Much the same is happening in Canada now. Harper's goal is to dispose of the whole idea of First nations as a group with any rights, any terrirory, or any treaty guarantees.

He's certainly not the first Canadian politician to think of this. I know Trudeau played with the idea - and I suspect others did, too. Certainly, I don't know of any prime minister who has fully honoured the treaties.

Harper, while creating a buzz of dirty campaigning which spreads rumours that native chiefs are living like kings and squandering money, is really looking for destruction. He wants that land wide open for a quite ruthless exploitation of resources. that's the same reason he's warring with scientists over what he's doint to the environment.

The Canadian people, very much like americans, are pretty bigoted about native peoples.

That's why your post doesn't get much response -not even on a United Church site.

The irony is that the civilized kicked the Natives off the land and onto reserves.

Then the Great Depression happened, and the white got kicked off the land by business, and onto reserves in the city with little plots of land in the suburbs.  So we lost our land too.

Now the Natives seem to be the only ones who freely own 'large' amounts of land.  Government and business are mystified.  They want that land now too!

Underneath, it is not about the Indigenous People, it is about land ownership.  The whites gladly gave up the land to live in cities, where the only animals allowed are humans, totally dependent on business for their survival.  The Indigenous are a little more wise.

and under that, the true Owners of the Land

If one travels across the continent one can stop at various historical plaques which openly state that various tracts of land were acquired by chicanery or force.  The Mission Valley in Montana (south of Glacier National Park) comes to mind where the ruse of forged deeds was used to force First Nations people from their lands.  It is a very sad litany.  This story is just another example of the same thing in modern times. Ordinary citizens should do what they can to stop such injustice.  To acquiesce is to give tacit consent that the methods of oppression may in the future be practised on you.