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John Sutton Lutz, Makuk: a New History of Aboriginal-White Relations.

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John Sutton Lutz, Makuk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations (Vancouver: UBC Press 2008)

JOHN SUTTON LUTZ'S Makuk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations offers a much needed analysis of the intimate relationship between colonialism and capitalism in Canada. More specifically, Makuk provides a fresh perspective on the history of indigenous labour and its role in the making of the modern province of British Columbia. Lutz is both powerful and poetic in his reframing of this important history, and his book is a strong contribution that significantly moves the British Columbia historiography forward in new and exciting ways.

The concept of "makuk," an indigenous expression with several meanings, including "to exchange" and "let's trade," is employed skillfully as the text's guiding structure. Lutz explains that as the history of "makuk" in British Columbia is steeped in cultural misunderstanding, Makuk is "another attempt at crosscultural communication." (13) In short, Lutz's goal is to broaden the conversation about colonialism, cultural exchange, and work so as to end the traditional marginalization of indigenous peoples' working experiences in history. In doing so, Lutz not only shows how indigenous peoples were important to the spread of capitalism in British Columbia, but also how they were able to work with and against non-indigenous...

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