Canadian multiculturalism and aboriginal people: Negotiating a place in the nation

This paper examines the discourse of Canadian multiculturalism. The author argues that, because it is grounded in presuppositions about culture and how culture serves to identify a people or nation, this discourse constructs culturally defined ethnic identities as categories of ethnic difference that both permit and deny inclusion within the Canadian nation. This argument is illustrated by an examination of the struggle of Aboriginal peoples to claim a place within the nation. The author concludes that, despite the possibilities it allows, the discourse of multiculturalism is close to a racialist discourse, and that it allows difference only in circumscribed ways.

Key words:

• nationalism
• identity
• multiculturalism
• rights
• Aboriginal people