Parker appears to have understood at least some dimensions of this paradox.

His advocacy for the Peace Policy was partly a genuine belief that honest, well-managed federal administration would be better for Native people than the corrupt, violent alternative that had preceded it.

It was also, necessarily, an argument made within the only framework in which a Commissioner of Indian Affairs could function.

He could not, from within that position, advocate for the end of the reservation system or for the full restoration of Native sovereignty.

He could advocate for more honest management of the system as it existed.