2011.45.10
Please note that the commentaries on this cigarette card series discuss prevailing attitudes in Britain toward the peoples of the British Empire in 1927 and, thus, can reflect the often-racist opinions of the time. In reading them, you are invited to consider how attitudes and communication on questions of race and nationality in Britain have changed in the years since and continue to change.
While the cowboys crossed the Canadian landscape, the cards also depicted the government of the colonies, portraying the Empire as a progression of humanity from "primitive" to "civilised." These attitudes were used to justify the wholesale seizure of indigenous lands and the repression of indigenous culture. These acts were carried out by paramilitary organisations, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, here, presented as heroic figures pacifying the Canadian Plains in a violent but non-fatal manner.
