During the twenty year period, 1876-1896, the Canadian government's racist and paternalistic administration of Indian Affairs east of the Rocky Mountains rested on the assumption that by following the five steps of pacification, containment, paternalistic management, education in practical skills and education in the ways of "civilization" it would be able to change reserve Indians. It would move them to the point where they, though still inherently inferior, would support themselves and live like non-Indians. The governments' objectives were changed in the seventies by their assumption of responsibility for the plains Indians. Nevertheless policy makers continued to believe that some eastern Indians who had taken the five steps would be ready to take a sixth and last step; they would give up their special status and become enfranchised. This thesis examines Department of Indian Affairs' implementation of the government's six steps. In the first section, chapters II and III, pacification of the Indians and the setting aside of reserves set the stage. The second section, chapters III, IV and V, examines the details of the 1876 Indian Act, one of the most significant milestones in the evolution of Indian policy and other legislation which applied to Indians. It then describes the organization and staff of the Department of Indian Affairs. In the third section, chapters VII, VIII and IX, the implementation of policies affecting Indian education, reserve economic and social life are described and evaluated in terms of the government's enunciated goals. The Conclusion considers the racism and paternalism of government Indian policies. It then assesses the degree to which the government had realized its goals by 1896 and lays some stress on the point that the government, although enunciating a desire to have Indians assimilate, wanted only a small minority to do so and intended that the majority would remain on their reserves. But by isolating the Indians on the reserves the government protected the Indian culture and allowed it to survive.

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