The history of Canada's aboriginal peoples after European contact is a hotly debated area of study. In this text, Sarah Carter looks at the cultural, political and economic issues of this contested history, focusing on the western interior, or what would later become Canada's prairie provinces.

The history of Canada's aboriginal people after european contact is a debated area of study. In this book, the author looks at the cultural, political, and economic issues of this contested history, focusing on the western interior, or what would later become Canada;s prairie provinces. This survey draws on the wealth of interdisciplinary scholarship of the last three decades. topics include the impact of European diseases, changing interpretations of fur trade interactions, the Red River settlement as cultural crossroads, missionaries, treaties, the disappearance of the buffalo, the myths about the Mounties, Canadian "Indian" policy, and the policies of aboriginal peoples towards Canada. Carter's focus of interpretation is the multiplicity of perspectives that exist on past events. referring to nearly all of the current scholarship in the filed. She presents opposing interpretations on every major topic, often linking these debates to contemporary issues. The result is a sensitive treatment of history as an interpretive exercise, making this a text for students as well as all those interested in aboriginal/non-aboriginal relations.