The Indians of Canada, Seventh Edition

by Diamond Jenness

First published in 1932, The Indians of Canada remains the most comprehensive works available on Canada's Indians. Part one includes chapters on languages, economic conditions, food resources, hunting and fishing, dress and adornment, dwellings, travel and transportation, trade and commerce, social and political organization, social life, religion, folklore and traditions, and drama, music, and art. The second part of the book describes the tribes in different the migratory tribbes of the eastern woodlands, the plains tribes, tribes of the Pacific coast, of the Cordillera, and the Mackenzie and Yukon River basins, and finally the Eskimo.

Genres: History, Cultural, Anthropology

Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

1886-1969

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought and read this back in the 90s during a visit to Canada. When I bought it I hadn't realised it had been first published in 1932. I'm sure modern day ethnologists would consider it dated, but even so I found it very informative. This is a comprehensive and dispassionate description of Canada's First Nations. The book falls into two parts, the first being a description of the various facets of the pre-modern lives of native peoples, covering amongst other things, languages; food resources; social and political organisations; dwelling types; trade and commerce; religion; and music, dress and art. The second part looks at each ethnic group in turn, with a few pages devoted to each. Throughout the book the author explains the huge variety in native cultures that existed across a vast area such as modern Canada. As with any book of this vintage, there are some dated social attitudes, for example on gender issues, and the book contains some predictions that have proved wide of the mark (the author suggests for example that "within another century" the Iroquois "will undoubtedly disappear as separate communities") but on the whole I found this to be useful context in understanding Canadian history.

[Andrew Fehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indians of Canada is an incredibly interesting book about the indigenous peoples of Canada, primarily before the beginning of the 20th century. The author, Diamond Jenness, came to Canada as an anthropologist in the early 1900s. This was a time when many indigenous peoples were not yet settled in cities, towns, and farms or fully integrated into the wage economy so, although he rarely references his personal experiences with indigenous peoples, I can only imagine the depth they lent to his assessments.

As an earlier Goodreads review of his book said, his assessment of indigenous peoples is dispassionate. In the first part of the book he generally describes each area of the lives of indigenous peoples across Canada from transportation to housing to social relations and more. Then he talks specifically about unique aspects of each group and sub-group of indigenous peoples. If you're interested in a systematic assessment of the indigenous peoples of Canada pre-20th century, this is the book for you, there's no other like it. Now, to politics.

There would certainly be strong opposition to Jenness publishing this book today. He's not an indigenous person, he wasn't doing the work for the direct benefit of any indigenous communities and, as a New Zealander, he holds a eurocentric worldview. Most controversially, he espouses the view that indigenous peoples are going to disappear as distinct cultures, which has clearly not happened in the 80 or so years since he wrote the book. And, of course, he's not advocating for that outcome, it was a common view at the time and many indigenous groups had declined significantly in population over the prior centuries and decades and the trend was continuing in that direction.

Despite the criticisms this book would get if were published today, I think Jenness was well-intentioned, that he respected indigenous peoples and I think we are a richer society for this knowledge. He also said something about the relationship between indigenous peoples and settlers and descendants of settlers that I think will stick with me forever and it is something all Canadians should understand. He said that non-indigenous peoples never had the patience to integrate indigenous peoples into their society and that indigenous peoples continue to pay the price for that. This impatience continues today.

Transitioning from a tribal mode of being to a one that can fit with euro-Canadian society is a massive undertaking. This book is an incredible view of past indigenous peoples and I believe it can help to explain relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in Canada today and can help chart a course forward for that relationship.

I would enthusiastically read complementary indigenous histories and oral histories and I remain on the lookout for them.

[Marlana Williams]

I haven't read this entire book, but picked it up at an antique store closing out where it was priced at $1. I couldn't refuse, but I should have. I should have known with a title like "The Indians of Canada". Of course it was outdated, but we are talking about history, so how outdated could the actual content be? The author was born in 1886, so the current (accepted) vernacular for First Nations wasn't known then.

Immediately, I wanted to read the chapter on the "Nootka Indians". Half of the information given is incorrect. How do I know this? Because my husband is a "Nootka Indian", and his father is a Yuquot historian. My own studies on pre-contact Nuu Chah Nulth culture ran circles around this section. For example, the author states that harpooning a whale could only be done by a chief within the clan. Wrong. Harpooning a whale could be done by the most skilled, chief or no chief.

Chief deities include "supernatural wolves" as they were in awe of wolves? Not really. The most respected of all wildlife was actually the eagle. Not the wolf. Second in line: the killer whale. Families adopted the wolf if they chose to do so as their clan animal, but only because it represents relationships and teamwork.

Next we have the "Nootka Indians" cooking slaves, practicing self-torture, and eating dogs. What? I mean, come on. This author seemed to rely on spook-stories from the 18th-century Europeans who wanted to vilify the Nuu Chah Nulth people for holding their ground against them and their unwanted land treaties between the English and Spanish.

If this book has such inaccurate information on the "Nootka Indians" (well, what did I expect from 1932?) then how many other indigenous bands and tribes are represented poorly in this book?

Maybe on the up-side, I can say I read this for a laugh. I now have a work of non-fiction in my library at home - from nearly a hundred years ago - that shows me how much people really didn't know about the indigenous peoples of Canada at all (yet wanted to thoroughly write about their non-knowledge of them to the tune of 400+ pages).

It was a nice try, but I implore anyone studying our Canadian indigenous peoples to use other books, preferably non-fiction written in post-reconciliation years for accuracy (and sensitivity).

[Madeline · Rating 1 out of 5]

some of the most bigoted writing, which is to be expected from a book this old. There's a reason it was so cheap when I found it.