<span>The government agents in the Indian reservation system were representatives of a paternalistic and bureaucratic system whose purpose was to keep the First Nations down economically, politically and culturally and dependent on the state for their existence. In Canada the First Nations are gradually gaining independence and self-reliance as they prosecute their land claims and fight for their rights to the land and resources and to protect Mother Earth, alongside concerned white people.</span>
It allowed the Union to shoot down the confederates from atop the hill.
