Indigenous peoples -- Canada -- Government relations, Indigenous peoples -- Canada -- History, Indigenous peoples -- Canada -- Commerce, Canada -- Ethnic relations 

"In the five centuries since Europeans landed on Atlantic shores they have pursued aspirations at variance, and sometimes in direct conflict, with those of the Indian people who were here before them. As a result, the history of Indian-white relations has often been a troubled one. J.R. Miller presents the first comprehensive account of that history, from the early, cooperative era of the fur trade to today's confrontations.

For three hundred years the European newcomers were driven by the search for fish and furs, the desire to explore the land, and the will to evangelize the native people. The Indians chose to tolerate the Europeans' fishing, to embrace the fur trade, to help with exploration, and ignore, for the most part, attempts to harvest their souls.

With the triumph of the agricultural frontier, however, the native people became an obstacle to the progress of the Europeans' plans. Co-operation gave way to coercion and, inevitably, coercion led to confrontation. Today, native organizations are strengthening to pursue their land claims and other objectives, and the aboriginal peoples are re-emerging as a force in Canadian life. They are cautioning other Canadians with the words of Micmac poet Rita Joe: 'while skyscrapers hide the heavens, they can fall.'

In charting the course of these developments, Miller casts new light on a range of controversial subjects: the Northwest Rebellion, the policies of education, cultural assimilation, and political control from the 1880s to the 1950s, and the development of political relations since the Second World War."--Back cover. 

Contents:
1. Indians and Europeans at the Time of Contact --
2. Early Contacts in the Eastern Woodlands --
3. Commercial Partnership and Mutual Benefit --
4. Military Allies through a Century of Warfare --
5. From Alliance to 'Irrelevance' --
6. Reserves, Residential Schools, and the Threat of Assimilation --
7. The Commercial Frontier on the Western Plains --
8. Contact, Commerce, and Christianity on the Pacific --
9. Resistance in Red River and the Numbered Treaties --
10. The North-West Rebellion --
11. The Policy of the Bible and the Plough --
12. Residents and Transients in the North --
13. The Beginnings of Political Organization --
14. Land Claims and Self-Government from the White Paper to Guerin --
15. Meech, Oka, Charlottetown, Nass, and Ottawa --
16. Do We Learn Anything from History?

Includes bibliographical references and index.