The story of the expansion of European civilization into the wilderness continues to shape perceptions of how Aboriginal people became part of nations such as Canada. This groundbreaking study subverts this narrative of progress and modernity by examining nation building from the perspective of a northern community and its residents.

Drawing on decades of research, Patricia McCormack argues that Fort Chipewyan was never an isolated Aboriginal community but a plural society at the crossroads of global, national, and local forces. The steps that led Aboriginal people to sign Treaty No. 8 and accept scrip in 1899 and their struggle to maintain autonomy thereafter reveal that Aboriginal peoples and others can become modern without relinquishing cherished beliefs and practices.

This study of the most famous of the Treaty No. 8 communities not only provides a window into the history of Canada and Alberta – it challenges the nature of history writing in Canada itself.

Patricia A. McCormack is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on Aboriginal peoples of the northwestern Plains, northern Canada, and Scotland, in the contexts of the fur trade and the expansion of state. She has published extensively about Fort Chipewyan, including a new book to be published shortly by UBC Press.

Patricia A. McCormack's profile page

Fort Chipewyan and the Shaping of Canadian History, 1788-1920s: We Like to Be Free In This Country