Positioning the Missionary1998

In Positioning the Missionary, Brett Christophers explores the place of missionaries in histories of colonialism, focusing on John Booth Good, Anglican missionary to the Nlha7kapmx from 1867 to 1883. Christophers examines the genesis of Good's mission and the question of why the Nlha7kapmx were interested in Christianity. He goes on to discuss Good's methods and impact on the Nlha7kapmx as well their influence on his own beliefs and prejudices, and to position missionaries in terms of representations of Natives, views on Native-European contact, and the politics of the Native land question. The concluding chapter examines Good's role in Nlha7kapmx dealings, first with the colonial authorities and later with provincial and federal governments. Positioning the Missionary is an important contribution to the scholarly reassessment of colonialism, valuable not only to historians and students of British Columbia but also to anyone interested in the dispossession and marginalization of Native societies.