Pemmican Empire: Food, Trade, and the Last Bison Hunts in the North American Plains, 1780-1882

ISBN-13: 9781107622890 / Angielski / Miękka / 2018 / 317 str.

George Colpitts

Opis

Pemmican Empire explores the fascinating and little-known environmental history of the role of pemmican (bison fat) in the opening of the British-American West.

Recenzje

'Herein lies the greatest strength of Colpitts' work, and the aspect of his scholarship which may prove most influential. Pemmican is understood here not merely as a product, but as a process - the name comes from the Cree pemmican or pemigan, meaning 'he makes grease.' This draws our attention to the work involved in making pemmican, and to the work which its amazing caloric capacity facilitated. It also highlights pemmican as more than just a combination of meat and fat: it was the result of human decision-making, a tangible expression of the producer's relationships with the animals, people, and economies around them.' Scott P. Stephen, British Colombian Quarterly

Spis treści

Introduction; 1. Changing food-energy regimes in the northern fur trade, 1760–90; 2. The pemmican bioregion, 1790–1810; 3. Food fights and pemmican wars, 1790–1816; 4. Selling bison flesh in the British market after 1821; 5. Commercial war zones in the bison commons, 1835–50; 6. Ending the pemmican era; Conclusion.