Shame is a passive emotion, it’s better to be angry at a succession of governments that, since 1876, have put into place laws, processes, and systems, that have allowed this to happen.

Better still to be in the streets on June 29th lending your support to those who are demanding that it come to an end.

The short answer to your question might be yes, but it’s a lot more complicated than that. The government is responsible for willfully creating a system that guaranteed poverty and powerlessness.

They legislated people off their land, embarked on many and varied forced cultural assimilation programs, and purposefully built a system of forced dependency on the government as a method of giving themselves greater power over aboriginal people, and, more importantly, their land.

This went on for generations, and the federal government denied aboriginal people the right to vote to have a voice in those laws, it wasn’t until 1950 that Inuit were given the vote and not until 1960 that Indians were given the vote.

That 10 year jump the Inuit looks like they had isn’t really a head start at all as although they could legally vote there was no way for them to physically do so.

Contrary to popular belief we are not talking ancient history here, kids taken from their parents and the residential school system, was all alive and well during my lifetime - and regardless of what people might say, I’m not old.

Anyway, long story short, it has only been 40 years or so since aboriginal people were allowed any sort of control over their own destiny - and that is not really a sufficient amount of time to come close to addressing the damage done by the Canadian government.

It will happen, but since no government in my lifetime has been interested in even allowing that progress to take place (it’s the land and resources thing again), let alone trying to assist with it, why not enlist the aid of agencies like the Red Cross to help deal with a dismal aboriginal health system the government created, is seemingly uninterested in addressing, and that the communities are not equipped to deal with?

Case in point shlemazl:

Families often faced with choice of giving up their disabled children

Coalition calls for end to government squabbling over who pays the bill for Aboriginal child health services

OTTAWA, May 28 /CNW Telbec/ - A coalition of national Aboriginal and health organizations is calling on federal and provincial governments to end the jurisdictional squabbling that results in hundreds of Aboriginal children and youth being denied essential health services that are available to other Canadian children.