Game in the Garden: A Human History of Wildlife in Western Canada to 1940

David M. Quiring teaches history at the University of Saskatchewan. He
is the author of CCF Colonialism in Northern Saskatchewan: Battling
Parish Priests, Bootleggers, and Fur Sharks.

This book explores the fascinating subject of human connections with
wildlife in Western Canada. The account begins with the arrival of
non-Aboriginal fur traders and explorers in the forests and plains of
Rupert’s Land and concludes with the end of the Great Depression. In
addition to examining how Western Canadians relied on and used wildlife
for several centuries, the author describes changing attitudes toward
game.

Colpitts provides insights into diverse aspects of Western Canadian
history. Particularly intriguing is his argument that successful
promotion of the West as a rich and promising region depended on an
abundant wildlife population. His book also reveals that conflicts
between those who relied on game for food and those who hunted and
fished for sport date back to the early settlement era. And surprising
but convincing is the assertion that hostility toward non-British
immigrants inspired early conservation programs designed to limit
hunting and fishing on the part of those newcomers.

Aboriginals play a secondary role to the settlers of European descent
in this account. The discussion in the first chapter does include
Western Canada’s First Nations, but those references primarily appear
because of Aboriginals’ role in provisioning fur traders. Except in
occasional brief passages, Aboriginals’ use of wildlife receives
little attention in later chapters. Instead, the author concentrates on
the settlers’ relationship to wildlife. Similarly, the forested region
north of the arable prairie largely disappears from the discussion. Nor
does the book include a comprehensive description of the systems put in
place by governments to protect wildlife. The reader becomes aware that
regulations and enforcement procedures increased, but details remain
spotty.

Human experience melds with that of the region’s fauna in this
account of life in the West. By pointing out the important role played
by wildlife, Colpitts expands and enriches our understanding of Western
Canadian history.