The claws-that catch, Friday, January 16, 1981, page '10
Native Caanadia‘ns: “Urban Transition 1
Reprinted from York University's student news—
paper, the Excalibur.
by Eugene Zimmerebner
tank to the corner of Spadina and College Street, just on the edge of the garment district and Chinatown, and a partly
35‘»; .-’:-u arrived at the Silver Dollar Tavern. Walk through two sets 9‘ heavy wooden doors, down a flight of stairs and you enter a large. I0w ceilinged, ill-lit beverage room with plain, sturdy wooden chairs and tabies.
ill-gMINsend cir‘rv‘ . fin
What makes this beverage room_.
With a raunchy country and western band uniqueisthatalmost all the people are Native Canadians. As a policeman told me,”The Silver Dollaristhelndian place."
Inside.drinking cheaply- priced draft and and talking to an Indian named Ed,Iwatched an oldlndian walk in with a big smile, cragglv marked face, and a brush cut, taikingtofriendsalongtheway.He was triumphantly waving a SS bill.
A couple of hours later, walking out of the tavern, I noticed the sameoldlndiansittingonthecurb, passed out. Picking him up and getting his address. I put him in a taxi and sent him home.
While most Toronfonians may not notice it, the Silver Dollars is one o.‘ the few outward signs of a great sociai phenomenon taking p'ace: Native Canadians consis- ting of Status and Non-Status Indians, Metis and Inuit, have been leaving reservations and rural areas of_Canada and are migrating to the urban centres. More and more, Natives are becoming an urbanized people.
In a devastating report released
the Department of Indian and
’thern Affairsthis past summer,
'ian Conditions: A Survey, it
as that the off-reserve Status
iian population has grown from the level of 42,000 in 1966 to 77.000 in 1976. This means approximately 30per centofailStatusIn‘dianslive off-reserve. By the mid 805. some estimatethisfigurecouldriset060 mar The Federal government has
'.~ t. .. .F .tL..I. . an'. at?“ 3c: esp»n~...—...=.,
r‘:ar\‘
"WV-"L
status Indians as defined in the Indian Act. So the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs does not published comprehensive statistics on non-status Indians, Metis or Inuit. But those involved with Native affairs estimate there are as many Natives in urban centres as status Indians. This makes a total of 150,000 Native Canadians in our cities.
Indian Affairs has abundant information documenting the conditions of status Indians on reserves. A summary of this information was contained in
50 - 60 per cent of Indian health problems are alcohol related.
Indian Conditions. and even in its bureaucratic prose it makes for powerful reading: oThepercentageofviolentdeaths among Indians is three {0 four times higher than among the national population,- .
0 An estimated 50 to 60 per cent of Indian health problems are alcohol-related;
I
O The strength and stability of family unitsappearsto beeroding, as evidence by increasing divorce
arates, births outside marriage,
children in care, adoptions of Indian children by non-Indians andjuvenile delinquency;
0 Use of social assistance and welfare ‘among Indians 'has increased from slightly moretnan one-third of the population to slightly more than one—half in the last 10 to 15 years;
0 Indians and other natives continue to be Over-reprEsenteu in jails and penitentiaries by more than three times their proportion of the total population;
0 The quality and availability of serviced housing has improved but Indian housing lasts about 15 years compared to 35 years for non-Indians.Thereisaneedtoday for about 11.000 houses to relieve crowding and replace unsatisfac- tory houses;
A great social change is going undocumented.
o On the average, 50 to 60 per
cent of Indian Housing has running water and sewage disposal, up from 25 per cent 15 years ago, but in some areas (such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan) as little as 10 per cent of housing is serviced; . 0 University enrolment has risen from S7 in 1963 to 2,700in 1979, but participation is less than one—half national levels.
The picture the report draws of
' status Indians on reserves stands as
an indictment against the federal government’s programs and policies Over the years.
While Natives have been migrating to the cities in greater numbers, no level of government has been documenting this migration or what happens to Natives once they arrive. A great social change is going largely undocumented.
For example, it is impossible to get exact figures onrhow many Natives live in Toronto. A researcher for the Ontario Task Force on Native People in The Urban Setting who is compiling demographic information for the Ontario government, said no up- to-date‘statistics exist.
Rob Howarth did say that'1976 statistics estimate that there were between 18,000to 27,000 Nativesin Toronto. Canadian Centre'on Spadina Ave. believe there are approximately 30,000 Natives in Toronto, but this is just an estimate.
The failure in trying to obtain statistics about the Native's iife ;n the City starts there. Noting the
high proportion of Natives in.
prison, I, contacted Legal Aid to find out if Natives Use the program when they are arrested. Public information officer lohn Beaufoy saidthere is no waytofindouthow many Natives use the program because ethnicorigin is notnoted. When BarbaraWalkerofToronto's Social Services Branch was asked how many Natives collect welfare. she said they also do not note a person‘s ethnic origin. Neither
does the Addiction Research Foundation.
While government agencies may not know if Natives face problems or ask for their services, Robert Holota, director of the counselling unit and a community worker at the Native Canadian Centre, knows obstacles Natives face in the city. He gained his street smartslivinginTorontoforthepast eight years after leaving his reservation. '
Sittingbackinhischair,smoking
a cigarette, Holota talks about the
Native’s experiences in the city in a matt‘er-oflfact tone. Young Natives come to Toronto unprepared to live and workin an
iurban environment. They don’t
get an adequate editcation on the reservation and possess few job skills. Coming from a rural environment with extended families, Natives are isolated by the city with its emphasis on individualism. They don't receive much guidance in living and working in the big city.
Natives at the Native '
"Indians who have a sense of self-sufficiency do okay in Toronto, but there are a lot of Indians who have grown up
dependent on the federal .gwhenhecomeshere."
government and its welfare," said Holota. "These dependents find it very difficult to make it on their own because the federal government doesn't take care of them off reserve."
This lack of inbred self- sufficiency on the reserve Is one of ‘ the main reasons there is so much/ alcoholism among Natives, according to Holota. It gives them
a way of escaping from their i
problems. "Some Indians coming to Toronto are already alcoholics. It
sufficiency. They must get away from the dependency taught on the reserve “where he expects the government to take care of him ', Not only will it help the Native cope with thecity butthequality of life on the reserve will also improve. . .
Holota said in his matter of fact tone that Natives still face racism
. but he tries his best to not send
I I
l l
ISN'T—“hf city that turns them to a
drink” said Holota. “This need to drink with other Indians makes the ’Silver Dollar an important Indian institution in Toronto."
The lack of self-sufficiency
allowed by the Department of' .
indian and Northern Affairs raises Wilson Ashkewe's anger. Asoneof
m
Many Indians grow up dependent on welfare.
/
four native employment counsel-
ilor specialists in Canada
manpower offices in Toronto, Ashkewe is an example of a ’new Native class of government bureaucrats that developed in the 705 after the federal government allowed Natives to take over their own affairs. "Indians are big business,"'_sa_id
Courtesy of the McMichael Canadian Collection
Ashkewe, shaking his head. "The
' government may have originally
wanted to help Indians with programs but then it grew and grew. The bureaucrats just wanted to protect their jobs and construct programs for their idea of an Indian. They didn't want us to become self-sufficient ,because they would lose their jobs. We had to fight this." I ‘
He echoed Holota when he said that if Natives are going to make it ‘ in Torontokthey 'must learn self.
_ families
them to job interviews where he knows the employers are racist. Mark Nakamura of.the Ontario Human Rights Commission said the commission receives few complaints of racism butthis does not mean Natives are not being discriminated against. He said there are several reasons why Natives may not complain. ' "There may be a lack of trust of governmental Institutions; ' they may not’ be aware of the Commission's existence or people whoface discrimination may not feel it » worthwhile to pursue. Natives don’t need the aggrava- tion," said Ashkewe. - . While some Natives coming to the city are transients, moving from place to place, others have come to the city to stay. Ashkewe said Natives who decide to settlein Toronto have a chance at a good occupation, especially since the federal government has initiated
“.They call you 'a white apple”.
l
m affirmative action programs In srx
of its departments. ,_
Settling down in the city and giving up the idea of being a tran- sient is considered losing one of the traits that makes a person’ an Indian. '
“I decided that I wanted to get a good job. I like the idea of owning my own home, my Own cottage, my own car," said Ashkevve. "Because I settled down, some think they are more Indian than I am. They call you a white apple."
Toronto will have more “white apples" in thefuture. A recent survey conducted by the Native Canadian Centre showed that of the ’181 families interviewed, representing: total of 701 natives, 90 per cent have lived in Toronto for at least two years, and 47 per cent have lived in the city for at least 10 yeon When asked if they planned to settle in Toronto and make the city their home, 65 per cent of the people said 'yes’. Another 25 per cent said ‘no', and 10 per cent were not sure whether - they wanted to Stay or not. . Family stability migh' appear to be a problem but the Centre received names for the interview- ees from agencies. so it is not a scientific survey...8ut of the "181 families, 111 had a single parent.
When asked ‘wherwe does your family income come from?’, 82 said social assistance (welfare or mother's‘allowan‘ce), 75 families said. both social assistance and employment, 6 families -said employment insurance and 2 families said student allowance and employ- ment. So there seems to be an." equal reliance on income from .
g. employment'and s‘ocial assistance
and other forn‘fs of support. : cmt'dmimqe. 11. I '