Aboriginal People and Colonizers of Western Canada to 1900

The history of Canada's aboriginal peoples after European contact is a hotly debated area of study. In this book, Sarah Carter looks at the cultural, political, and economic issues of this contested history, focusing on the western interior, or what would later become Canada's prairie provinces.This wide-ranging survey draws on the wealth of interdisciplinary scholarship of the last three decades. Topics include the impact of European diseases, changing interpretations of fur trade interaction, the Red River settlement as cultural crossroads, missionaries, treaties, the disappearance of the buffalo, the myths about the Mounties, Canadian 'Indian' policy, and the policies of Aboriginal peoples towards Canada.Carter's focus of interpretation is the multiplicity of perspectives that exist on past events. Referring to nearly all of the current scholarship in the field, she presents opposing interpretations on every major topic, often linking these debates to contemporary issues. The result is asensitive treatment of history as an interpretive exercise, making this an invaluable text for students as well as all those interested in Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations.

SARAH CARTER is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Calgary.