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The Aboriginal People of Canada: A Rural Perspective

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International Handbook of Rural Demography

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 3))

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Abstract

It is a generally accepted fact that the settlement of Canada began with the migration of the Aboriginal Peoples from Asia to the Americas through the Bering Strait. As the original settlers of this land, the Aboriginal Peoples hold a unique place in the development and evolution of Canadian Society. They maintain traditional ways while functioning within a Western society. They live in rural and in urban communities, often migrating between them. This chapter presents a comparative and descriptive socio-demographic and economic profile of the three principal Aboriginal groups – the North American Indians, the Inuit and the Métis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “The on-reserve population is a derived census variable that is captured by using the census subdivision (CSD) type according to criteria established by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). On-reserve population includes all people living in any of eight CSD types legally affiliated with First Nations or Indian Bands (…), as well as selected CSDs of various other types that are northern communities in Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory (…).” (Statistics Canada, 2009, 215).

    The census subdivision types are based on the legal definition of communities affiliated with First Nations or Indian Bands. They are : Indian reserve (IRI); Indian settlement (S-É); Indian government district (IGD); Terres réservées aux Cris (TC); Terres réservées aux Naskapis (TK); Nisga‘a village (NVL); Nisga‘a land (NL); Teslin land (TL). (Statistics Canada, 2009)

  2. 2.

    The Aboriginal people can be considered to be a “closed population” for the purposes of estimating population growth and decline since immigration and emigration are not significant factors of population flow.

  3. 3.

    It should be noted that very few urban areas exist in the Northern territories in Canada.

  4. 4.

    The highest level of education is a derived variable that summarizes the educational qualifications of the respondent (Statistics Canada, 2009).

  5. 5.

    The First Nations University of Canada has campuses in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. (http://www.firstnationsuniversity.ca/).

  6. 6.

    The participation rate is defined as the ratio of the labour force and the population 15 years of age and older (excluding institutional residents). The employment rate is the number employed expressed as a percentage of the non-institutional population 15 years of age and over. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed divided by the available labour force, expressed as a percentage (Statistics Canada, 2009).

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Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the significant contributions to this chapter made by Dr. Eric Guimond of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the University of Western Ontario.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Gustave Goldmann

  2. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Gustave Goldmann

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  1. Gustave Goldmann
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Correspondence to Gustave Goldmann .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Sociology , Anthropology and Social Work, Kansas State University, Waters Hall 202D, Manhattan, 66506, Kansas, USA

    László J. Kulcsár

  2. , Community and Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Linden Drive 1450, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    Katherine J. Curtis

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Goldmann, G. (2012). The Aboriginal People of Canada: A Rural Perspective. In: Kulcsár, L., Curtis, K. (eds) International Handbook of Rural Demography. International Handbooks of Population, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1842-5_14

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