Posted By BY SUSAN GAMBLE, EXPOSITOR STAFF; THE CANADIAN PRESS
June 24, 2008 - printed Brantford Expositor
Nearly 40 years ago, when she was 18, Lorraine Henhawk left Six Nations to move to Brantford to find work.
In the early 1990s, she was talked into returning to the reserve by her children, but all agreed it was better in the city. After five years away, Henhawk returned to Brantford for good.
"Living in Brantford was better for me because of work and the transportation issue," Henhawk said in January.
She's not alone.
In just five years, the number of natives living in Brantford has jumped by more than 30 per cent.
That's a significant change, according to Statistics Canada, which released new data in January from the 2006 census.
The statistics show that 3,865 people in the Brantford area identified themselves as aboriginal -- a 32.6 per cent increase from the 2001 census. Of those, 600 are identified as Metis, generally defined as a person with mixed North American aboriginal and European ancestry.
The new census data shows that across Canada, 72.1 per cent of the country's off-reserve aboriginal population lives in urban centres, compared to only 26.3 per cent who live on reserves. The number of aboriginals living off reserve since the last census was taken in 2001 has increased by three per cent.
Canada's aboriginal population tends to gravitate toward cities in search of jobs and a better life. However, they often find it difficult to access the services they need to prosper. Offreserve, they can no longer access the federally funded services once available to them and provincial governments are often unwilling to take financial responsibility, leaving those in need in a vacuum.
The 2006 census is the most detailed enumeration of Canada's Indian, Metis and Inuit population. Historically, aboriginal people have been reluctant participants in the census for a variety of reasons. Statistics Canada made an extra push to get a higher participation rate for the latest census, hiring communications staff to visit reserves in advance to appeal for co-operation.
As a result, more Canadians than ever have identified themselves as aboriginal -- 1,172,785 compared to 976,305 in 2001.
The increase can be explained by reasons besides the higher participation: aboriginal Canadians tend to have a higher birth rate than non-aboriginals and more people of mixed ancestry are coming forward to identify themselves as aboriginal.
Living off the reserve has advantages and disadvantages, Henhawk said.
Her doctor and dentist in the city are within walking distance and there's bus service, so she no longer drives a car.
Since having a mini-stroke, getting out for a walk has become more important for her health and that's easier in the city than on the reserve, where sidewalks aren't that prevalent.
But she can't get to the Longhouse -- a culture she was just starting to explore -- since she no longer drives.
Now 57, Henhawk is representative of many natives living in the city.
She's separated, she rents her home through the native housing agency and she has three adult children, who so far have produced five grandchildren.
According to the new statistics, half of all the natives who live in the Brantford area are aged 24 or younger, compared to the average population, of which only 32.5 per cent are young people.
On the other hand, 13.8 per cent of the area population is 65 or older, while just 4.8 per cent of natives fall into that category.
Local natives have a much higher likelihood of being single (39 per cent compared to 25 per cent of non-natives) and are more likely to be living common law (18.7 per cent compared to 8.9 per cent of non-natives). They are also more likely to be separated or divorced -12.2 per cent of natives, compared to 8.6 per cent of non-natives.
Almost half of the natives in Brantford own their own home, compared to 78 per cent of the general population here. Natives are far more likely to rent a house or apartment: 51 per cent rent compared to 22 per cent of the general population.
Tammy Hill is among a minority of female natives living in Brantford who are widowed.
The 31-year-old mother of four was raised differently, too, she said.
"My native father wasn't in my life and I wasn't raised on the reserve. I wasn't exposed to some of the alcoholism and abuse there is on the reserve. I had a different upbringing."
Hill participated in the 2006 census but she understands why many natives won't divulge their personal information.
For one thing, she said, the government already has all that information on natives because each native child must be registered to get government funding.
"I do a lot of looking into family tree stuff and if my great-grandchildren are looking for my information some day, they'll find it.
"Also, I think native people should stand up and be counted."
The census shows the aboriginal population of Ontario increased between 2001 and 2006: from 188,315 to 242,490. Of the total 2006 native population for the province, 19.6 per cent live on reserves and 77.2 per cent of those living off reserves live in urban areas.
While Ontario has a total of 153 reserves, the latest census figures do not include statistics from 49 reserves in the province. Statistics Canada said either not enough people on those reserves chose to participate in the census or for those that did, the quality of the data received was questionable or the reserves were small. For privacy reasons, detailed census information is not released on any community with a population of fewer than 40 people.