Over the course of history, Aboriginal people have had to deal with a number of situations that threatened to destroy their cultures: when missionaries wanted to impose the Christian religion rather than accept Aboriginal beliefs; when the children were sent to residential schools and forbidden to speak their language; when gatherings, like powwows, were prohibited. And these are just a few examples.
Although some beliefs and traditions have been forgotten, Aboriginal people today are working hard to rediscover them and keep their cultures alive. To do so, they study their languages, create artworks that reflect their imagination and organize events and groups to showcase their traditions.
Today, it is more the influence of all the other cultures and modern life that threatens Aboriginal cultures because it is so easily accessible on the Internet. Young people in particular are sometimes torn between life in the non-Aboriginal world and the survival of their traditions. For example, it is important for Aboriginal people to have television programs in their languages, so that they will be able to speak these languages, rather than just French or English. It is also important that Aboriginal works of art, writing and music be distributed everywhere so that the culture will survive.