Indigenous people face ‘internal dilemma’ when deciding whether or not to vote, says expert [Video]

For many Indigenous people, deciding whether to cast a ballot in the upcoming federal election is a complicated choice. 

“We can impact the vote, it’s whether or not we choose to,” said Chadwick Cowie, who is Ojibway from Hiawatha First Nation in southern Ontario, and an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto Scarborough.  

“The internal dilemma is very understandable, and I don’t hold it against anyone who chooses not to vote based on treaty rights.”

He said some First Nations people must take the time to reflect on whether or not voting makes sense to them. 

“The idea of citizenship in the Canadian state hasn’t been one to necessarily treat us as equals, but rather to be utilized as a way of furthering settler colonialism,” said Cowie. 

Inuit were granted the right to vote in 1950, but many of them didn’t see a ballot box in …