Race, class and marginality : a Métis settlement in the Manitoba Interlake, 1850-1914

Abstract

This dissertation examines how, since the 1850s, capitalist development in Manitoba's Interlake area and the interpretation of this region's history have been heavily influenced by western racist ideology. This ideology, coupled with the other political-social-economic dynamics of capitalism, led to the development of maintenance of racially distinct marginal communities. Racism alone, however, was used to explain the existence of these communities in terms of a perceived racial difference that affected the residents' culture, world view, and work habits. The specific community examined is a Métis settlement on the southern shores of Lake Manitoba.