Study Looks At Lack Of Urban Native Districts

Study Looks At Lack Of Urban Native Districts

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 15:47

An academic from Ontario is studying urban Aboriginal centres across the country, trying to find better ways to ease the transition from reserve life to larger communities.

Morgan Baillargeon is a researcher with the Canadian Museum of Civilization and is currently preparing an exhibit about how Aboriginal people maintain their identities once they move into larger urban areas.

Baillargeon says while visiting New York three years ago, he noticed several sections of the city that were almost entirely made up of one ethnic group.

Aside from the populace, these districts had culturally-themed restaurants, shops and places of worship that helped these groups remain connected to their roots.

It was then that Baillargeon says he started wondering why there weren’t distinctly Aboriginal districts within Canada’s urban centres.

He hopes his research will eventually help off-reserve Aboriginal people to maintain their cultural identity.