If you're interested in or would like to understand more about the situation in Canada and the relationship between The Government and The Indigenous people, I would recommend starting with these 4 PDF's:

Here is the 1969 Government of Canada report on how to deal with aboriginal people. It proposed to eliminate Indian status and dissolve the Department of Indian Affairs within five years, aiming to achieve "equality among all Canadians" by removing legal distinctions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. The government believed that this would help to address socio-economic disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. Indigenous communities across Canada argued that the policy neglected the rights, treaties, and historical relationships between the Indigenous peoples and the government, and viewed it as an attempt to assimilate native peoples into mainstream Canadian society and erase their unique cultures and identities. [1]

Here is the "Ryerson Report" (namesake of Ryerson University). This report influenced the creation of the residential school system for Indigenous children in Canada. Ryerson believed that education could be used as a tool to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian society. [2]

Here is the Indian Act of 1876. It's the primary law the Canadian government uses to administer Indian status, local First Nations governments, and the management of reserve land and communal money. It's been widely criticized for being paternalistic and especially for its role in creating and enforcing the residential school system. It remains in place today...and it (sadly imo) continuing to shape the relationship between the Canadian government and the First Nations. [3]

Here is the Truth and Reconciliation Report. The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. This report is a comprehensive account of the history and lasting impacts of the Canadian Indian residential school system on Indigenous people. NCTR outlines the realities faced by Indigenous children in our residential schools, including cultural assimilation, physical and psychological abuse, and the effects these experiences have had on Indigenous communities.[4]

This is a subject very close to my heart. My father was the executive director of a government team set up to study and assist in supporting mental health on First Nations reserves. I spent a lot of time on reserves myself and I find what happened and still happens to Canada's Native people to be abhorrent.

The money is good, but really Canada needs to work to elevate the status of the First Nations in our society. Not only because it's the right thing to do, but because they have a lot to add, a lot to teach us, and we're better together.

[1] https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1...

[2] https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/R...

[3] https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1...

[4] https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/V...