In the western interior of Canada, the pre-confederation period was one of relative peace between Indians and Europeans. Nonetheless, it was a time of rapid cultural transformations for the Indians as they adjusted to changing environmental and economic conditions. This book examines these conditions, and the responses which various Indian groups made to them, from the perspectives of anthropology, ecology, economics, and history. -- From back cover
Contents
Trade rivalries, inter-tribal warfare, and migration ; Land and life in the western interior before 1763 ; Traders and middlemen ; Arms, brandy, beads, and sundries ; Migrations, epidemics, and population changes, 1763-1821 ; The destruction of fur and game animals ; New economic opportunities ; Economic dependency and the fur trade: contrasting trends ; Land and Life: a changing mosaic ; The changing demographic picture after 1821 ; Declining opportunities in a changing fur trade ; End of a way of life