How First Nations became marginalized in the Canadian Prairies

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon interviews James Daschuk, the author of Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Indigenous Life, a new edition of which was published by the University of Regina Press in 2019. Daschuk’s book focuses on the pre- and post-contact history of Indigenous peoples in the Great Plains of North America, focusing on the Canadian portion of the Plains in the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, he documents how Macdonald’s government used food and the threat of starvation to pressure First Nations into accepting treaties and their relocation to reserves. Combining this human history with climate and environmental history, he produced a book that has won multiple prizes including the Canadian Historical Association’s Sir John Macdonald Prize and was named Book of the Year by the Globe and Mail, Quill and Quire, and the Writer’s Trust. Daschuk is currently an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies with a cross-appointment to the Department of History at the University of Regina. If you like our work, please consider supporting it: https://bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.