Using postmodern and postcolonial conceptions of the body and the powerrelations of colonization, Kelm shows how a pluralistic medical systemevolved among Canada's most populous Aboriginal population. She explores the effect which Canada's Indian policy has had onAboriginal bodies and considers how humanitarianism and colonialmedicine were used to pathologize Aboriginal bodies and institute aregime of doctors, hospitals, and field matrons, all working toencourage assimilation. In this detailed but highly readableethnohistory, Kelm reveals how Aboriginal people were able to resistand alter these forces in order to preserve their own culturalunderstanding of their bodies, disease, and medicine.