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Long before Confederation created a nation-state in northern North America, Indigenous people were establishing vast networks and trade routes. Volcanic eruptions pushed the ancestors of the Dene to undertake a trek from the present-day Northwest Territories to Arizona. Inuit migrated across the Arctic from Siberia, reaching Southern Labrador, where they met Basque fishers from northern Spain.
As early as the fifteenth century, fishing ships from western Europe were coming to Newfoundland for cod, creating the greatest transatlantic maritime link in the early modern world. Later, fur traders would take capitalism across the continent, using cheap rum to lubricate their transactions. The contributors to Before Canada reveal the latest findings of archaeological and historical research on this fascinating period. Along the way, they reframe the story of the Canadian past, extending its limits across time and space and challenging us to reconsider our assumptions about this supposedly young country.
Innovative and multidisciplinary, Before Canada inspires interest in the deep history of northern North America.
“Before Canada features eleven of the smartest minds in early Canadian history, archeology, geography, and literary studies. Throughout the book, … Greer’s contemporaries define, demystify, and dismantle the imagined histories of the centuries preceding Canadian federation.” Montreal Review of Books
"Before Canada is a must-read volume for everyone teaching Canadian history before Confederation (1871). This is altogether a fascinating read; its breadth and lively details are enthralling. Essential." Choice
"These well-written essays—pleasures to read—document in detail a series of broad areas of exchange in eastern North America from 12,300 BCE. The book weaves artifact and site data with letters and descriptions into rich tapestries. A theme repeats: First Nations had economies with practices as firm as those of Europeans, but not congruent with capitalist debt bookkeeping. With its fully documented sources and endnote clarifications, Before Canada is a must-read volume for everyone teaching Canadian history before Confederation (1871). This is altogether a fascinating read; its breadth and lively details are enthralling. Essential." Choice
« L’approche multiscalaire adoptée par cet ouvrage est particulièrement novatrice et permet un autre regard sur le nord de l’Amérique du Nord, en particulier durant la période moderne. » Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française
« Cette approche multidisciplinaire, qui fait la singularité de l’ouvrage, permet d’explorer des histoires souvent négligées en raison des limites des sources écrites. » Histoire sociale
“Written for readers who live within Canada today, the book projects backwards in time a ‘Canada-as-physical-space.’” Literary Review of Canada