Release: Colonization Breeds Chronic Disease: History and Aboriginal Health

Abstract

Aboriginal people experience higher rates of infectious and chronic disease, higher rates of poverty and unemployment, lower levels of education, lower incomes, higher rates of domestic violence and higher incarceration rates than non-Aboriginal people in Canada. Why is this so? Does Canada’s history of colonization, oppression and attempted assimilation matter? Are the issues our community faces today precipitated by past events?