Keepers of the Game: Indian-Animal Relationships and the Fur Trade

by Calvin Martin

Book Overview

Examines the effects of European contact and the fur trade on the relationship between Indians and animals in eastern Canada, from Lake Winnipeg to the Canadian Maritimes, focusing primarily on the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520046374
• ISBN13: 9780520046375
• Release Date: April 1982
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Keepers of the Game

With a firm gentleness, Calvin Martin, insightfully describes the reciprocity and repercussions of our animal bonds and the breaking of those bonds. The accumulation of well documented 'firm gentleness' statements delivers a hard hitting viewpoint that has stunned me. The notes are a priceless resource.

Great Story!

Martin has done a remarkable job of telling a very difficult story of the inter-relationships between the first people of Canada, the new world order people of European ancestry and the animals. I am Mi'maq and reading the history took be back to a time and an appreciation of what was a part of life. My hats off to Martin for telling a story that needed to be told!

Great read for many reasons

This book is a great read for many reasons. One that may not get mentioned, but strikes me as important, is the demonstration of how social rules and the environment relate to economic markets. In short: the relationship of the native North American tribes to the fur markets was conditioned by their culture which went through a sudden, tragic, transformation.

A different view of Native-European contact

Scholarly works are not supposed to entertain but Martin's interesting ideas about the cultural confrontation between the First People and the first Europeans makes for fascinating reading. He challenges several accepted views about Native population decline resulting from disease and warfare which are sure to spark disagreement; yet his logic is difficult to refute and the perspectives he offers provide new directions for research. Martin manages to avoid casting anyone into the roles of oppressor and victim by presenting the sequence of events as the result of rational decisions by both cultural groups. While anthropologists and sociologists will certainly find "Keepers" of interest, anyone who teaches cultural diversity or provides diversity training will also benefit from this work. General readers will enjoy asking themselves if their ancestors could have been involved in the events Martin describes.