Includes bibliographical references (p. 258-273) and index.

Empire -- Assimilation -- Choice -- Constitutional vision of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal peoples -- Choice revisited.

Reviewing the historical record of relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Cairns (political science, U. of Waterloo and law, U. of British Columbia) clarifies the current impasse in negotiations. He discusses the assimilationist policy assumptions of the imperial era and more recent government initiatives, then analyzes the emergence of the nation-to-nation paradigm supported by the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples.