This is a situation that all colonial countries find themselves in. How to approach the situation that you know is wrong? I think that New Zealand might offer the best effort to date in several ways:
1) Proportional representation. The Maori Party of New Zealand always receives a good 10-12% of the popular vote, ensuring that Maori people are in fact represented in all legislative decision making, and often holding the balance of power for minority governments.
2) Control over resource management. As part of restitution discussions a few decades ago, all commercial fishing rights were turned over to a Maori controlled organization - Sealord. The Treaty of Waitangi was shown not to apply beyond the shores of the land, and has been hugely culturally, spiritually and economically significant to the mana whenua (guardians of the land) since their arrival in the 14th century. Traditional fishing rights for personal use and special occasions for Maori individuals also remain in place, regulated by the community.
3) Living cultural practice. Maori is an official language of New Zealand. Clearly this would be challenging with the large number of Indigenous languages in Canada, but it means that preschools in Maori thrive, using a curriculum devised by Maori people. My son was taught to sing the national anthem in Maori at age 4 in his English language preschool. My school age son was taught how to type using the Treaty of Waitangi as a text. Huis or meetings take place on the marae - a fenced in complex of carved buildings and ground that belongs to a particular community. Maraes can be located in the middle of otherwise residential areas in downtown Auckland. The street stops at the fence. Huis all follow traditional practices of greetings, food, singing before getting down to "business". Maori words are part of the vocabulary of all New Zealanders as they speak English.
4) Governance Structures. Beyond having Maori poems at the front of all submissions from Auckland Council, there is an Independent Maori Statutory Board that has a seat on all committees to ensure that the terms of the Treaty and the well being of Maori people is actively discussed and considered for all decisions. https://governance.aucklandcou...ori-statutory-board/
There is a mandatory Maori impact statement in all reports to committee (like Cabinet Submissions). If the writer of this section is perfunctory, s/he will be torn apart in committee and sent for further training. There is mandatory cultural and historic training for all new hires, along with courses on how to write committee reports. And basic Maori language phrases.
5) Recognition of sharing the land. Signage in a downtown park greets everyone and let's them know whose land they are on: by iwi (tribe). It invites everyone to share this place respectfully. Can you imagine such a sign in High Park?
There is still a huge gap in economic and health outcomes between Maori and Pasifika peoples in New Zealand and pakeha (white people). Auckland's average house price is 12X the Maori average salary, and 10x the average pakeha salary. There is rampant overcrowding in many poor, predominantly Maori or Pasifika neighborhoods in South Auckland, which has led to continuing rheumatic fever - a disease of 19th century slums in Europe and North America. On the other hand, my Director of Social Policy at Auckland Council was Maori - so there is more integration and advancement within governing bodies.
It's not perfect, but I think these are steps in the right direction that Canada's jurisdictions at all levels of government could learn from.
Clearly, Maori were not subjected to residential schools as Indigenous people in Canada were. The English aimed for assimilation in New Zealand in Native Schools, but not at destroying Maori language and culture. One can hope that the English were getting fairer at treaties with Indigenous people by the mid-1800's.
I think it helped that the Maori kicked English butt repeatedly in battle and were courted by several nations for treaties in the mid 19th Century. They were never conquered. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/hone...aff-for-a-third-time
More about this here:
http://theconversation.com/why...hose-in-canada-84980