Making Native Space: Colonialism, Resistance, and Reserves in British Columbia by Cole Harris

by R. Cole Harris

"Making Native Space is about the drawing of the most fundamental line on the map of British Columbia, the one separating the tiny fraction of the province set aside for Native peoples from the rest, opened for development. The patches of land created amid the emerging settler society came to be known as Indian reserves." "The process by which the line was drawn was neither simple nor pre-determined. It was the product of many contending voices with little more in common than the colonial system within which they were variously positioned. Making Native Space tracks these voices and plots their geographical effects to provide a history of the reserve system in British Columbia. It begins in the Colonial Office in the 1830s and then follows Native land policy - and Native resistance to it - in British Columbia from the Douglas treaties in the early 1850s to the formal transfer of reserves to the Dominion in 1938." "Cole Harris considers the implications of this disposession of land for Native lives and livelihoods. The reserves were too small to support Native peoples, who became trespassers on many of their former lands. The reserve system, and the marginalization associated with it, opened space for settlers and capital, but very nearly wiped out the Native peoples of British Columbia." Geographers, historians, anthropologists, all those interested in and involved in the politics of treaty negotiation in British Columbia, from lawyers and government officials to Native peoples themselves, as well as thoughtful residents of the province, should read this book.

Genres: Canada, Indigenous, Geography

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an incredibly detailed book recounting the creation of Reserves in British Columbia. At times, it felt dense and a labour to read. However, it is very informative and well-researched. Unfortunately, Harris did not choose to foreground the native voice and instead relied heavily on colonial records. The author's final chapter envisioning a postcolonial British Columbia is, in my opinion, out of touch and unnecessary.

[Katie Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

So dense and theoretical. It was hard to get through.