The city is home to these natives

Urban aboriginals adopts aspirations of neighbours: Study

Denise Davy
The Hamilton Spectator

(Apr 7, 2010)

When Cody Powless moved off the Six Nations reserve three years ago, he had one thing on his mind.

He wasn't going back. He wanted a life that offered more opportunities, where he could work, own his own home and start a family.

That goal, he said, wasn't attainable on the reserve, where unemployment runs high and housing is scarce.

He went to school to become an electrician, found a steady job and next month moves into a new home with his wife and two-year-old daughter.

Powless is typical of urban aboriginals in that he now calls the city home and has no intention of going back, according to the Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study by the Environics Institute.

"Since moving here, my life has blasted off," said Powless, 24, who works in maintenance at Urban Native Homes Incorporated.

"I made a lot of bad decisions when I was living on the rez and I just had to get off it. I'd never go back."

Half of the 1.2 million Canadians who identify themselves as aboriginal now live in a city. The Environics survey showed that of those, 71 per cent consider it their home.

It also showed the values, dreams and hopes of urban aboriginals are the same as those of their neighbours.

"They aspire to the good life. They want an education, kids and the opportunity to have a good life," said Environics president Michael Adams.

In Hamilton, 7,625 people identify themselves as aboriginals.

Powless's journey to attaining his dreams, however, was a lot more seamless than most.

Agencies in Hamilton say most aboriginals aren't aware of how tough the move will be and struggle for years to get on their feet.

"There are often more obstacles than they think," said Janice Lewis, executive director of Urban Native Homes Incorporated.

"A lot of times what happens is that they don't feel like they're going to succeed and they go back."

Susan Barberstock, executive director of Hamilton Regional Indian Centre, said aboriginals move here from Six Nations to leave behind the substandard housing and poor chances for employment.

She said the majority of aboriginals she sees moving to the city are in their late teens or early 20s.

Many are still living with their parents because there's nowhere else for them to go.

"You can only live with your parents for so long," Barberstock said.

She said safe drinking water and overcrowding are other problems on reserves.

Aboriginals come to the city hoping for more opportunities and end up living with family again because they can't find jobs or housing.

She said many go back and forth, especially if they can only find seasonal work.

The survey showed many come up against negative stereotypes, such as assumptions that they're lazy or have an addiction problem just because they're aboriginal.

Powless said one of his employers had him sign a contract saying he wouldn't drink on the job.

"I didn't think anything of it, then I asked the guys I work with, who are non-native, and they didn't have to sign it," Powless said.

The survey studied 2,614 aboriginal people who are living in 11 large cities in Canada.

Thirty per cent of urban aboriginals interviewed for the survey reported having been a victim of a crime in the past 10 years, while

27 per cent reported being arrested.

Of the 36 per cent who planned to go on to post-secondary education, money was the main obstacle.

Adams said it's important to get rid of negative stereotypes and accept urban aboriginals.

The aboriginal population in Canada is growing faster than the general population and increased by more than 20 per cent between 2001 and 2006.

"If we don't (accept them) we are really being stupid," Adams said.

"This is a significant population and boomers are retiring and we need people to replace us."

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Percentage of Canadians identifying themselves as aboriginal who live in a city

7,625

Number of Hamiltonians who identify themselves as aboriginal

1.2m

Number of Canadians who identify themselves as aboriginal, including 50,485 Inuit; 389,785 Metis; 698,025 First Nations

Sources: 2006 census data, Environics survey