The People Who Own Themselves: Aboriginal Ethnogenesis in a Canadian Family, 1660-1900
Heather Devine
With a unique how-to appendix for Metis genealogical reconstruction, this book will be of interest to Metis wanting to research their own genealogy & to scholars engaged in the reconstruction of Metis ethnic identity. The search for a Metis identity & what constitutes that identity is a key issue facing many aboriginals of mixed ancestry today. This book reconstructs 250 years of the Desjarlais' family history across a substantial area of North America, from colonial Louisiana, the St. Louis, Missouri, region & the American Southwest to the Red River & central Alberta. In the course of tracing the Desjarlais family, social, economic & political factors influencing the development of various Aboriginal ethnic identities are discussed. With intriguing details about the Desjarlais family members, this book offers new, original insights into the 1885 Northwest Rebellion, focusing on kinship as a motivating factor in the outcome of events.