A Legacy of Exploitation
Early Capitalism in the Red River Colony, 1763–1821
Categories: Indigenous Studies, History, Canadian History, Indigenous History
Publisher: UBC Press Show Edition Details
Ebook (PDF) : 9780774866378, 298 pages, May 2022
Ebook (EPUB) : 9780774866385, 298 pages, May 2022
Paperback : 9780774866361, 298 pages, February 2023
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Table of contents
Introduction: Exploitation and Autonomy
1 Reciprocity and Dispossession: Processes of Transformation
2 Monopoly and Competition: Contests over Indigenous Peoples’ Labour and Land
3 Honour and Duplicity: Debts of Rivals, Dreams of an Aristocrat
4 Servitude and Independence: The Settler Colonial “Experiment” Begins
5 Menace and Ally: Proclamation as Provocation
6 Consciousness and Ignorance: New Nation, Old Grievances
Conclusion: Continuity and Change
Notes; Bibliography; Index
Description
It is unlikely that buyers of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s “iconic multistripe” point blanket these days reflect on the historically exploitative relationship between the company and Indigenous producers. This critical re-evaluation of the company’s first planned settlement at Red River uncovers that history. As a settler-colonialist project par excellence, the Red River Colony was designed to undercut Indigenous peoples’ troublesome” autonomy and better control their labour. Susan Dianne Brophy upends standard historical portrayals by foregrounding Indigenous peoples’ autonomy as a driving force of change.
A Legacy of Exploitation offers a comprehensive account of legal, economic, and geopolitical relations to show how autonomy can become distorted as complicity in processes of dispossession. Ultimately, this book challenges enduring yet misleading national fantasies about Canada as a nation of bold adventurers.
Awards
- Winner, Clio Prize (The Prairies), Canadian Historical Association 2023
Reviews
In providing this “fundamental rethink” of Marxist analysis, the author has cleared a path that other scholars will surely follow. This is an important book.
- James Daschuk, University of Regina