People Of The Plains Analysis

Amelia M. Paget’s People of the Plains is an insightful exploration of Indigenous culture on the plains of Canada during the early twentieth century. Paget, having grown up immersed in the culture of the fur trade, was able to communicate with the Elders of the bands she interviewed in a respectful and comprehensive way. Her attention to detail unquestionably shows in People of the Plains. This is proven to be true, as Sarah Carter stresses in the Introduction that Paget went to great lengths to confirm the validity of the stories she re-told by gathering as many Elders from a band to corroborate the details as possible, potentially travelling back to visit in the winter to hear tales that could only be re-told during the winter months, and …show more content…
This can be best observed in her skepticism of the remedial rites of the medicine men (“Such a noise did they make in the wigwam of the poor unfortunate Indian that it is a wonder he ever survived a ‘treatment’ by these old medicine men,”); the way in which she describes the rearing of children within the band (“The love of their children was a [particularly] pathetic trait in their natures,”); in her belief in the “remarkable decline of good manners and polite usages among the Indians; years ago, when everyone who studied their ways intimately was impressed with their dignity and fine manners.”; and especially in her description of first contact between the Indigenous people and “intelligent white men” as “examples of the blessings which come from faith in a higher beneficent …show more content…
Paget made it a point to challenge firmly-held beliefs of Indigenous society during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Tensions between the white and Indigenous people of Canada flared after the events of 1885. It was a time where public perception of Indigenous women was exceptionally demoralizing, as they represented a threat to the “racial purity” of white Canadians, and were thus portrayed as beacons of immorality, corruption, and sin. However, Paget directly contested this stereotype through her comprehensive representation of Aboriginal women as brave, powerful warriors within their bands who were most certainly not the overworked “squaw drudges” popular sentiment upheld, instead calling that notion “overdrawn.” Paget’s positive portrayal of Aboriginal women is a refreshing addition to scholarly work on the Plains people, as very little was known of their women at that time. In addition, Paget challenges public perception of polygamy within bands on the plains, creating a rare progressive depiction of their familial structure. Instead of relying on dated notions, she described the wives as friendly, inviting, and quite agreeable amongst each other. This interpretation is an important contribution to the understanding of Indigenous society as it questioned the societal perceptions of Aboriginal women from her time, yet