Making Marriage: Husbands, Wives, and the American State in Dakota and Ojibwe Country

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C a t h e r i n e J . D e n i a l Husbands, Wives & the American State in Dakota & Ojibwe Country Marriage M a k i n g “Catherine Denial uncovers the turbulent world of American expansion in the Upper Midwest and describes a fascinating world where trade with the Ojibwe and Dakota was woven on the warp of indigenous marital practices and dominated by networks of kin. This book relies on a sophisticated gender analysis to question traditional narratives about America’s westward expansion.” — Susan Sleeper-Smith, author of Indian Women and French Men: Rethinking Cultural Encounter in the Western Great Lakes “Through a series of smart, well-crafted case studies, Catherine Denial insightfully explores the connection between the politics of colonialism and the intimate lives of fur traders, army officers, slaves, missionaries, and Native women and men, expertly weaving together women’s and gender history, legal studies, borderlands scholarship, and American Indian studies.” — Lucy Eldersveld Murphy, author of A Gathering of Rivers: Indians, Métis, and Mining in the Western Great Lakes, 1737–1832 The debate over the meaning of marriage in the United States and specifically in Minnesota is not a recent development. From 1820 to 1845, when the first significant numbers of Americans arrived in the region now called Minnesota, they carried very specific ideas about the roles men and women should play in marriage. However, the Dakota, Ojibwe, and mixed-race communities resisted this new version of marriage, forcing many Americans to compromise their own beliefs so that they could put down roots. Catherine J. Denial is associate professor of history at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. She specializes in American Indian history and the history of marriage in the United States. 800-647-7827 • www.mhspress.org This and other Minnesota Historical Society Press books are available from popular e-book vendors. Front cover: descendants of Pelagie Faribault, 1904, Minnesota Historical Society collections Cover design: Andrew J. Brozyna $19.95 making marriage Denial Native American Studies / Women’s Studies . . . . . ...