Skip to main content

Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Laws and Societies in the Canadian Prairie West, 1670-1940

Challenging myths about a peaceful west and prairie exceptionalism, the book explores the substance of prairie legal history and the degree to which the region's mentality is rooted in the historical experience of distinctive prairie peoples. The ways in which prairie peoples perceived themselves and their relationships to a wider world were directly framed by notions of law and legal remedy shaped by the course and themes of prairie history. Legal history is not just about black letter law. It is also deeply concerned with the ways in which people affect and are affected by the law in their daily lives. By examining how central and important the law has been to individuals, communities, and societies in the Canadian Prairies, this book makes an original contribution.

360 pages | © 2005

Law and Society

Law and Legal Studies: General Legal Studies


Table of Contents

Illustrations

Preface

1. Introduction: Laws and Societies in the Anglo-Canadian North-West Frontiers and Prairie Provinces, 1670-1940 / Louis A. Knafla

Part One: First Nations and First Peoples

2. Law and Necessity in Western Rupert's Land and Beyond, 1670-1870 / Hamar Foster

3. "There Seemed to be No Recognized Law": Canadian Law and the Prairie First Nations / Sidney L. Harring

4. The Exclusionary Effect of Colonial Law: Indigenous Peoples and English Law in Western Canada, 1670-1870 / Russell C. Smandych

5. Discipline and Discretion in the Mid-Eighteenth-Century Hudson's Bay Company Private Justice System / Paul C. Nigol

Part Two: Adaptations to Modernity

6. Policing Two Imperial Frontiers: The Royal Irish Constabulary and the North-West Mounted Police / Greg Marquis

7. The Common Law and Justices of the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories: The First Generation, 1887-1907 / Roderick G. Martin

8. The Implications of a Provincial Police Force in Alberta and Saskatchewan / Zhiqiu Lin and Augustine Brannigan

9. The Development of Prairie Canada's Water Law, 1870-1940 / Tristan M. Goodman

10. Monopolies and State Regulation: The Calgary Power Company, Utilities, and the Alberta Public Utilities Board, 1910-30 / Janice Erion

11. The Law and Public Nudity: Prairie and West Coast Reactions to the Sons of Freedom, 1929-1932 / John McLaren

Acknowledgments Contributors General Index Index of Cases Index of Ordinances, Proclamations, and Statutes

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press