‘What do you mean the poor Natives? They have everything’

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with an Aboriginal nurse who had recently graduated to ask her to discuss some of the challenges she faced as a student or some of the problems she saw within the nursing programs. An excerpt that I had included in the podcast is as follows:

“Majority of white people are told when they are growing up ‘Indians get this for free, they don’t pay tax, they get free houses’ and they get all those stereotypes … and then they come to [nursing] school and the [professor] is like ‘the poor natives’ and [the students] are like ‘what do you mean the poor Natives? They have everything. Even the ones that are here are here for free’.”

During the interview, I didn’t know how to respond when this was said. I quickly reflected and came to the conclusion that there was a very large and sad truth within that statement. These are statements that you hear far too often. The lack of knowledge leaves people with the false idea that Aboriginals are provided with absolutely every tool they may ever need to excel and that they are somehow doing something wrong, and thus begins this cycle of blame. When this blaming attitude occurs, there is a lack of empathy, meaning people cannot seem to put themselves in the shoes of the other person. A lack of empathy for anyone, Aboriginal or otherwise, means there is a lack of understanding of the barriers that may exist. The only way to begin to change this blaming attitude is to correct these fallacies.

In an attempt to break some of these stereotypes and clarify some of these myths I have found the following truths presented by the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) in Burnaby, British Columbia. More fact sheets presented by the HEU regarding Human Rights can be found by clicking here. Each of the fact sheets presented below can be accessed by clicking on the title of the myth.

Aboriginal people don’t pay taxes:

• Inuit, Métis and non-status Indians are required to pay all taxes
• Registered (status) Indians who work for a company that is located on the reserve do not pay federal or provincial income tax. This is federal law and part of First Nation treaty rights in exchange for the land that was given up
• An Aboriginal person who works for a business or company that is located off the reserve is required to pay income tax.
• Status Indians do not have to pay the GST on goods that are delivered to the reserve. If the goods are purchased off-reserve and are not delivered to the reserve, the GST is payable.
• An Aboriginal person who works and lives off-reserve pays all taxes- income tax, sales tax and GST.

Aboriginal people receive free post-secondary education:

• Métis and non-status Indians do not receive free post-secondary education
• The federal government provides limited funding to local band councils to assist with post-secondary education costs for Aboriginals living on-reserve or status (registered) Indians.
• Many band councils allocate this limited funding to the students through a selection process
• Inuit and status Indians are not eligible to receive provincial financial assistance for post-secondary education (i.e. student loans)

Aboriginal people receive free housing

• Métis and non-status Indians do not receive free housing
• Registered (status) Indians who live on-reserve can apply for funds through their local band council to build or renovate their homes. In many cases, they repay these loans over a number of years.
• To be eligible for these funds, the house must be on the reserve
• These funds vary by reserve
• On some reserves, there is no successorship of ownership
• On many reserves, the house is owned by the land is not- therefore it cannot be sold
• There is limited space available for housing. Once the reserve is full, there is no room for more, even if there is population growth.