[FlamesAddiction]

Well, the cold hard truth is that the modern world simply does not accommodate hunter/gatherer nomadic people any more. Canada's northern aboriginal people have of course become settled for the most part but they have never completely accepted modern western culture. They are both alienated culturally from their historical roots and the modern world around them and that has to be depressing. A lot of things are simply inaccessible, but at the same time they seem unwilling to take the next step into the future. It's self-imposed alienation as much as it is institutional.

What they are going through is not unusual. Europe had many indigenous nomadic cultures that do not exist anymore because they were either settled or became assimilated (Roma being a notable exception, however you see similar types of social problems in their communities). No one sheds a tear for their loss because it was a natural part of how nations grow.

Also, let's face it but life up there does not offer the comforts that it does in other parts of the country which leads to more substance abuse. People feel ####ty about being stuck there so they drink, which of course leads to more crime. The only solution is to bring the comforts there, or to make them move and no one wants to do either.