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Book Reviews 593 robbed him of the opportunity to correct the page proofs. Other errors should have been caught in the editorial process: Inuagulgit, the name for a legendary race of small people, is spelled two different ways on the same page (10); the words 'sex' and 'gender' are incorrectly used (87); and Father Raymond de Coccola's name is consistently misspelled (108-9, bibliography, and index). Although the publishers might be faulted for the carelessness noted above, they deserve our gratitude for including, in spite of increasing economic restraints, over.seventy illustrations. The sixty or so photographs , many published for the first time, are a welcome addition to the visual history of ari arctic people. In addition to preparing a useful·index with all the usual personal name and place name entries, the indexer (perhaps Condon himself?) has provided extremely helpful categorical headings that lead users easily and directly to the relevant text. In summary, the half of the book dealing with the 'historic' period contains nothing new for historians or other arctic scholars. As the author himself states, 'this book has only scratched the surface' (199). The pre-194os chapters, while greatly oversimplified and lacking analysis, are a basic, accurate summary of events; the post-194os chapters provide a historical framework, the necessary first step to new studies. As an overview of local history intended for a local audience, the book succeeds very well. On both these grounds, Condon's efforts were worthwhile. RENEE FOSSETT University of Manitoba/University ofWinnipeg The Resettlement of British Columbia. COLE HARRIS. Vancouver: UBC Press 1996. Pp. 336, illus. $65.00 cloth, $29.95 paper Of late, scholarly publishing has shied away from collections of essays by individual academics and their collaborators - and more's the pity. This distinguished gathering of splendid monographic studies represents two decades of research into British Columbia's remarkable late nineteenth cenhiry. Cole Harris has modified his philosophical dispositions in late years, and these essays self-consciously (almost to a fault in this reviewer's opinion) stress postcolonial theory and the colonial construction of the province. The result is a revised perception of the history and geography of·British Columbia. Students interested in methodological approach and theory will be fascinated by Harris's approach. For myself, I was content to look at the empirical data, the rich visual presentation, and the profound insights that this beautifully crafted collection of essays offers. 594 The Canadian Historical Review Harris's overall theme is that British Columbia was resettled, especially by dominant Europeans, or whites. These persons, too, brought in Chinese labour. Those displaced were the earliest 'settlers,' the Aboriginal people or Indians. How this process happened is not the concern of the author here. What is discussed and evaluated is done by a series of well-written and interrelated chapters. Native disease and depopulation is the subject of the first study, which explores the considerable evidence of pre-contact depopulation. Only briefly does Harris explore Native raiding and the history of internecine war, which continued until 1855 (Clayoquot). Did indigenous warfare also contribute to the decline in Native numbers in this period? If so, to what extent? Native slavery and the ills of the liquor traffic were further contributors to the decline of native numbers, and they are not part of the author's examination. In a companion analysis Harris presents a portrait of the immigrant society that settled the province, and he explores both the English features and multicultural aspects of the new population. Harris's keen interest in market gardening, fruit production , and mining led him to follow themes that often get marginalized in early British Columbia history. The geographical focus for this work is primarily the lower Fraser River, especially 'the Lower Mainland,' a term understandable particularly to a Vancouver Islander. The Fraser River canyon provides a rich documentary basis for historical geography; here Harris traces Native names and places in transition. He also explores nodes of commerce and influence, noting how centres of authority shifted with the changing demands of areas of occupation. The concepts of frontier are not within his scope of concern but, at the same time, he does demonstrate an interest in the...

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