Blackfeet and Palefaces: The Pikani and Rocky Mountain House

Joseph Leydon teaches geography at the University of Toronto.

A national historic park was established at Rocky Mountain House in
1969, with one of its central themes being the interpretation of the
role of the Pikani (Blackfoot) Indians in the fur trade. This book,
aimed at general readers and visitors to the park, focuses on that
theme.

The book consists of large passages extracted directly from such
sources as Hudson’s Bay Company records and fur trader David
Thompson’s diary. Although all the passages are written by
non-Natives, they introduce the reader to different aspects of the fur
trade and the lives of the peoples involved. These extracts, while
fascinating, are rarely explained. Nor are they interpreted or analyzed.
This is particularly surprising because the book is aimed at a general
audience. How are readers to appreciate the importance of what they have
read if the author provides no assistance? There is continual reference
to trade routes and reconfiguration of Native territory due to the
impact of the fur trade; but, again, how can readers appreciate these
important aspects without maps? The greatest deficiency in this book is
that it fails to provide a clear picture either of Native culture before
the fur trade or of the transformation of that culture under the fur
trade.

Arima is a trained anthropologist and an ethnohistorian of national
historic parks and sites who has written extensively on Native oral
traditions and watercraft. This reviewer anticipated a study carefully
moulded in the hands of an expert. Disappointingly, it is not.