Metis Matriarchs: Agents of TransitionEdited by Cheryl Troupe and Doris Jeanne MacKinnonPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Michelle Shaw$34.95 ISBN 9781779400116 As I read Métis Matriarchs, I couldn’t help thinking of the old adage that history is written by the victors. Or, as the editors Troupe and MacKinnon put it: ”Until recently, historical scholarship of the Canadian Prairies has privileged the masculine…” This book offers another, long overdue, perspective. Métis Matriarchs is a meticulously researched, family-centred biographical collection of essays exploring the lives of several prominent Métis women during a period of immense change, from the late nineteenth to the mid- twentieth century in what is now Western Canada. It shows how they held families and communities together, providing cultural continuity and stability while in many cases also providing economically for their families. Respected for their wisdom and experience, they acted as healers and midwives, raised families and passed on cultural values, stories, practises and traditions. This is such an important book and hopefully part of a growing body of work chronicling the lives and importance of Métis women in Canadian history. As the editors note: “Scholarship on this period has not until recently begun to examine the significance…