This post is in response to my previous post titled “Intelligence and Cultural Assimilation.”

Maybe the gap between intelligence score tests isn’t with one particular ethnic group being cultural assimilated into any one dominant society, but rather it is the main-stream education system.

One issue that Canadian Aboriginals face is that they still continue to lag in education and employment numbers in comparison to the rest of Canada. I don’t say this to highlight the worse but I say this to make a point. If you measure education success as purely having a certain number of degrees, then yes maybe Aboriginals do lag. However, I beg to differ that there are a great number of Aboriginals that lag in its entirety in comparison to the rest of Canadian society. I have met and know of many bright, intelligent, inquisitive, creative, Aboriginals both young and old who have not gone onto post-secondary education. These people have chosen to not go into main-stream society education yet they still possess the ability to “blend into” any type of topic up for grabs in conversation. I also know of many Aboriginals who were considered “intellectually gifted” but never gone onto post-secondary education. Maybe it was because they were not being challenged enough? Maybe it was because their abilities were not fully appreciated? Maybe they felt that further education had little to no use to them since they were not being fully challenged or their abilities being fully appreciated? I am not sure of the answer, but I do know that these individuals are just as bright as someone in post-secondary education. These people own businesses, participate in their community, and most importantly contribute to main-stream Canadian Society just not in the rigid ways set out for measuring the rest of main-stream society. Most definitely, when we calculate intelligence, we need to look at other factors and not just the number of degrees one has under his/her belt.

Note: This post is to not say that one ethnic group is better than another or that one system is better than another. It is acknowledging the fact that different groups have different needs and those different needs should be acknowledged if all ethnic groups, not just one group, are to be considered successful. I also write this post not to further oppress the actual problems that Canadian Aboriginals face in current Canadian Society, but highlight the fact that there are some current success. The problems that some communities and individuals face should never be displaced because of one community or one individual’s lone success. That is to say, there are problems and successes within Aboriginal groups, but the factors to define the problems and success between various groups should be changed to address the needs/differences amongst these groups.