It's the land, stupid. It's always been about the land. Which is why it's so important to look at the history. As King points out, you don't even have to go too far back in history to find proof of that. As recently as 2006 real estate developers in Ontario, Canada started selling and building a housing development on land that was claimed by the Mohawks of Grand River. It was on land given them by treaty, appropriated by the Ontario government with the promise of it being returned, and then sold by local town council to developers.
That dispute ended with the government awarding a compensation package of $20 million dollars to--drumbeat please--the people who bought houses, the developers, and local businesses, for the inconvenience caused by Native people blockading the highway protesting their land being stolen. As for the treaty negotiations in regards to the disputed territory--well, they might get around to them sooner or later.
So the easiest way to make sure this problem never happens again is to ensure that there is no one around to make any legal claim to the land. Oh sure they're couching the policy in the same old paternalistic language they've always used when talking about Indians. It's good for them. The great White Father in Washington/Ottawa still knows what's best for those childlike savages. Think of how much happier they would be in the real world where they have all the opportunities the rest of us have. So what if they have no education, no capital and no desire to live like that. So what if they think they have some sort of sacred connection to the land. So what if that's not what they want--we know better. Anyway, what are they doing with all that land except letting it go to waste? Give them the opportunity to sell it at fair market value and see how quickly they learn to love our way of life.
Of course when Indians have the nerve to try and buy up land at fair market value, why that's another matter all together. King recounts what happened when a band in Arizona began using some its profits from their casino to buy land around the city of Glendale. Local politicians acted like they feared they would be scalped in their sleep or they were in danger of having flaming arrows shot down their throats because a few hundred acres of land were sold to Indians.
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