Some decided it would be best to cooperate. Some decided it would be best to stand their ground and fight. None did these things because they freely "agreed" to.

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  • [–] 34 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Based on the map and the use of "First Nations," this is a Canadian textbook. I have no doubt this happens (and worse) in American textbooks, though.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Aha, yes, definitely true. I'm far more familiar with US history, but my understanding is that the way Native Americans / First Nations were treated by the US and Canada are equally horrible, only differing in the details.

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    [–] 88 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    That's an, uh, extremely suspect laughably wrong and evil phrasing there, school textbook

    Ftfy

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  • [–] 83 points 1 year ago (27 children)
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    [–] 74 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Found a source for the text book.

    If you know anything about the Residency Schools, you'll know that Canada is actually behind the US on this issue. A few years ago, someone shared on reddit their kid taking home an assignment asking the student to list all the positive things that Residency Schools did for First Nation kids.

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  • [+] 18 points 1 year ago (6 children)
  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Hmm depends what you mean by "like Australia". Australia were brutal about how they treated their indigenous population. Straight up to kidnapping their kids and trying to breed them out of existence, last century...

    I don't know how they teach it today but I know they still have a long way to go to making things better.

    New Zealand on the other hand, while doing some fucked up shit of their own, have gone a long way to teaching the atrocious treatment of their indigenous people and try very hard to embrace and grow the culture of it within the worst populace. Might be a better comparison?

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  • [–] 42 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Demonstration: The final stage of a genocide is the denial that it was a genocide.

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    [–] 40 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Europeans caused many genocides in the Americas. That's what books would look like if Hitler had won WW2.

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  • [–] 47 points 1 year ago

    "Knowing they were responsible for all the problems in the world, the Jews decided to take some time to concentrate on self reflection at the summer camps we built. Their overwhelming guilt caused many of them to work themselves to death"

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  • [–] 37 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    The Trail of Tears Totally Not Forced Displacement & Genocide

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    [–] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Get ready. This is how all school textbooks are going to be from here on out—if they aren’t already. Probably worse.

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  • [–] 36 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago

    Well if you mean they slaughtered the fighters, deliberately infected the tribe with smallpox, and marched the survivors out at gunpoint, then sure.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago

    There are indeed some cases where there was a willing exchange but in VERY EARLY days before a genocidal critical mass arrived.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    "Agreed" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting here. Like for values of a long, drawn out war and slaughter coast to coast with many, many broken promises…

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    [+] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago

    In the Netherlands we call the times where we shipped all the slaves from Africa to America the "golden age".

    You can be sure I did not learn much about this in school either.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Hey OP, you should name and shame the textbook if you're willing. It could be PII, so only do it if you feel safe with that and it doesn't give away too much, but we should share who/where is spreading lies like this. I'm sure it's supported by the "the left wants to rewrite American history" people.

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    [–] 10 points 1 year ago
    [–] 10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Question is that an American history book. I know it rare to see "first nation" in the states but it has been years sunce i was in school.

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