The Indigenous communities of the Lower Fraser River, British Columbia (a group commonly called the Sto:lo), have historical memories and senses of identity deriving from events, cultural practices, and kinship bonds that had been continuously adapting long before a non-Native visited the area directly. In The Power of Place, the Problem of Time, Keith Thor Carlson re-thinks the history of Native-newcomer relations from the unique perspective of a classically trained historian who has spent nearly two decades living, working, and talking with the Sto:lo peoples. Sto:lo actions and reactions during colonialism were rooted in their pre-colonial experiences and customs, which coloured their responses to events such as smallpox outbreaks or the gold rush. Profiling tensions of gender and class within the community, Carlson emphasizes the elasticity of collective identity. A rich and complex history, The Power of Place, the Problem of Time looks to both the internal and the external factors which shaped a society during a time of great change and its implications extend far beyond the study region.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Acknowledgements Forward by Sonny McHalsie SECTION ONE - INTRODUCTION 2Chapter One -- Encountering Lower Fraser River Indigenous Identity and Historical Consciousness39SECTION TWO - THE UNDERPINNINGS OF STO:LO COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES40Chapter Two -- Economy, Geography, Environment and Historical Identity63Chapter Three - Spiritual Forces of Historical Affiliation90SECTION THREE - MOVEMENTS ACROSS TIME AND SPACE91Chapter Four - From the Great Flood to Smallpox134Chapter Five -- Events, Migrations, and Affiliations in the "Post-contact World" 185SECTION FOUR - RESTRICTED MOVEMENT AND FRACTURES IDENTITY186Chapter Six - Identity in the Emerging Colonial Order217Chapter Seven - Identity in the Face of Missionaries and the Anti-Potlatching Law252SECTION FIVE - EXPANDED MOVEMENT AND THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN 'STO:LO" COLLECTIVE IDENTITY253Chapter Eight - Reservations for the Queen's Birthday Celebrations, 1864-1876280Chapter Nine - Collective Governance and the Lynching of Louie Sam317SECTION - CONCLUSION318Chapter Ten - Entering the Twentieth Century333MAPS AND FIGURES333NOTES

Author Biography

Keith Thor Carlson is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan.