changed my views for sure. i'm prolly not the only one who appreciates you taking the time out, and being as civil as you've been about all this despite everything that's been said in the thread.

Anyone can over come their background. And it works both ways.

Poor people can work harder and become something. Drug addicts can choose to stop using. An alcoholic can stop drinking. A large subset of natives can lose some of the chip on their shoulder and let it go. For that matter, some little bitch white kids from the west end can choose not to be a little cock looking down on the world.

It's possible. The problem is, as I see it is that 80-95% are quite happy to live their lives plugged into whatever scenario they are in. Blinders up, they can't even fathom there is a world outside of their sight. They set up the rules they live by, and then do so.

It doesn't matter what scenario they plug themselves into. Name it. Name the race that lives up to the stereotype. I have seen a lot of white trash walking and talking in my life, so as a white guy, I really don't feel we can be pointing fingers.

I look at it really simple. Forget the 80%...they are gone. You have to make sure that guys like deuel get what he needs to make what he can with his choice to do so. It's the same for anyone. He's in the 20% that count.

Opportunities will not come to those who sit their asses and wait for them. Opportunities come to those who bust their asses and work hard. I know of shitloads of people who have done something with their life w/o finishing post secondary. Why? because they chose to create their own opportunities.

When you work at McDonalds- it's not like you have to stay in one position all your life. There's ways you can do to move up within the company. And if you can't do that, you can jump companies and keep gaining experience. School is not the only way to be successful in life.

My dad was dirt-poor and never finished highschool. That didn't stop him from owning his own business, having 7 cars and 3 houses. On top of that- he had to feed 6 mouths and send 9 people through college. He was a chain-smoker and used to be a heavy drinker.

No matter what situation people are put in- it's their choice to do something about it. You can tell me that I don't know anything about having a fucked up parent- but honestly, just because your parents are fucked up doesn't mean you can blame them for your decisions (and bad decisions) in life.

I was REALLY, REALLY going to refrain from posting in this thread because the majority of people posting here do not get it. This will be my first and last post concerning this topic.

It is easy to see and view things superficially - it is easy to say that correct choices and hard work are ALL an individual will need to put forth in order to be like "the rest of us". Everything is quite easy to generalize once you see the end result and feign ignorance to the trauma each generation has been subject to.

For the past two semesters, I've been given the opportunity to work as a Research Analyst for INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada). Obviously, as a Co-op student, I do not claim to know everything and will never know everything. Being exposed to all present treaty-negotiations and negotiations with First Nations groups is, after all, impossible in the span of 8 months. I do, however, know that the majority of posters here really just post from ignorance and ill-feelings.

Like I said, this will be my first and last post in this particular thread. PM me if you'd like to continue this discussion.

^ you put a huge importance on this is your first and last post.

however, your post states nothing that others have not already said....

^ Essentially, my post was outlining the fact that if anyone would like to have a serious discussion or if anyone wanted to learn more, I could certainly try my best to inform them about the related topic through PM's. This way, people serious about the topic won't have to deal with the racist bigotry flooding this thread.

You do, however, bring up a very valid point - my post seems to imply, though it was not my aim, that I would bring in new ideas to provide further understanding in terms of Native and Aboriginal struggles.

Let me, then, give some of you a little information that will hopefully provide a different perspective.

Many of you think that the government stopped fucking up in regards to Native issues many, many years ago and should, therefore, shutup and accept whatever it is that's being offered to them. The last residential school was shut down in 1996 - THAT was not long ago. Mentally and physically, students there were abused. Absolute horror stories come out of there. Some say that parenting should NOT be an issue when it comes to determining and influencing the choices the children make. Can you really say that when the kids put through those residential schools were essentially "parented" by mentally and physically abusive people? What happens when those kids have kids, then? It becomes a chain of parents lacking parenting skills. Someone can argue that they shouldn't have kids in the first place, but given their background, is it really fair to place all of the blame on them?

Many of you also bring up the point in regards to certain chiefs that own nice cars and big houses. Yes, those types of chiefs do exist, but they are NOT the norm. There are HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of Native Bands, the majority of which do not even have access to clean drinking water. I bet that's new to most of you, isn't it? It sure as hell surprised me when I found out.

Anyway, I broke my rule :p

I've no intention on breaking it again.