The Importance Of Being Monogamous : Marriage And Nation Building In Western Canada To 1918

A study of the role of marriage in the social and political development of western Canada from the late nineteenth century to 1918. The work examines the promotion and enforcement of Christian monogamous marriage by colonial authorities as part of broader efforts to regulate Indigenous and settler societies.

Drawing on government records, legal cases, missionary accounts, and other primary sources, Carter explores the interaction between Indigenous marital practices, fur trade customs, and imposed legal frameworks. The volume considers the administration of marriage and divorce, the prohibition of polygamy, and the wider implications of these policies for gender relations, community structures, and state formation in the region.

Notes adapted from the publisher's description.