Robin Fisher

Originally published in 1977, and reprinted several times since, Contact and Conflict remains an invaluable account of the profound impact that white settlement had on Native-European relations in British Columbia after the fur trade ended. Robin Fisher argues that the fur trade had a limited effect on the cultures of Native people. Both Natives and Europeans were involved in a mutually beneficial economic system, and there was no incentive for non-Native fur traders to alter radically the Native social system. With the passing of the fur trade in 1858, however, and the beginning of white settlement, what has been a reciprocal system between the two civilizations became a pattern of white dominance.

The second edition includes a preface in which the author re-examines his original arguments, surveys the literature since 1977, and comments on directions for new research. The original edition of the book was published at a time when there was relatively little written by historians on the subject. Today, Contact and Conflict is still widely used by scholars and students, and its arguments have endured, yielding new insights into the role of Native people in the history of British Columbia.