One of the family : Metis culture in nineteenth-century northwestern Saskatchewan

Macdougall, Brenda 1969- (author.).

Summary: "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."--

Record details

ISBN: 9780774817301 (paperback)
Physical Description: print
xxii, 335 pages : illustrations, maps, genealogical tables ; 23 cm
Publisher: Vancouver : UBC Press, [2010]
Copyright: ©2010

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-311) and indexes.

Formatted Contents Note:

"They are strongly attached to the country of rivers, lakes, and forests": the social landscapes of the Northwest -- "The bond that connected one human being to another": social construction of the Metis family -- "To live in the land of my mother": residency and patronymic connections across the Northwest -- "After a man has tasted of the comforts of married life this living alone comes pretty tough": family, acculturation, and Roman Catholicism -- "The only men obtainable who know the country and Indians are all married": family, labour, and the HBC -- "The halfbreeds of this place always did and always will dance": competition, freemen, and contested spaces -- "I thought it advisable to furnish him": freemen to free traders in the Northwest Fur Trade.