The letters of Margaret Butcher

by Margaret Butcher

"From 1916 to 1919, Margaret Butcher served as a missionary nurse and teacher at the Elizabeth Long Memorial Home, a residential school in Kitamaat, British Columbia. This collection of letters, written to family and friends, offers a glimpse of her experiences among the Haisla people. Butcher's correspondence reflects the conventional wisdom of the day about racial hierarchy, native culture, and the need for assimilation. Nevertheless, the letters are an invaluable source of first-hand information on missionary work, residential schools, and the Haisla way of life in the early twentieth century. The introduction and conclusion provides historical and historiographical context, exploring the concepts of race, gender, and cultural conflict as they played out in the north Pacific coast."--BOOK JACKET.