Some Basic International Comparisons
A Short Backgrounder on First Nations Demography and Other Post Colonial Experiences to help frame discussions and engagement
When people talk across the world it is useful to have some common basis of comparison.
This paper compares five populations affected by European colonization, dispossession, and assimilation policies: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (Indigenous Australians), African Americans (Black Americans in the United States), American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN or Indigenous Americans in the United States), Canadian Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit), and New Zealand Māori communities.
The comparison examines their demographic profiles and key historical experiences of oppression—including liberation from slavery (primarily African Americans), the Trail of Tears and forced removal (primarily Indigenous Americans), colonization, frontier violence, and assimilation policies toward Aboriginal Australians, parallel residential school policies in Canada, and the impacts of British colonization and land loss for Māori. It then analyzes current socioeconomic disparities across key indicators.
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