Exchange
This chapter explores how Metis borderlanders came into conflict with American federal officials who were convinced that Metis traders enabled Lakota resistance to American expansion and undermined the administration of Indian affairs in the region. While U.S. officials were determined to unravel Me...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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University of North Carolina Press
2015
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621050.003.0002 |
| Summary: | This chapter explores how Metis borderlanders came into conflict with American federal officials who were convinced that Metis traders enabled Lakota resistance to American expansion and undermined the administration of Indian affairs in the region. While U.S. officials were determined to unravel Metis cross-border economies, the much more limited Canadian presence on the northwestern Plains allowed Metis borderland communities to flourish and undermined American enforcement efforts. Indeed, officials in both countries betrayed a surprising dependence on Metis intermediaries in their diplomatic dealings with other Indigenous peoples and even the actual survey of the forty-ninth parallel. The absence of effective measures to suppress illicit trade or to assess the situation for themselves illustrates the very real limits on American and Canadian efforts to consolidate their sovereignty and the role the Metis played in shaping those efforts. |
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