Description
Homeland to Hinterland: The Changing Worlds of the Red River Metis in the Nineteenth-Century is a social and economic history of the Red River Metis Settlement, specifically the parishes of St Francois Xavier and St Andrew's. Ens dismisses the standard account of the Metis that stresses their Aboriginal heritage. Instead his focus is the social and economic aspects of the Metis role in the fur trade. His research concludes that the Metis adapted quickly to the changing conditions of the 1840s and in fact influenced the nature of economic change. Metis identity is the result of economic and social circumstances rather than biology. This is an important study to the growing literature on the history of this 'new nation' in Western Canada. Gerhard Ens is an associate professor at Brandon University.