The University of Alberta Press
Ring House 2
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E1
and
AU Press
Athabasca University
1 University Drive
Athabasca, Alberta, Canada T9S 3A3
Copyright © Sarah Carter 2008
Printed and bound in Canada by Houghton Boston
Printers, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
First edition, first printing, 2008
All rights reserved
A volume in The West Unbound: Social and Cultural
Studies series, edited by Alvin Finkel and Sarah Carter.
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA
CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Carter, Sarah, 1954–
The importance of being monogamous: marriage and nation building in Western Canada to 1915 / Sarah Carter.
(West unbound: social and cultural studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–88864–490–9
1. Marriage—Canada, Western—History—19th century. 2. Monogamous relationships—Canada, Western—History—19th century. 3. Indian women— Canada, Western—History—19th century. 4. Mormons—Canada, Western—History—19th century. 5. Canada, Western—Social conditions—19th century. I. Title.
HQ560.15.W4C37 2008 306.84’2209712 C2007–907579–7
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The University of Alberta Press is committed to protecting our natural environment. As part of our efforts, this book is printed on Enviro Paper: it contains 100% post-consumer recycled fibres and is acid- and chlorine-free.
The University of Alberta Press and AU Press gratefully acknowledge the support received for their publishing programs from The Canada Council for the Arts. They also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) and from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for their publishing activities.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Program, using the funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Titlepage photo: Métis married couple Sarah (née Petit Couteau) and Joseph Descheneau, Camrose, Alberta, c. 1905. (GAA NA–3474–8)