Margaret Whitehead’s The Cariboo Mission: A History of the Oblates provides an institutional and social study of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the central interior of British Columbia. Whitehead chronicles the establishment and operation of St. Joseph’s Mission near Sugarcane (Williams Lake First Nation), analyzing how missionary stations and agricultural parcels were introduced across Secwépemc and Tsilhqot'in ancestral territories. The text examines the dual religious and educational functions of the mission, documenting the administration of the residential school system, the conversion of traditional seasonal lands into mission farms, and the interactions between Catholic clergy and Indigenous communities throughout Alkali Lake, Dog Creek, and Soda Creek. Whitehead provides an essential archival record illuminating the religious policies and structural pressures experienced by First Nations under colonial administration.

Alkali Lake (B.C.), British Columbia Williams Lake, Catholic Church Missions British Columbia Cariboo Region History, Church history, City of Williams Lake, Dog Creek (B.C.), History, Indigenous peoples British Columbia Missions History, Oblates of Mary Immaculate British Columbia History, Soda Creek (B.C.), St. Joseph Mission (B.C.) History, Sugar

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.