From the great river to the ends of the earth

"The Dene have lived from time immemorial in the Athabasca and Mackenzie regions. From the arrival of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate as Catholic missionaries in 1847 to the signing of Treaty II in 1921, an intricate web of relationships developed among the Dene, the Oblates, the Church in Rome, the Hudson's Bay Company, the Anglican Church Missionary Society, and the government of Canada." "In the beginning, the Oblates saw the Mackenzie River as the heart of a vast kingdom of souls to be gained for God, whatever the claims of any other power to sovereignty. The Dene did not share this view. For them, Dehcho - the Mackenzie River - symbolized the continuity of the Dene: their capacity to survive many changes, yet remain essentially Dene." "Martha McCarthy balances Dene oral tradition with documentary sources to examine this important and difficult period in the developing relationships between Europeans and First Nations peoples in Canada."--Jacket.