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Many people have become tired to hear about some Natives crying about the "raw deal" that he/she is getting from the government. I personally have gotten just as tired about hearing from the Natives about this, supposed, "raw deal". It is not a "raw deal" that the Natives have received from the government; it is an extremely good one. I have felt sympathy for the Natives for the fact that in the past the Natives were cheated out of his/her land in the past. That is the past; however now we still continues to have "whiners" within the Natives about the "raw deal" that he/she has with the government. I think that the Natives are full of themselves. The Natives aren't happy unless he/she can hear about himself/herself in the news complaining about something. This has to stop soon.
I personally have some Native blood, but I refuse to claim it. With the amount that the, supposed, "pure blood" natives bitch and complain about the "raw deal" that he/she has with the government, I refuse to be seen as one of them. In the past the natives weren't given enough for the land that was taken, however today the natives only seem to "act up" when certain land is seen to have greater value now. When this land is seen to have greater value, the Natives seem to get into the news and complain that he/she doesn't have a piece of the pie. The Natives will claim part of the land, so that he/she can be seen in the news more and also seen as a nuisance more. It is cruel to say, however it is the truth. For example, I read in the paper on Saturday January 10, 2004 that Dartmouth - NS, is having difficulties with a Native tribe. As I quote from the headline of the paper: "Millbrook First Nation wants portion of property city eyes for potential sports stadium". As the article says, "the Millbrook First Nation is making a claim for a piece of prime real estate on Dartmouth's water-front, near the site where a centuries-old Mi'kmaq village stood until it was wiped out by the Halifax Explosion.
The article also mentions, "the band lost 2.42 hectares of land in 1970, when the province accidentally build Ducan MacMillan High School on reserve land. It was agreed later that when federal surplus land became available in metro, the band would have dibs on it." This sounds like it should have been solved when the high school was built. What has happed in the past when reserve land had a chance to be built upon, the Natives would put up a stink, and however they didn't do it this time with the high school. The article doesn't mention whether the Natives put up a stink when the high school was being built, however judging by what the article has said (above) the province did see the error. As I look at this situation, the Natives didn't approach this problem the way that they have done in the past. Usually the Natives would demand for the building to be removed; however the Natives took a bargain from the government. So the Natives allowed a building on their land to be built without much hassle. There seems to be something wrong with this picture because the government is not allowed to build anything on the reserve land, and this was allowed.
Natives have always said that they are not being given enough land for them. The reserve land needed to be more than what it is, and also some other stuff like that. In this instance with a high school built on the land, the band took a bribe for something else in the future but with no determined time. In my opinion, these natives shouldn't be allowed to even try for some of that land. The Natives can claim, all they want, that it be because of a village that use to be near, however we know better than that. The Natives only want the land because it is "prime real estate". That would be the same as saying that if a person were to sell his/her land to a company, years later when company decides to build on it, and the land's value is worth more. In that type of circumstance, according to the way the Natives have preceded in the Dartmouth thing, the person that sold the land could demand the company to give them more money because the land is worth more now. If the Natives were allowed to continue the way that they have been going, the Natives will be unable to do anything wrong. Now if this is a "raw deal", then I think everyone should have that type of availability.
Companies have bought land in the past from people that have lived on the land for generations. The companies also not needed to pay anything extra to any of the people after attaining the land. In some cases there were minerals to be mined out that the previous owner knew nothing about, and still the companies didn't need to pay extra to those people because there was a "final" amount that was decided. With the Natives, it was a similar thing. The land was exchanged, although a very small amount paid, still there was a "contract" that was decided upon by each party. With the laws of a contract, the Natives shouldn't have any more extra rights because the contract was not broken. Both sides were given what he/she asked for, so the contract was completed properly. The only reason why the Natives have the extra rights, right now, is because of the emotion of pity. The people of Canada felt pity for the Natives and gave them extra rights. I think the rights have over-exceeded what they were supposed to be. As the rights of the Natives seem to be endless, I guess I could sell some land to someone and come back a few years later and say that I was cheated out of the land. I could do this because that is exactly what the Natives have been doing for years.
As it stands, the control of the rights that the Natives have needs to start soon. When the rights of the Natives become too farfetched, such as now, limits cannot be set because there is no control now. When control is established then limits can be set. Until the government starts to see the problem with the lack of control that they have with the whole Native rights situation, there will be an endless supply of problems to follow. Canada is one of the few places that incorporated the Natives with its country. The United States, as I have been told, stuck the Natives on a piece of land and told them to stay put. If the Natives left the land, then they would be shot. With what the United States did, it gave the country the ability to control the Natives from the start. Although there was a lot of death, the end is that the rights of the Natives have been control and are not limitless. Unfortunately, with Canada's good nature, that type of situation would not have happened. Due to the fact of Canada's good nature, the Natives have been able to have unlimited rights which will cause a problem until that is fixed.
I feel pity for the Native people for the way that their land was sold for less than it was worth, however there is a limit to my pity for them. There should be a limit to taking advantage of someone, which is why there are laws. For some reason the laws about taking advantage of someone doesn't affect the Native people when they decide to demand for something. It is wrong for what was done, however it is worst now for what the Natives have been doing to the country. I personally would like to see how everything is worded on the original "Native Rights" documents so that I will be able to help Canada out of this type of screw-up. Only then will I be able to understand how to stop some of the crap that the Native people have been doing.
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