Distant Relations: How My Ancestors Colonized North America

J.R. (Jim) Miller is Canada Research Chair of History at the University
of Saskatchewan. He is the author of Skyscrapers Hide in the Heavens: A
History of Indian-White Relations in Canada and co-editor of the
Canadian Historical Review.

Toronto writer Victoria Freeman set out to uncover what role her
ancestors had played in reducing Aboriginal people in North America to
the difficult state they are in now. In the process she revealed the
responsibility of non-Native Canadians and Americans for the problem.

Freeman, a descendant of a number of families that have been involved
with First Nations since the 17th century, has scoured a vast literature
on Native-newcomer relations in the United States and Canada to explain,
as she puts it, “how my ancestors colonized North America.” Her
account describes a colorful gallery of settlers, Indian fighters, and,
especially, Christian missionaries against the backdrop of colonial wars
and Indian massacres, the establishment and expansion of European
states, the marginalization and demoralization of First Nations in the
19th century, and the sorry tale of residential schooling for First
Nations children in Canada from the late 19th century until recent
times. Her conclusion on a personal level is that her research has
enabled her to understand her ancestors and their role, recognizing that
they were ordinary mortals whose actions and inaction have played a tiny
part in the dispossession and oppression of Natives. Her discoveries
leave her with a sense of responsibility, not of guilt; and she suggests
that that is also the appropriate emotion for reflective non-Native
Canadians.

Distant Relations is a thoroughly researched and well-written account
of Native-newcomer relations seen through the prism of a particular
family. It provides a fascinating insight into both the individual
non-Native family and the processes in which it, and North Americans at
large, have found themselves in relation to Aboriginal peoples. It is
thoughtful and thought-provoking history.