Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire: French-Indigenous Relations and the Rise of the Métis in the Hudson Bay Watershed (McGill-Queen's Studies in Early Canada / Avant le Canada)

How early French-Indigenous relations in the Northwest led to the rise of a new people, the Métis. __Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire__ explores the lives of ordinary Canadiens who used kinship ties to navigate the space between sovereign Indigenous homelands and the French colonial government in the Hudson Bay watershed from the early 1660s to the 1780s – leading to the emergence of a new Indigenous culture, language, people, and nation: the Métis. "The fur trade was the heart of the French empire in early North America. The French-Canadian (Canadien) men who traversed the vast hinterlands of the Hudson Bay watershed, trading for furs from Indigenous trappers and hunters, were its cornerstone. Though the Canadiens worked for French colonial authorities, they were not unwavering agents of imperial power. Increasingly they found themselves between two worlds as they built relationships with Indigenous communities, sometimes joining them through adoption or marriage, raising families of their own. The result was an ambivalent empire that grew in fits and starts. It was guided by imperfect information, built upon a contested Indigenous borderland, fragmented by local interests, and periodically neglected by government administrators. Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire explores the lives of the Canadiens who used family and kinship ties to navigate between sovereign Indigenous nations and the French colonial government from the early 1660s to the 1780s. Acting as cultural intermediaries, the Canadiens made it possible for France to extend its presence into northwest North America. Over time, however, their ambivalent relationships with the French colonial state splintered imperial authority, leading to an outcome that few could have foreseen - the emergence of a new Indigenous culture, language, people, and nation: the Métis."-- Provided by publisher The fur trade was the heart of the French empire in early North America. The French-Canadian (Canadien) men who traversed the vast hinterlands of the Hudson Bay watershed, trading for furs from Indigenous trappers and hunters, were its cornerstone. Though the Canadiens worked for French colonial authorities, they were not unwavering agents of imperial power. Increasingly they found themselves between two worlds as they built relationships with Indigenous communities, sometimes joining them through adoption or marriage, raising families of their own. The result was an ambivalent empire that grew in fits and starts. It was guided by imperfect information, built upon a contested Indigenous borderland, fragmented by local interests, and periodically neglected by government administrators. Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire explores the lives of the Canadiens who used family and kinship ties to navigate between sovereign Indigenous nations and the French colonial government from the early 1660s to the 1780s. Acting as cultural intermediaries, the Canadiens made it possible for France to extend its presence into northwest North America. Over time, however, their uncertain relationships with the French colonial state splintered imperial authority, leading to an outcome that few could have foreseen – the emergence of a new Indigenous culture, language, people, and nation: the Métis. Cover 1 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Figures 8 Preface La Vérendrye and the Roots of the Métis People 12 Acknowledgments 16 Introduction 22 1 The Battle for the Hudson Bay Watershed, 1663–1714 48 2 Transatlantic Networks, Backcountry Specialists, and French Imperial Projects in Post-Utrecht North America, 1715–1729 88 3 Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye and the Western Posts, 1731–1743 120 4 Canadiens at the Western Posts, 1731–1743 152 5 Métissage and Kinship Voyageurs and Coureurs de Bois in the Hudson Bay Watershed, 1743–1759 174 6 From Métissage to Métis Canadiens and Natives in the Hudson Bay Watershed after the Conquest of Canada, 1760–1782 212 Epilogue A Métis Homeland 244 Appendix The Hudson’s Bay Company and the Anglo-Métis 252 Notes 256 Bibliography 320 Index 360 McGill-Queen’s,University,Press,2022,ISBN,978-0-2280-1058-6,(cloth),ISBN,978-0-2280-1059-3,(paper),ISBN,978-0-2280-1249-8,(ePDF),ISBN,978-0-2280-1250-4,(ePUB) McGill-Queen’s University Press 2022,ISBN 978-0-2280-1058-6 (cloth),ISBN 978-0-2280-1059-3 (paper),ISBN 978-0-2280-1249-8 (ePDF),ISBN 978-0-2280-1250-4 (ePUB) Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire explores the lives of ordinary Canadiens who used kinship ties to navigate the space between sovereign Indigenous homelands and the French colonial government in the Hudson Bay watershed from the early 1660s to the 1780s - leading to the emergence of a new Indigenous culture, language, people, and nation: the Metis.