Fort Chipewyan and the shaping of Canadian history, 1788-1920s
Subtitle: "we like to be free in this country"
By: Patricia A. McCormack
Publisher: UBC Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Vancouver
Language: eng
Number of pages: 388
ISBN-13: 9780774816687
Subjects: Commerce; Fourrures; Autochtones; Government relations; Indians of North America; Native peoples; Fur trade; Histoire; Relations avec l'État; Indigenous peoples; Indiens d'Amérique; History
Description: "The story of the expansion of European civilization into the wilderness continues to shape perceptions of how Aboriginal people became part of nations such as Canada. This groundbreaking study subverts this narrative of progress and modernity by examining Canadian nation building from the perspective of a northern community and its residents.

Drawing on decades of research and fieldwork, Patricia McCormack argues that Fort Chipewyan - established in 1788 and situated in present-day Alberta - was never an isolated Aboriginal community but a plural society that stood at the crossroads of global, national, and indigenous cultures and economies. The steps that led Aboriginal people to sign Treaty No. 8 and accept scrip in 1899 and their struggle to maintain autonomy in the decades that followed reveal that Aboriginal peoples and others can - and have - become modern without relinquishing cherished beliefs and practices."--pub. desc.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-364) and index.
Table of contents: title: Writing Fort Chipewyan history; title: Building a plural society at Fort Chipewyan : a cultural Rababou; title: The fur trade mode of production; title: The creation of Canada : a new plan for the Northwest; title: Local impacts : state expansion, the Athabasca District, and Fort Chipewyan; title: Christian missions; title: The ways of life at Fort Chipewyan : cultural baselines at the time of treaty; title: Treaty no. 8 and the Métis scrip : Canada bargains for the North; title: The government foot in the door; title: Fort Chipewyan and the new regime; title: Epilogue : facing the future; title: Appendix. Personal testimony from Fort Chipewyan residents and related persons : memoirs and interviews.