You downplay the outright the savagery and brutality of life before the Europeans - kidnapping women and children, butchering each other in resource wars - 'just minor skirmishes - that's all.'

The white man was just another tribe; paler, more powerful - and you can't deny if one tribe of 'red men' had that kind of power they would've used it against other 'red men.' It's not honest, or accurate, to paint the native tribes as innocent and virtuous who all lived long, happy, healthy lives.

Wallowing in victimhood is keeping a whole lot of aboriginals in their sorry state. The ones I interact with, the ones who are happy and healthy have moved on and made a life for themselves in Canada. Some of them have said that they don't go back to the res - they're shunned by the losers still there. The ones who refuse to get their act together and prefer drinking and partying, (sometimes resulting in neglected and abused children). The ones who think it's 'easy money' to just sit and wait on their checks rather than do the hard work that results in self-esteem, empowerment and health.

In this century - identity politics and the cultivation of victimhood status is what's holding natives back.