Homeland to Hinterland: The Changing Worlds of the Red River Metis in the Nineteenth Century

Foreword:

"Most writing on Metis history has tended to concentrate on the Resistance of 1869-70 and the Rebellion of 1885, without adequately explaining the social and economic origins of the Metis that shaped those conflicts. Historians have often emphasized the aboriginal aspect of the Metis heritage, stereotyping the Metis as a primitive people unable or unwilling to adjust to civilized life and capitalist society. In this social and economic history of the Metis of the Red River Settlement, specifically the parishes of St Francois Xavier and St Andrew's, Gerhard Ens argues that the Metis participated with growing confidence in two worlds: one Indian and pre-capitalist, the other European and capitalist. Ens maintains that Metis identity was not defined by biology or blood but rather by the economic and social niche they carved out for them-selves within the fur trade. Ens finds that the Metis, rather than being overwhelmed, adapted quickly to the changed economic conditions of the 1840s and actually influenced the nature of change. The opening of new markets and the rise of the buffalo-robe trade fed a 'cottage industry' whose increasing importance had significant repercussions for the maintenance of ethnic boundaries, the nature of Metis response to the Riel Resistance, and the eventual decline of the Red River Settlement as a Metis homeland." (no page number given).

Excerpt from Introduction, 4-5:

"This study, focusing on Metis of the Red River, argues that the Metis participated with growing confidence in two worlds: one Indian and pre-capitalist, the other European and capitalist. Metis identity was not defined by biology, blood, or religion, but rather by the economic and social niche they carved out for themselves within the fur trade. For much of the nineteenth century, the Red River Settlement was considered a Metis home-land because living there allowed them to occupy this niche with assurance. Once the Red River Settlement ceased to provide important opportunities such as hunting, freighting, trading, and provisioning, the colony ceased to be a Metis homeland. In this sense, one might view Riel's efforts during 1869-70 as an attempt to reconstruct a Metis identity in political or constitutional terms as its social and economic bases were eroding.

The book relates Metis family dynamics and identity to the introduction and rise of capitalism in the region. To do this, it takes as its starting point Irene Spry's argument regarding 'the great transformation,' which took place in the Canadian West from the 1840s to the 1890s. During this period, resources underwent a change from 'common property' resources to 'open access' resources, and, finally, to 'private property.' As Gerald Friesen has argued in his Canadian Prairies? the period after 1840 was an era in which the market economy and industrial capitalism 'recreated' the region of Western Canada. Here it is argued that the Metis adapted quickly to these changed economic conditions, and actually guided the process and influenced the nature of change. While it is true that George Stanley and Marcel Giraud placed Metis history in the context of the expansion of an industrialized civilization, they saw the Metis only as unwilling victims in the path of capitalism. This study, by contrast, presents the Metis experience as central to that broader process of economic change. Rather than being passive victims of the actions of others, or simply a problem confronting the federal government, the Metis are characterized as active agents in their history and development." (4-5).

An online edition of Homeland to Hinterland is available through Open Library here