In revisiting the mechanisms that led to the decimation and expropriation of the peoples of North America, authors Denys Delâge, a specialist on Indigenous peoples, and Jean-Philippe Warren, a specialist on French Canadian society, paint a portrait of the meeting between Indigenous nations and European empires and the resulting clash of cultures.

It took them some twenty years to interpret a few key dimensions and realize their shared vision of telling a story that would summarize the encounters between America and Europe at the time of the earliest European exploration efforts. Focusing on the period between the early 17th century and the late 19th, the pair refutes the impression that Indigenous peoples were not free when the first Europeans arrived. 

In...

At this time of year, the Cayuga nation is generally getting ready for a special occasion: its annual lacrosse game. This event may seem insignificant to some, but as we learn in The Creator’s Game, it is of great significance indeed for many First Nations people, for whom the sport is intimately tied to their identity.

In this work published by UBC Press, Allan Downey, the historian of Indigenous nationhood, self-determination and sovereignty, paints a portrait of the role this sport has played and continues to play in the lives of Indigenous peoples. 

Presented as a collection of archival texts, testimonials and explanations of relevant background context, the book guides readers through the different stages that have marked the history of this sport, both in terms of the game itself and with regard to the...

When it comes to taxes, there is a widespread popular belief that we all agree on one thing: others don’t pay their fair share of income tax.

The feeling was much the same among early Canadians, as we learn from reading Tax, Order, and Good Government: A New Political History of Canada, 1867-1917. The book, by Elsbeth A. Heaman, a professor of history at McGill University, won a 2018 Canada Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Power struggles between the inhabitants of Upper and Lower Canada regarding taxes...

What do “La Corriveau,” “Dr. l’Indienne” and the “brigands of Cap-Rouge” have in common? All were celebrated criminals who captured the popular imagination in 19th- and 20th-century Quebec.

La communauté du dehors. Imaginaire social et crimes célèbres au Québec (XIXe – XXe siècle) (the outlier community – collective imagination and famous crimes in 19th- and 20th-century Quebec) by Alex Gagnon, a postdoctoral fellow at Université du Québec à Montréal, published by Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, relates how...