Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire: French-Indigenous Relations and the Rise of the Métis in the Hudson Bay Watershed

The Hudson Bay watershed offers Scott Berthelette a unique vantage point to consider the complexity of French imperialism on the North American frontier. The unapologetic heroes of Berthelette’s Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire are “backcountry specialists.” This motley crew of men, variously identified as voyageurs, coureurs de bois (wood runners), truchements (translators or intermediaries), cultural mediators, and eventually métisé Canadiens, wagged the tail of an empire that sought to yoke them to its own vision of the frontier. Rather than imperial ties, these men relied on kin ties for their success. Ultimately, Berthelette argues, kinship on Native ground laid the foundation for the rise of the Métis.This book is a meticulously executed doctoral dissertation transformed into a monograph that spans just over a century, from the 1660s to the 1780s. It benefits from the recent explosion of research in two fields: histories of the French empire and ethnohistories of North American Indigenous sovereignty. While the influence of Gilles Havard and Kathleen DuVal is particularly salient in Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire, Berthelette’s mastery of secondary literature is impressive. Yet it is the extensive reading of French and British colonial archives that supports Berthelette’s two main interventions. First, French presence in the Hudson Bay watershed has been underappreciated. Second, this region, a frontier between competing Indigenous sovereignties rather than European powers, was only loosely bound to French interests.Opening with the contest over the Hudson Bay watershed, Berthelette examines how French colonial administrators projected visions of empire through policies, maps, treaties, and international diplomacy. However, frustrated by the realities of the frontier, colonial governors came to depend on the “lower rungs” of French colonial society. Penetration of this “Native Ground” was only possible by relying on such men. This strategy outraged the morals of the Jesuits and undermined the centralizing tendencies of imperial rulers. Yet governors who resisted this lesson were humiliated. Contrary to historical consensus, Berthelette shows that Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Verendrye ultimately failed in his imperial mission because he did not respond properly to the killing of his son.The unique power of the backcountry specialists was kinship. Through real and fictive kinship ties, these Canadiens conducted their own foreign policy. Berthelette shows the cultural integration, or métissage, of these Canadiens into Indigenous family networks was political.Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire combines some of the classic approaches of ethnohistory with a critical analysis of state power. However, the “state” in Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire seems to transcend history. James C. Scott’s Seeing like a State is not the most convincing framework for this examination of the state, and Berthelette might have engaged with Lauren Benton’s critique of performative legality tied to specific geographies. Overall, though, there is a theoretical lightness to Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire that is appealing. Berthelette’s resistance to rigid conceptual structures seems intentional (terms like ethnogenesis are eschewed) and is not a drawback, as it reflects the available evidence. However, in some cases, this approach creates ambiguity. For instance, it is not always clear where national identity ended and personal identity began. Scholars of Métis history will find the engagement with “métissage” provoking. Berthelette’s point that “not all offspring of mixed marriages became Métis” (18) and his challenge to the chronology and spatial limitations of traditional Métis historiography are important interventions in the literature on the rise of the Métis nation that has flowered since the work of Sylvia Van Kirk and Jennifer Brown. The potential impact of this book on future work will be far-reaching.The perspectives and choices of men dominate the narrative in Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire. While Berthelette stresses the importance of women’s intentions in forming kinship ties, it would have been interesting to see more evidence of this claim. For instance, reflecting on the story of Thanadelthur would have helped illustrate the significance of women, who often remain nameless. Examining the violence carried out against women on the Northwest Plains also might have helped Berthelette historicize gender relations and shed light on changes over time.In sum, Heirs of an Ambivalent Empire provides a welcome perspective on the history of the Hudson Bay watershed and the rise of the Métis nation. Written in a clear and engaging manner, it has the potential to reach beyond the classroom. At the same time, the sophistication and nuance that Berthelette brings to the topic make the book an excellent model for students and an asset for fostering discussion in the classroom.

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