Rupert's Land Research Articles

Book reviews/Comptes rendus

Lisa Gilad, Ginger and Salt: Yemeni Jewish Women in an Israeli Town. BoulderD.W. Attwood and B.S. Baviskar (eds.), Who Shares? Co‐operatives and Rural DevelopmentFrancis Robinson (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and The MaldivesRichard C. Davis (ed.), Rupert's Land: A Cultural TapestryTom Bottomore and Robert J. Brym (eds.), The Capitalist Class: An International StudyRaymond Murphy, Social Closure: A theory of Monopolization and ExclusionRichard Flacks, Making History.Kevin D. Carriere and Richard V. Ericson, Crime Stoppers: A Study in the Organization of Community Policing.Dany Lacombe, Ideology and Public Policy: The Case Against PornographyRobert J. Brym with Bonnie J. Fox, From Culture to Power: The Sociology of English Canada.Barry Wellman and S.D. Berkowitz (eds.), Social Structures: a network approachJohn Van Willigen, Barbara Rylko‐Bauer, and Ann Mcelroy (eds.), Making Our Research UsefulGrahame Clark, Prehistory at Cambridge and beyondTheresa R. Richardson, The Century of the Child: The Mental Hygiene Movement and Social Policy in the United States and CanadaAnne Edwards, Regulation and Repression: The Study of Social ControlMichael V. Angrosino, Documents of Interaction: Biography, Autobiography, and Life History in Social Science PerspectiveMichael Hechter, Principles of Group SolidarityPartrick Kierans, Glenn Drover and David Williams, Welfare and Worker ParticipationMary Mccannery Gergen (ed.), Feminist Thought and the Structure of KnowledgeRichard V. Ericson, Patricia M. Baranek and Janet B.L. Chan, Visualizing Deviance: A Study of New OrganizationsSheila Allen and Carol Wolkowitz, Homeworking: Myths and RealitiesCalvin W. Redekop and Samuel J. Steiner (eds.), Mennonite Identity: Historical and Contemporary PerspectivesRobert A. Stebbins, Canadian Football: The View From The HelmetAnne Innis Dagg and Patricia J. Thompson, MisEducation: Women & Canadian UniversitiesCyril H. Levitt and William Shaffir, The Riots at Christie Pits

Rupert's Land: A Cultural Tapestry, edited by Richard C. Davis

Rupert's Land: A Cultural Tapestry, edited by Richard C. Davis

Alexander Mackenzie (1764-1820)

This profile recounts the two major expeditions undertaken by Alexander Mackenzie to discover a watercourse which would lead to the In 1789 he travelled down an unknown river until he perceived the rise and fall of the tide in the fog-bound delta. Although he is celebrated today for having discovered this major North American watercourse and for having made the return trip of 5000 km in a phenomenal 102 days, Mackenzie considered his expedition a failure. The river, after all, had not led to the Pacific. In 1793 Mackenzie paddled up the Parsnip River, and then made a difficult carry crossing over into the Fraser. Near the modern community of Alexandria, B.C., Indians advised him not to follow the Fraser but to go back upriver to where the West Road River flows into At that juncture, they trekked overland to reach the Pacific at the mouth of Bella Coola River. Mackenzie is lionized for his speed and efficiency in penetrating new lands as he sought a route to the Pacific, condemned and celebrated for the way he drove men as he pursued his goals, the powerfully built Alexander Mackenzie had no illusions about why he was drawn to the unexplored tracts of Rupert's Land. Soon after completing his second historic journey, he candidly expressed his feelings toward the Athabasca district in a personal letter: I think it unpardonable in any man to remain in this country who can afford to leave it. And leave it he did, returning to Britain for good in 1810.

Alexander Kennedy Isbister (1822-1883)

As a committed and effective spokesman in London, England, for the poor indigenous people of mid-nineteenth-century Rupert's Land - that is how Alexander Kennedy Isbister should be remembered by all Canadians and revered by those who were his people. But he is not. ... Church records list Alexander Kennedy Isbister's grandmother on his mother's side as Agatha, an "Indian Women". His grandfather, Alexander Kennedy, hailed from the Orkneys and worked for the Hudson's Bay Company, as did Thomas Isbister, his father. ... As was done with many other offspring of the Company's personnel, young Alexander was sent away for his education: first, at ten the Orkneys for a year or so of schooling and then in 1833 to the Red River settlement for more of the same. ... For the Company, Isbister travelled through the lower part of the Mackenzie Basin. When he left British North America in 1842, barely 20 years old and never to return, he had acquired some valuable firsthand knowledge of the West and the North. More importantly, he had developed both an intense interest in the geology and geography of the land and a consuming compassion for its people. ... Alexander earned his crown by his persistent battle against the injustices he saw being perpetrated by the Company. The battle began when, at age 25, he becamed the trusted representative of petitioners who charged "that the Company impoverished the natives for their own profit". He never came to a halt. In 1871 shareholder A.K. Isbister took up a claim of the Chief Traders and Chief Factors at the General Court of the Hudson's Bay Company. By then he had become the leading authority on all matters affecting British North America. This distinction was not only well earned but also well deserved.

R.M. Ballantyne (1825-1894)

More than a few northern men of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - particularly those raised in Scotland and England - have attested in their memoirs to the seductive tug they felt as boys when reading Ballantyne's books about the Canadian North. It is something of a happy irony, given his own uneasy and brief period of service with the Hudson's Bay Company, that Ballantyne's boys' novels 'The Young Fur Traders' (1855) and 'Ungava' (1857) and, more especially, his personal account of that service, 'Hudson's Bay; or Every-Day Life in the Wilds of North America' (1848), recruited so many able young men for both the HBC and Revillon Freres. As Ballantyne's six years in Rupert's Land and the King's Posts, and his narrative of that experience, are the cynosure of this profile, the balance of his life must be dealt with summarily. ... It is for Hudson's Bay that we still remember Ballantyne. Detailed and valuably informative, the account is enlivened by youthful intensity. As well as describing fur trade operations, it contains powerful evocations of terrain, waterways, and weather, and shrewd sketches of an assortment of personalities. ...

The Role of Native Women in the Fur Trade Society of Western Canada, 1670-1830

In essence the history of the early Canadian West is the history of the fur trade. For nearly 200 years, from the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670 until the transfer of Rupert's Land to the newly created dominion of Canada in 1870, the fur trade was the dominant force in shaping the history of what are today Canada's four western provinces. This long and unified experience gave rise in western Canada to frontier society that seems to me to be unique in the realm of interracial contact. Canada's western history has been characterized by relatively little violent conflict between and white. I would like to suggest that there were two major reasons why this was so. First, by its very nature the Canadian fur trade was predicated on mutual exchange and dependency between and white. only good Indian was certainly not a dead Indian, for it was the who provided both the fur pelts and the market for European goods. New research has revealed that not just men but also women played an active role in promoting the fur trade. Although the men were the hunters of beaver and large game animals, the women were responsible for trapping smaller fur-bearing animals, especially the marten whose pelt was highly prized. 1 The notable cases of women emerging as diplomats and peacemakers also indicate that they were anxious to maintain the flow of European goods, such as kettles, cloth, knives, needles, and axes, that helped to alleviate their onerous work role.2 The second factor in promoting harmonious relations was the remarkably wide extent of intermarriage between incoming traders and women, especially among the Cree, the Ojibwa, and the Chipewyan. wives proved indispensable helpmates to the officers and men of both the British-based Hudson's Bay Company and its Canadian rival, the North West Company. Such interracial unions were, in fact, the basis for fur trade society and were sanctioned by an indigenous rite known as mar-

The Salish Vocabularies of David Thompson

0. Introduction. One of the prominent figures in the exploration of the Pacific Northwest, particularly with respect to the surveying and mapping of the territory, is David Thompson. Orphaned while still quite young, David was brought up in the Grey Coat School, at Westminster, near London. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company. He arrived at Fort Churchill on the Hudson's Bay in September of 1784, and began his duties immediately. He remained in Canada for the rest of his life, serving the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Company in Rupert's Land from 1784 to 1812. He moved in 1812 to eastern Canada and remained there until his death at Toronto

Political Theory of the Red River Resistance: The Declaration of December 8, 1869

Although there exists a respectable literature on political thought in Canada, relatively little of this work has been done by political theorists or philosophers. Much of the research has been carried out by historians, sociologists, or more recently by political scientists working with sociological conceptions such as “political culture.” But there is still a place in the study of Canadian political thought for one of the traditional tasks of political theory, the critical analysis of significant texts. This paper examines one such document, which deserves to be better known than it is, the “Declaration of the People of Rupert's Land and the North West,” of December 8, 1869. The text is presented in both English and French versions, the background of the document is briefly discussed, and its argument is analyzed at some length.

Science and reality: Arthur Dobbs and the eighteenth-century geography of Rupert's Land

In 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company was granted proprietary rights to Rupert's Land, a vaguely defined territory that came to be equated with the drainage basin of Hudson Bay. This paper is concerned with the geography of these lands that developed in the minds of Englishmen in the course of the eighteenth century. Since only slight and fragmentary information was available in England about these territories, there was created at this time a hypothetical physical geography of the Company's lands. This was based largely on the opinions of Arthur Dobbs, whose book in 1744 was the first devoted to the Company and its territories. Dobb's views were not opposed by the Hudson's Bay Company. Indeed, they were well grounded in the scientific thinking of the time, so that what we now regard as having been speculative and grossly exaggerated, gained acceptance in England as geographical reality in the latter half of the eighteenth century.

<i>Rossville Mission Press; the Invention of the Cree Syllabic Characters, and the First Printing in Rupert's Land</i>, by Bruce Peel

<i>Rossville Mission Press; the Invention of the Cree Syllabic Characters, and the First Printing in Rupert's Land</i>, by Bruce Peel

Chronological list of expeditions and historical events in northern Canada. V. 1790–1821

During the period covered by this instalment of our list, the accomplishments of the North West Company, both in geographical exploration and in the realization of profits were great. It consolidated its position in the fur-rich Athabasca district and, with a few posts along Mackenzie River, began to draw in the furs of that immense territory. Its traders invaded not only the western part of Rupert's Land but even Hudson Bay itself. The Hudson's Bay Company rose only slowly to the challenge of its formidable rival, but, gradually, it began to adopt new policies and new techniques and to meet the North West Company on its own grounds and on its own terms. Finally, after a bitter struggle that was almost the destruction of both companies, the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1821, effectively absorbed the North West Company in a coalition that gave the older company greater strength than ever and a wider monopoly than Prince Rupert had thought of.

Chronological list of expeditions and historical events in northern Canada. IV. 1763–89

If the Treaty of Paris in 1763 secured the Hudson's Bay Company in its monopoly of Rupert's Land, it also, by the Cession of Canada, opened to British enterprise the river-and-lake routes, discovered by the French, from Montreal to the fur-rich country west of Hudson Bay. This instalment of our list covers the years of the Montreal traders' expansion into the North-west, their crossing of the Arctic watershed into the fur trader's Eldorado, the Athabasca district, their organization into the Hudson's Bay Company's formidable rival, the North West Company, and concludes with the climax of their north-westward surge, Alexander Mackenzie's arrival at the Arctic Ocean in 1789. This activity obliged the Hudson's Bay Company to change its policy of waiting for the Indians to bring their furs to posts on Hudson Bay and made them push inland to compete for furs with the pedlars from Montreal. In the meantime, the Moravians had established missions on the coast of Labrador, searches for a North-west Passage were directed away from Hudson Bay to the Pacific coast of North America, the first scientific expedition was sent to Hudson Bay, and the Indians were decimated by smallpox. Toward the end of this instalment, we begin to draw our southern boundary of “northern Canada” both westward and northward and to omit many expeditions and events of peripheral or minor importance, such as activities south of Saskatchewan River, or of regular occurrence, such as annual voyages northward from Churchill.

The Riel Rebellion and Canadian-American Relations

HE Riel Rebellion presents an interesting case in CanadianAmerican history? For relations between the two nations, already strained by the Civil War, Fenian movements within the United States, and the American rejection of reciprocity, took a turn for the worse in 1869-70 when Canada was suddenly confronted with the insurrection i Rupert's Land. Beguiled by the evasive dream of becoming a continental republic, Americans had long coveted the lands of their northern eighbour. That the new Dominion of Canada could survive-indeed, could dare to envision its own transcontinental glory-was inconceivable to many Americans. In their own self-interest, they exaggerated the signs of disaffection within the Dominion. And when the mi but the short-of-war policy which they followed failed to gain the prize. Louis Riel, leader of the rebellious m&is, with all his apparent leanings towards the United States, employed American expansionism only to achieve provincial status within the Dominion for his beloved Red River. Moreover, the Canadian Premier, Sir John A.

The Formation of the First Federal Cabinet

representation in the executive as well as the legislative branch of government. The second is the principle of sectional balance, exemplified not only in the equal representation of sections in the Senate x and the weighted representation of sections in the federal Cabinet, but also in the careful equating of the sectional incidence of national policies. (A historic example of the latter will be cited below, in the offsetting of the construction ofthe Intercolonial Railway by the acquisition of Rupert's Land and the North-West Territory?) The third principle is that of the communal representation of various religious and national groups, one of great importance in the functioning of Canadian government. These general principles of cabinet formation spring from the of Canadian politics. It is difficult, for want of detailed studies, to indicate briefly the nature of the internal and fundamental structure of Canadian politics, yet aspects of it are well known to students of the subiect. Canadian political ife has been fiercely local in its interests and attachments. Politics always resolves itself ultimately into individuals and localities, but in Canada the disproportion between the areas of settlement and the extent of the country made politics peculiarly local, and Confederation only served to increase this disproportion ofpopulation and territory. The combination of local interests with national (or provincial) policies was therefore a work of great political difficulty. It was

Economic Effects of the War on the Prairie Economy

The effects of the war on the prairie economy can best be considered against a background of three elements—one of them general and two more specific. The first, and most general, of these elements is the historical position of Canadian agricultural groups and agricultural communities in war-time situations. The second is the specific position of the prairie economy in relation to the First World War. The third is the familiar record of prairie agriculture throughout the depression of the nineteen-thirties. These background elements will be sketched in briefly.Canadian agriculture conforms historically to the typical pattern of agriculture developed within a mercantilistic framework. Though traditionally solacing itself, and being solaced, with the belief that it is Canada's basic industry, Canadian agriculture has most readily attracted attention and secured encouragement and support in situations where mercantile or industrial groups have considered that agriculture should be encouraged and supported. The French fostered the original agricultural settlement on the St. Lawrence in order to secure their fur-trade route against the Iroquois. The English considered agricultural settlement to be an indispensable adjunct to their military strongpoint, Halifax. United Empire Loyalists were welcomed to the upper St. Lawrence after 1780 so that they might settle around the frontier posts at Cataraqui, Niagara, and Detroit and thus strengthen the respective garrisons. Plans for the settlement of the prairie regions, put forward before and after Confederation, envisaged the establishment of a strong and vigorous agricultural community north of the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, a community which would forestall the threat of economic and even military occupation of Rupert's Land by the Americans. These historical examples illustrate the extent to which Canadian agricultural communities have derived significance from situations involving war or the threat of war.

Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca Department by George Simpson, 1820 and 1821, and Report

Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca Department by George Simpson, 1820 and 1821, and Report

REVIEWS

Book Reviews in This Article:MEDIEVAL TAXATION William E. Lunt. Financiul Relations of the Papacy with England to 1327.BOROUGH CHARTERS. British Borough Charters.FRANCE AND ENGLAND, 1540‐1640 John U. Nef. Industry and Government in France and England.THE ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW.SOME PURITAN LEADERS. W. K. Jordan. Men of Substance.GOLD W. P. Morrell. The Gold Rushes.CANADA. Minutes of the Hudson's Bay Company. Minutes of Council, Northern Department of Rupert Land. The Letters of John McLoughlin, First Series, 1825‐1838. Edited by E. E. Rich.Harold A. Innis. The Cod Fisheries; the History of an International Economy.STEEL D. L. Burn. The Economic History of Steelmaking.REPARATIONS. Charles G. Dawes. A Journal of Reparations.POPULATION. H. A. Shannon and E. Grebenik. The Population of Bristol.

Review: Minutes of Council, Northern Department of Rupert Land, 1821-31, by R. Harvey Fleming

Book Review| March 01 1942 Review Minutes of Council, Northern Department of Rupert Land, 1821-31R. Harvey Fleming Donald C. Davidson Donald C. Davidson Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Pacific Historical Review (1942) 11 (1): 97. https://doi.org/10.2307/3633010 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Donald C. Davidson; Review. Pacific Historical Review 1 March 1942; 11 (1): 97. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3633010 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentPacific Historical Review Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1942 The Pacific Coast Branch, American Historical Association Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Minutes of Council, Northern Department of Rupert Land, 1821-31.

Minutes of Council, Northern Department of Rupert Land, 1821-31.

A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71: Being a History of Rupert's Land (The Hudson's Bay Company Territory) and of the North-West Territory (Including the Pacific Slope) Arthur Silver Morton

A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71: Being a History of Rupert's Land (The Hudson's Bay Company Territory) and of the North-West Territory (Including the Pacific Slope) Arthur Silver Morton