Summary Of The Book 'Clearing The Plains'

The population of a community is vital to ensure that the needs of that community are met. A greater population allows for a larger vote in a democracy meaning a higher probability of attaining what that population wants. Indigenous communities were left hopeless when European settlers took over and slashed the numbers of their community making it impossible for them to ever overpower the Canadian government. The book “Clearing the Plains” by James Daschuk explains this critical period of time in which the population of Indigenous people dwindled based on the political, economic and ecological circumstances that were evident creating a society where Indigenous people lost their say, however Daschuk fails to mention the effects this population deflation has on society today and the racism that our society has perpetrated on Indigenous people.
“Clearing the Plains” begins set in the time period of 1100 C.E before Europeans ever settle into Canada. It depicts the laid back lifestyle that Indgienous people became accustomed to where everyone had a role and the community worked together to survive. However, as time goes on the Indigenous populations becomes thrust into a disease stricken society where there is no hope for survival due to minimal resources. The author, James Daschuk goes on to argue the reasons for this

population decrease.
Daschuk makes several points to argue that the political nature of new settlers were crucial in the downfall of the population. “The pass system, perhaps the most onerous regulation placed on the Indians after the rebellion, was implemented to limit the mobility of Treaty Indians, keeping them on the reserves and away from European Communities” (Daschuk, Page 161). With Blunt force, the police officers kept the treaty Indians from leaving the reserves. This quote is important because with tuberculosis rampant, the reserves did not have the resources to help the Indigenous people to live meaning if they wanted to get better and survive, they had to leave the reserve and therefore lose their status which meant a decrease in population. (Daschuk, Page 162). Daschuk explains this idea in an uncanny amount of descriptiveness, explaining every detail in an honest, real manner. He goes on to say “the police protested this was a breach of trust but they carried out their orders” (Daschuk 162) which explains how the government had such power that even though police knew what they were doing was wrong, they did it anyways and therefore the population declined because of orders the government insisted upon. Daschuk explains this idea in a way that is easy to understand and proves his point that politics had an involvement in the decline of the Indigenous population during this time period.
Daschuk goes on to argue how the ecology played a role in the decrease of Indigenous population. The extreme weather conditions played a part, sometimes this was a day or two walk to get to bearable conditions, however Daschuk makes a point to argue the bison population was of great importance to the Indigenous community. “the single greatest environmental catastrophe to strike the human population on the plains: disappearance of the bison” (Daschuk Page 99). Daschuk argues that because the bison was the main source of food, this caused malnutrition and already disease stricken communities began fearing for their lives even more: “Alberta-Saskatchewan border was reduced to eating horses, dogs, buffalo robes and in some cases their snow shoes and moccasins and then died” (Dashuck Page 101). The bison were unable to keep up with the extreme ecological conditions. During the period of time when the population of bison was decreasing, the winters became extremely warm, it became too warm for the bison to survive under such conditions (Daschuk 101). There is no question after reading these sections that Daschuk is correct in saying that the bison population was crucial to the food chain and the human population relied on the bison. This meant an obvious population decrease because Indigenous people could not survive without the nutrients they received from animal meat.
The third argument Daschuk makes in regards to the huge population decrease has to do with the economy. When the Europeans arrived, society shifts towards a capitalist economy which meant Indigenous people needed money to survive. The main source of income came from trade. Not only did Daschuk see bison as a main food source but also as a main contributor for trade.With the downfall of the bison, Daschuk argues the Europeans took over the competition for trade and he argues that Europeans found the economic jackpot of that time period because they found something that seemed to be of great value: alcohol. (Daschuk, Page 33). Alcohol, argues Daschuk garnered more than an income within society. “The growing flow of liquor was accompanied by an increase in sexually transmitted diseases” (Page 33). Veneeral diseases caused a number of other issues because once they were brought back to the reserve, there was no way in getting rid of them. They diseases spread throughout the reserves causing another population decrease: “abandonment of sick individuals was probably the most logical response for group survival.” (Page 39) So, because of the need for trade, yet another disease spread rampant and Daschuk makes his point clear once again by explaining how even economy played a role in the decrease of a population.
Although Daschuk makes his arguments clear, one key weakness in Daschuk’s writing is his failure to speak about the present day. Had Daschuk referenced the present time, it could have made the book more interesting because I still sit here with a lingering curiosity of how all the rampant diseases and the population decrease impacts society today. He makes multiple suggestions as to how these variables effected the past, but does not speak of how it effects the future and the racism of the present time. “it has outlined the origin of the health inequity between indigenous and mainstream Canadians in Western Canada that persists into the twenty-first century” (Daschuk, Page 181). This point does not make sense because he does not expand on how it persists into the twenty-first century other than by saying the population is still small. It would have been interesting if he added in how these factors created racism against the Indigenous culture, not only in the past, but in the present. This could have made the book more satisfying overall because it is essentially a historical recount which at times can be considered dry and dull. The amount of statistics packed into the book, while incredible, is almost too much. There was myriad of information which is beneficial to be educated about, but that does not mean it was 180 pages of exciting information.
In conclusion, I feel as though “Clearing the Plains” should be a mandatory read in Canadian education systems.

It is an honest recount of events that lead to a downfall in the indigenous community where they lost an unreal amount of power. It is without questions that Daschuk makes his points heard, while being clear and concise and his arguments are valid. I learned an incredible amount about the Indigenous society from reading this book and although Daschuk does not touch on it, I feel if young people read this it would help with the racism in today’s society because they would be further educated on what it is indigenous people had to go

through.