Indians at Work examines the vital role of Indigenous laborers who fueled early industrial expansion across the rugged, heavily forested expanses of British Columbia. Knight details how the province's formidable physical barriers—steep coastal mountains, impenetrable timberlands, and remote marine inlets—dictated a sprawling resource economy centered around commercial salmon canning, deepwater stevedoring, and remote logging operations. By mapping these labor networks from the treacherous rapids of the Fraser River canyons to isolated canneries along the northern coastal seaboard, the narrative demonstrates how Native workers applied their deep spatial knowledge to navigate and master this dangerous terrain. Ultimately, the book serves as a localized economic history, illustrating how the intense physical demands of extracting wealth from this unforgiving Pacific Northwest wilderness fundamentally relied upon the environmental expertise of its original inhabitants.

British Columbia, History, Indians of North America, Indians of North America British Columbia, Indians of North America British Columbia Industries, Indians of North America Employment, Indians of North America Employment British Columbia, Indiens Amérique du Nord Colombie-Britannique Travail Histoire 19e siècle, Indiens Amérique du Nord Colomb

1. A part of the picture
2. Resource industries and Indian labour: general aspects
3. The ethnographic trade and tours
4. Cottage industries, reserve enterprises and Indian entrepreneurs
5. Subsistence and mixed farming
6. Commercial fishing and cannery work
7. Seamen, sternwheel crewmen and sealers
8. Logging, sawmilling and longshoring
9. Prospecting, mining and railway work
10. Packing, casual labour and other work
11. Beyond the eastern mountains
12. Summary
13. Epilogue Appendix: Historical background to Indian labour