Heather Devine
Heather Devine is a Métis historian with roots in the Qu’Appelle Valley and Saulteaux Village (Baie St. Paul) in Manitoba, from the Desjarlais and Klyne families, as well as other Indigenous ancestors. Heather teaches in the Faculty of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary and is a researcher in various fields, including Canadian Native history, Western Canadian ethnic history, museum and archival studies, and public history.
Books (1)
Synopsis:
The search for a Métis identity and what constitutes that identity is a key issue facing many Aboriginals of mixed ancestry today.
The People Who Own Themselves: Aboriginal Ethnogenesis in a Canadian Family, 1660-1900 reconstructs 250 years of Desjarlais family history across a substantial area of North America, from colonial Louisiana, the St. Louis, Missouri, region, and the American Southwest to Red River and Central Alberta. In the course of tracing the Desjarlais family, social, economic, and political factors influencing the development of various Aboriginal ethnic identities are discussed. With intriguing details about Desjarlais family members, this book offers new, original insights into the 1885 Northwest Rebellion, focusing on kinship as a motivating factor in the outcome of events. With a unique how-to appendix for Métis genealogical reconstruction, this book will be of interest to Métis wanting to research their own genealogy and to scholars engaged in the reconstruction of Métis ethnic identity.
Additional Information
358 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback
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