Hi Jim...
-> Attempts by the forces of government to assimilate Native Americans
-> by either the Canadians or the Americans have been failing for
-> centuries and it doesn't matter what the attempted method might have
-> been. Missionaries, schools, reservations, allotments, termination,
-> etc. You'd think they would give up after awhile and just learn to
-> "get along with their neighbors". 
The Canadian government passed the 'Gradual Civilization [sic] Act' in
1857, offering enfranchisement and a parcel of land to any native Indian
who 'could meet the test of a special board and prove that they had been
educated, were debt-free, and of good moral character.' The 20 hectare
parcel of land would be provided from reserve land.  IOW, if native
Indians accepted this deal, reserve land would gradually be converted to
private property.
This Act was counter to the Royal Proclamation, which said that
colonists could not deal directly with native Indians over land use;
only the British Crown could.
During the 21 years that this Act was in force, only one native Indian
became enfranchised.  Miller doesn't say if more than one actually
applied.  He mentions that most Euro-Canadians at the time could not
have lived up to the test (but they weren't asked to).
(JR Miller, Skyscrapers Hide the Heavens)
Whoever framed the Act was apparently Eurocentric enough to hope that
native Indians would jump through hoops to prove themselves
Europeanized, followed by participation in the privatization of
communally-held lands.  It's not surprising that they didn't go for it.
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