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Aboriginal People in Manitoba 2000

In 1995,the Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat of the Manitoba Department of Northern Affairs produced a 46-page report entitled PROFILE OF MANITOBA’S ABORIGINAL POPULATION. The purpose of the report was to "...provide information on the situation Aboriginal people face in their daily lives. It outlines the demographic, social and economic conditions affecting Aboriginal people..." The report does not recommend ways to address and prioritize the issues nor does it propose remedies.”

Photocopied and spiral-bound,the report flew off display racks wherever it was to be found. Over 3,000 copies were eventually sent out to schools, government offices and social services agencies.

Donna Stewart was the researcher and writer of the report. In 1999,she and Aboriginal Affairs Executive Director Harvey Bostrom approached the Aboriginal Single Window office in Winnipeg with a proposal to partner on the production of an updated report incorporating 1996 Census data. It was agreed that the new report would be professionally printed and receive a wide distribution, including all schools and libraries in Manitoba.

The 1995 report was based on 1991 Census material, supplemented by federal and provincial government research reports. Comparison of 1991 and earlier Censuses allowed trends to be highlighted where social conditions had changed in recent years.

It rapidly became apparent this would be much more difficult to do in the case of the 1996 Census, because of a new way of defining who is Aboriginal for Census purposes. In 1991 and earlier, respondents receiving the “long form” (20% sample) were asked to which ethnic groups their ancestors belonged —with Metis,Inuit and North American Indian given as suggested responses. If a person ticked any of these boxes,even as part of a multiple response, they were counted as Aboriginal.

The 1991 Aboriginal People’s Survey, sent out to a sample of 1991 Aboriginal-origin respondents,asked an additional question : does the respondent identify with or consider oneself to be a member of one of the three Aboriginal groups? It was found that, nationally,close to 25% of people with partial Aboriginal ancestry did not consider themselves to be Aboriginal persons, although this varied significantly among Canadian regions and provinces.

To be consistent with equity legislation which is based on self-identification, and also to give a more accurate picture of the people likely to access services directed at Aboriginal people, the 1996 Census incorporated the Aboriginal-identity question. As well,the wording of the ethnic ancestry question was changed to a degree that 1996 results were not comparable with 1991 and earlier.

As a result, data from the 1996 Census on Aboriginal original or identity people is not directly comparable with earlier Census data except, for certain purposes, the Aboriginal Peoples Survey. This makes comparison of 1996 and earlier Censuses difficult. To some extent, the research team for this book has tried to get around this by using any available evidence to assess whether trends identified in the 1995 report are still valid for the 1990s or whether what was previously believed to be true should be re-evaluated. But many question marks remain.

This book is a joint initiative of Canada and the Province of Manitoba. It is a snapshot of Manitoba’s Aboriginal population in the late 1990s and is intended to:

• Serve as a resource for policy makers;
• Provide general information for those who want to learn about Aboriginal Manitobans;
• Provide factual information to aid in eliminating misinformation and stereotypes; and
• Provide baseline information for measuring program results.

In 2000,a special roll-up of 1996 Census data was obtained by Aboriginal Single Window, in cooperation with Manitoba Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat and the Manitoba Department of Family Services and Housing. 1996 Census data in this book, unless otherwise footnoted, are from this source.

Bruce Hallett, M.A.
Winnipeg Aboriginal Single Window