The late 1800s was a critical era in the social history of the Canadian Prairies: racial tensions increased between white settlers and the Native population and colonial authority was perceived to be increasingly threatened. As a result, white settlers began to erect social and spatial barriers to segregate themselves from the indigenous population. In Capturing Women Sarah Carter examines popular representations of women that emerged at the time, arguing that stereotyping images of Native and European women were created and manipulated to establish boundaries between Native peoples and white settlers and to justify repressive measures against the Native population.