I believe that the first people should have a say in policy-making and overall decisions that affect their communities. I envision a future where people are more accountable for their actions and inactions. People relieve responsibility off of themselves when it doesn’t directly affect them.
Speaking on distributional justice, imagining someone damaging my front-yard and essentially my home, I would do everything in my power to stop them. However, the current system has been put in place to give power to those only with money. This allowed factory owners to out-bid and overpower the native’s and own their land. Reaping all the benefits and leaving nothing left for the natives, this exclusion destroys centuries of cultural history and traditions.
Media rarely speaks on issues until it becomes mainstream, therefore, I personally feel very ignorant to the situations that are happening to indigenous communities in British Columbia. I am going to spread awareness to family and friends about the current systems that are put in place to exclude native communities. Additionally, I also believe that it should be mandatory for the first people to have a seat in politics.
It is honestly crazy to see an entire group of people being treated like second-hand citizens, especially when they were the first people to ever live on this land. Media sources need to be reflective of news that impacts everyone, most importantly the Indigenous people. People only speak up when it is themselves being impacted, and stand silently when it is someone else. It is sad to see that just because the population of indigenous people is smaller than that of those who aren't, they are not given the right to speak when they are being directly impacted.
Great post! You're right, media often only brings awareness to topics that are popular which I find so startling considering how common this injustice that Indigenous communities are facing across the country actually is. I have to agree that I too wasn't aware of the situations and realize that I need to make more effort in educating myself by being more selective with which type of media I am exposed to.
Those with money can do more than those who don't, this has been true for a loooong time, but I don't see a possible solution for that. Great post and interesting ideas, Love it!
It's mind boggling that Indigenous people get so little (or no) say about what happens to/with their land. Now that infrastructure and businesses have been established without their consent, I think that we need to work towards distributing the wealth (that is produced on their land) back to the people who were spurned for it. As individuals, we can recognise this injustice and, like you said, speak out about it until it's more widespread, but some higher-ups are going to need to step in to make the current systems more equitable for change to be made.
I completely agree with you! This is a great post!