Over 517 years have past since European merchants and settlers made substantial contact with Native Peoples of the Americas . Over the last 517 years 95-98 percent of Native Peoples have been eradicated either by being killed directly, starved, contaminated by foreign disease and the like. It is estimated, conservatively, that there were 15 million Native Peoples living north of the original Mexican border, before settlers came; there are now a few million Native Peoples living on this continent.  The effects of contact have been devastating to Native culture, prosperity, self-determination and human rights.
All along this path in history Native Peoples have experienced genocide in all of its ugly forms. Much of these crimes are not known to the benefitting settler society. This is due to official distortion of history, racist settler mentality, and out right denial of facts. This is the context in which everyone in North America finds themselves today. That being said, there has been a prolific amount of resistance to colonization and there still is!
The purpose of this article is to present alternative perspectives (more accurate ones) and a contextualization of the historical and contemporary world of North America - to reveal the proper framing of reality. This will hopefully allow for discussions to become more productive, sensitive and informed.
The main problems that are present when most people talk about Aboriginals and Aboriginal issues arise from the fact that a humble understanding of historical context is missing for them. Many people have a distorted understanding of Native history. Many cannot come to grips with Native issues on their own and they do not have sufficient education from their upbringing to do so. This may be due the fact that most people experience disinformation, racism, colonial attitudes, and have a lack of knowledge of the basic facts about Aboriginal issues.
Here is your re-education about your context on this continent:
One of the best ways to understand and think about Aboriginal issues is to apply the same attitudes and concepts that are commonly applied to Aboriginals as if it were applied to you and that you were in their shoes, in their historical setting. This is not often done, which leads to racist comments, incorrect framing of issues and unethical opinions; this we obviously do not want.
Let me now, more or less, correct the ways in which Aboriginal topics are approached in peoples’ minds so that we can speak of these sensitive issues with more genuine concern, correctness and intelligence. The following is in no particular order. I am simply drawing on opinions and comments I have heard during my life from all different types of people and medias. I am attempting to provide an insight into how perspectives about Aboriginal issues can be improved – to be correct.
First, Aboriginal Peoples inhabited this whole continent before settlers arrived. It simply was not empty, although this is constantly the way it is talked about. It is factually incorrect to suggest that it was empty in any sense. It also follows that anything done to this continent or its inhabitants that was harmful, was done to the detriment of Aboriginals .
In all of the Americas (South, Central, and North) there were approximately 500 Nations.
When the term “Nation” is used it is meant in the literal sense. Nation basically means a self identified social or cultural group - the same as Canadian, German, Spanish, etc. However, historically there were no ‘nation-states’ in North America, but they were still by definition nations, like “Canadian” or any other nation. So, imagine looking at the map of the Americas and seeing 500 distinct nations linked to territory spread out over all of it.  That is the way it was before contact and is certainly not how it is now, as you know.
Second, Harold Johnson, in his book called Two Families, explains that originally, Native tribes in North America at times accepted that settlers were here and that they, like all people, need land, resources and safety to live. Some Aboriginals nations granted the ability for settlers to stay on this continent. Granted is a key term because it was their continent and they were its occupants and caretakers. In a sense they were the authorities and they allowed people to stay here by written Treaty and Wampum Belt. It was their decision because it was their continent. And still is. Notice how I am using past tense, stating that it was their continent. I mention this because after a while the settler-governments and society started to act like it was their own continent and that they assumed that different Aboriginal Nations were under their control. Are you seeing how this is all backwards? It is still their continent! Aboriginal Nations have never given their right of self-government up. There are millions of guests upon this continent and the only legitimate reason for being here is that they were allowed and that agreement was completely destroyed, and in its place these newcomers nations became bullies, conquers, murders, etc. Nothing from then has changed. Today the Canadian government still views Aboriginal Nations as wards of our state without the consent of any Aboriginal Nation, ever!
Although current North America does not function under Aboriginal authority it still is legitimately theirs. This is because it was not surrendered. Therefore there is no legal claim to much of the North American continent by the settler governments.
I will now address the topic of racism and the ways in which a colonial mentality permeates settler society. I will also respond to some comments I have personally heard that arise from this mentality in an attempt to correct these harmful viewpoints.
The following may be offensive to the reader, and for good reason. Nonetheless these comments have to be addressed because some people do hold them and if we are to transcend racism and prejudice we must work with the perspectives and views that exist in contemporary settler society.
i)  “Natives do not use land and property properly”
When settlers and merchants first came to this continent they suggested that Natives did not know what wealth they were sitting on. They also suggested that they did not know how to use the environment around them. Essentially it was looked down upon to not dominate the earth. This is all too ironic now for as you know settler-society are destroying the natural environment around them which is becoming a larger and larger threat to the existence of the human race. Compare this to the essentially harmonious existence many Native Nations had with the natural world (although settler academics have tried to distort this reality).
So, when people today suggest that Natives do not know how to use land and property it is inappropriate and historically racist. These ideas were used to legitimize expropriating land from Native nations.
Furthermore, it does not matter what settler-society thinks of what Native People do with their property or land. IT IS THEIRS TO DO WITH IT WHAT THEY LIKE. A simple “mind your own business” may be appropriate here.

ii) “Native People should contribute to our society more for all they do is take”
This is an extremely odd proposition. People often complain about taxes going to people who do not “deserve” it, or that it is a “waste of money”. This is strange for two reasons: for one, it lacks class-consciousness, two, it can also be absurd in a Native context. I will leave the former for another time.  To say that Native People sponge off of the tax system or settler-societies’ wealth is ridiculous because the wealth that settler-society has is from the theft of the indigenous population. This is occupied America! You are most likely on occupied land that was never ceded. Settler societies’ natural resources, which has been the foundation in which the settler-economy was founded on from the beginning of contact to today, are rightfully owned, in large part by the Native population according to location. Although it is assumed by many that it is no longer theirs for colonialism says so and that system must remain.
iii) “Native Peoples have not assimilated properly”
This is of the worst ones. It is hard to know where to begin with this one. It is extremely racist for implies that the settler societies’ value system, culture, religion et cetera are better than the indigenous populations’. It can generally be related to a “Master Race” mentality where one “race” or nation is inherently better than another. This leads to a justification of all sorts of crimes to the oppressed nation who is subjected to the imposition of the oppressing “master” nation/“race”. Also keep in mind that this oppression is called colonialism, or in the case of North America specifically, internal colonialism. Also keep in mind that colonialism is inherently genocidal; wherever there is colonialism there is genocide.
Second, why should they? The white societies are different from their own traditional communities, and many Natives experience discrimination, hate, violence and racism. And remember, until recently many Native Nations were confined to concentration camps (reservations) where they, by law, could not leave.
iv) “What happened to Native People was bad, but it was not genocide”
There are those who do not understand the term genocide, and there are those who for one reason or another distort the historical reality of what was done to many Aboriginal Nations and what it is called.
Holocaust denial is extremely damaging to people who survived it, the following generations and to others throughout the world who have suffered the same.
Prime minister Stephen Harper gave an “apology” for the experience Aboriginals went through in residential schools in June 2008 to the Canadian parliament. He even admitted that children were forcibly taken from their homes to residential schools. However this residential issue was not labeled for what it truly was: genocide (by definition). This way no one gets tried for the crime of genocide in Canada, the false (holocaust denying) description of history continues, Canada maintains a respectable reputation and Native People are denied justice.
There are many more racist beliefs held by members of settler society in North America. I cannot go through all of them but I will end this article with a further comment.
I find that a large amount of people in North America are unable to consciously identify who are the true oppressors in society. For example, workers often are not conscious about their objective role and place in society. The often do not realize what the root elements of oppression are that is upon them. They do not realize that bosses, management, bankers, CEO’s, corporations themselves et cetera are systematically oppressing them. Instead people often fight amongst themselves and not their common enemy.
When people make racist comments they are coming from a standpoint that is not conscious of whom the oppressor is in a given situation. For example, settler governments (colonial governments) are an oppressive force on indigenous populations. Often settler society supports this oppression expressed through racists comments and beliefs that justifies the oppression of the subjugated indigenous population. They also complain or counter demonstrate against natives when they stand up.  Others often play the ‘silent by standard’ removing themselves from involvement, in effect doing nothing to challenge the status quo. This is obviously immoral. Settler society should understand that their government is STILL oppressive to the indigenous population and that that population is a victim of the colonial presence it is forced to deal with. All people therefore should be sympathetic and even stand up for the victim, not the oppressor. This follows basic morality.