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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

One of the Family

Metis Culture in Nineteenth-Century Northwestern Saskatchewan

Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

One of the Family

Metis Culture in Nineteenth-Century Northwestern Saskatchewan

In recent years there has been growing interest in identifying the social and cultural attributes that define the Metis as a distinct people. In this groundbreaking study, Brenda Macdougall employs the concept of wahkootowin – the Cree term for a worldview that privileges family and values interconnectedness – to trace the emergence of a Metis community in northern Saskatchewan. Wahkootowin describes how relationships worked and helps to explain how the Metis negotiated with local economic and religious institutions while nurturing a society that emphasized family obligation and responsibility. This innovative exploration of the birth of Metis identity offers a model for future research and discussion.

320 pages | © 2010


Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Note on Methodology and Sources

Note on Writing Conventions

Introduction

1 “They are strongly attached to the country of rivers, lakes, and forests”: The Social Landscapes of the Northwest

2 “The bond that connected one human being to another”: Social Construction of the Metis Family

3 “To live in the land of my Mother”: Residency and Patronymic Connections Across the Northwest

4 “After a man has tasted of the comforts of married life this living alone comes pretty tough”: Family, Acculturation, and Roman Catholicism

5 “The only men obtainable who know the country and Indians are all married”: Family, Labour, and the HBC

6 “The HalfBreeds of this place always did and always will dance”: Competition, Freemen, and Contested Spaces

7 “I Thought it advisable to furnish him”: Freemen to Free Traders in the Northwest Fur Trade

Conclusion

Appendix

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Names

Index of Subjects

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