Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book had the potential to be great. It contained vast amounts of information, mostly in anecdotal form, but was poorly organized and edited. I'm a bit of a grammar snob, so maybe I'm being too picky, but I was continuously distracted by Van Kirk's usage of the word "which" when "that" would have been correct. It seemed she was self-consciously choosing to use "which" because it sounds more formal, but it was simply wrong in most uses. A sample sentence: "The women which lived in this fort..." No, not correct.
As far as organization, she backtracks frequently and rarely mentions approximate years, which makes it very difficult for a reader to keep track of when the events mentioned took place. In one chapter, events covered will stretch from, say, 1800-1830. Suddenly, the next chapter is referencing events from 1790-1800. There's also no background information provided on the fur trade industry itself or the meaning of the ranks within. She expects the reader to know where bourgeois, voyageur, governor, Chief Factor, and other casually-mentioned positions within the companies. Without these frames of reference, I had a difficult time reconciling all the anecdotal history within the book.
With the help of a ruthless editor, this book could be great. As it stands, its points are often muddled in poor grammar, syntax, and lack of background information.
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Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur-Trade Society, 1670-1870Beginning with the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, the fur trade dominated the development of the Canadian west.Although detailed accounts of the fur-trade era have appeared, until recently the rich social history has been ignored.In this book, the fur trade is examined not simply as an economic activity but as a social and cultural complex that was to survive for nearly two centuries.
The author traces the development of a mutual dependency between Indian and European traders at the economic level that evolved into a significant cultural exchange as well.Marriages of fur traders to Indian women created bonds that helped advance trade relations.As a result of these "many tender ties," there emerged a unique society derived from both Indian and European culture.
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