Dispersion and polarization of income among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians

This article addresses three questions: 1) Why study intra-Aboriginal. inequality? 2) What is the gap in wages and income between the general Canadian population and the different Aboriginal peoples? and 3) How much inequality exists within the Aboriginal, groups and between Aboriginal groups and the non-Aboriginal population? The article points to a general pattern of increase in measured disparity and polarization in income for all Aboriginal groups in comparison to the non-Aboriginal population. In terms of intra-Aboriginal inequality, Aboriginal groups rank from Inuit at the high end, through Status Indians, to non-status Indians and, finally, to Metis.