The "Civilizing" of Indigenous People in Nineteenth-Century Canada

Abstract

This article explores the nineteenth-century concept of "civilization" that was used to direct policies toward indigenous peoples in Canada. In Canada attitudes towards native "civilization" as material culture, which was seen as independent from, and superior to, other aspects of culture. This article analyzes Victorian concepts of "civilization" as represented in the writings of John Stuart Mill, E. B. Tylor, John Lubbock, Daniel Wilson, and missionaries. It then traces the ideas of Canadian officials and politicians concerned with Indian administration to show how these ideas reflected similar notions. Official language is seen to have formed part of a general Victorian discourse of "civilization" that excluded Indians from both self-governance and participation in the European community.