People of the Plains

J.R. (Jim) Miller is Canada Research Chair of History at the University
of Saskatchewan. His latest works are Reflections on Native-Newcomer
Relations: Selected Essays and Lethal Legacy: Current Native
Controversies in Canada.

Amelia McLean Paget (1867–1922) was the eldest daughter of a Scottish
fur-trader father and a Metis mother, and the wife of an employee of the
Department of Indian Affairs (DIA). Her knowledge of the First Nations,
among whom she had lived for many years at fur-trade posts in what is
now the Northwest Territories, led to her being asked to investigate and
record the customs of Aboriginal peoples living on the plains (Plains
Cree and Saulteaux) in the early 20th century. The result is People of
the Plains (1909), an unusually positive description of Native people
for its times. Although Paget’s manuscript was edited for the
publisher by senior DIA bureaucrat and poet Duncan Campbell Scott, the
author’s affection and respect for the First Nations survived into
print.

This new edition of People of the Plains pays particular attention to
Aboriginal spirituality and storytelling, and comments favourably on
Native customs, both private and public. The result is a valuable
corrective to the largely racist and denunciatory commentary on the
First Nations that was prevalent in the pre-1914 period. The volume is
made even more valuable by historian Sarah Carter’s excellent
introduction. Carter traces the history of the McLean family, noting
especially its fur-trade connections, and describes the career of
Amelia. Carter ably places Amelia in her milieu and effectively explains
the significance of People of the Plains. Although the introduction
overstates the degree to which Amelia subscribed to the contemporary
view that Aboriginals were a “vanishing race” and appears to
exaggerate the degree to which she led a sheltered life in the fur-trade
posts that her father managed, the essay is an exceptionally fine piece
of analysis that greatly enhances the overall value of the volume.
People of the Plains is a welcome addition to the literature on western
First Nations in the post-treaty period.