M ONOSTATOS ¡Prepárate a morir!

The most recent national data available, from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), indicates that there are approximately 1.4 million people in Canada who identify as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit representing 4.3% of the total Canadian population.9 Roughly 850,000 people identify as First Nations, and 637,000 report being Registered Indians (Statistics Canada, 2013a). Approximately half of First Nations peoples who report being a Registered Indian live on reserve (49.3%).

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Thirty-six Indigenous communities were not included in the National Household Survey either because enumeration was not permitted, was interrupted, or could not take place due to natural events. Statistics Canada reports that the effect of this missing data on national-level statistics and most provincial/territorial statistics is small, but that it can be significant for smaller areas (Statistics Canada, 2013a).

The First Nations population is young, and is growing at a much faster rate than the overall Canadian population. In 2011, roughly half of First Nations peoples were under the age of 25 (48.8%) and between 2006 and 2011 the First Nations population increased by 22.9%. As a point of reference, those under age 25 make up 29.5% of the non-

Aboriginal population and during the same period the non-Aboriginal population grew by 5.2%. This high growth rate is partly due to a higher natural birth rate. However, it cannot explain all of the increase. Over the last 40 years, from 1971 to 2011, the Aboriginal population has more than quadrupled in size. For comparison, the total Canadian population increased by 55.2% during the same time period. Part of the extraordinary increase in the Aboriginal population has been attributed to ethnic mobility, in which individuals who previously did not identify as Aboriginal begin to do so in later census years; a phenomenon that has been credited in part to growing pride in Indigenous identities (Guimond, 2006).

The NHS also provides some data on language knowledge. Close to one-quarter of First Nations people were able to carry on a conversation in at least one of more than 60 Indigenous languages (22.4%), and roughly two-in-five reported that an Indigenous language was spoken regularly at home (18.0%) (Statistics Canada 2013c). Indigenous language knowledge was more prevalent among those living on reserve, with 44.7% able to carry on a conversation in an Indigenous language. From 2006 to 2011 the proportion of First Nations people who could converse in an Aboriginal language declined by 5.4 percentage points (Statistics Canada, 2013c). The 2008/2010 First Nations Regional Health Survey (RHS)10 results provide a slightly different picture of language knowledge, showing that 69.6% of First Nations adults who live in First Nations

communities could speak or understand an Indigenous language at at-least a basic level,

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The NHS and the RHS have different target populations and sampling procedures. The NHS uses a random sample of 4.5 million Canadian dwellings, which is slightly less than one-third (30%) of all private dwellings in Canada in 2011. The NHS sample was selected from the 2011 Census of Population dwelling list (Statistics Canada, 2013c). The target population of the RHS is First Nations communities, and the sampling design is structured to provide representative data at the regional and national levels. Two- hundred-and-sixteen First Nations communities participated in the 2008/2010 cycle (FNIGC, 2012).

and for 36.2% it was the language used most often at home (FNIGC, 2012). This represented an increase from the 2002/2003 RHS, in which 22.3% spoke an Indigenous language most often at home. First Nations adults with higher levels of education were more likely to be strong language speakers. As the RHS report stated, “These results highlight an important possibility—that higher education and First Nations language ability can go hand in hand” (FNIGC, 2012: 47). The RHS data also showed that 67.1% of First Nations adults living in First Nations communities participated in cultural events at least sometimes, and 79.9% felt traditional spirituality was at least somewhat important to them.

With regard to formal educational attainment, in 2011 60.2% of First Nations people aged 25 to 64 had completed high school and 44.8% had a postsecondary education (PSE) qualification. More specifically, 13.2% had obtained a trades certificate, 19.4% a college diploma, 3.6% a university certificate or diploma, and 8.7% a university degree. PSE attainment was lower for First Nations people who had Registered Indian status (42.3%) than those who did not (52.1%). Among those with Registered Indian status, both college and university attainment was higher for those living off-reserve (21.2% and 10.9%, respectively) than those living on reserve (14.8% and 4.7%, respectively)

(Statistics Canada, 2013b).

Trend data from 1996 to 2011 reveals a clear increase in both the absolute number and the proportion of First Nations peoples who completed high school and obtained PSE credentials (Gordon and White, 2013).11 During this time period, the proportion of the First Nations population age 25-64 that had not completed high school decreased from 46% in 1996 to 40% in 2011 and the proportion of the population with PSE increased from 27% in 1996 to 38% in 2011.12 In absolute terms, from 1996 to 2011 there was a

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Comparisons across census years must be interpreted with caution due to differences in the population identifying as Aboriginal in each census year, known as ethnic mobility, as well as differences in the questionnaires and survey methods.

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The proportion of the First Nations population with postsecondary education reported by Gordon and White (2013) differs from that reported by Statistics Canada (2013) due to differences in defining

total cumulative increase of more than 84,000 First Nations postsecondary graduates (Gordon and White, 2013).

Taking into account education data for the non-Aboriginal population, however, it is clear that much work remains to be done to ensure that the education system is supporting the success of First Nations learners. In 2011 almost two-thirds (64.7%) of the non-

Aboriginal population aged 25 to 64 had a postsecondary qualification in 2011. Of this group, 12.0% had a trades certificate, 21.3% a college diploma, 4.9% a university

certificate or diploma, and 26.5% a university degree. While the First Nations population is achieving trades and college credentials at a rate roughly equivalent to the non-

Aboriginal population, there is a large difference in university attainment. In addition, trend data shows that between 1996 and 2011 the gap in PSE attainment between First Nations and non-Aboriginal peoples actually widened (Gordon and White, 2013). Troublingly, recent projections by Gordon and White (2013) suggest that this gap will continue to grow over the next 10 years, particularly for those living on reserve. While these statistics may lead some to despair, the purpose of sharing these figures is not to be debilitating, but to demonstrate the need for change and to inspire action. It should be remembered that the data shows clear improvements are being made. There are significantly more First Nations peoples completing high school and going on to PSE today than there were just 20 years ago and participation in cultural activities and knowledge of Indigenous languages has remained; evidence that the work of First Nations students and all those committed to First Nations education has been achieving results. At the same time, the data also provides a stark argument against complacency.

postsecondary attainment. Gordon and White grouped those who reported postsecondary education but had not attained a high school diploma as “less than high school”, while Statistics Canada groups this as having postsecondary education.