Indians in the Making: Ethnic Relations and Indian Identities around Puget Sound (American Crossroads)
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
In the Puget Sound region of Washington state, indigenous peoples and their descendants have a long history of interaction with settlers and their descendants. Indians in the Making offers the first comprehensive account of these interactions, from contact with traders of the 1820s to the Indian fishing rights activism of the 1970s. In this thoroughly researched history, Alexandra Harmon also provides a theoretically sophisticated analysis that charts shifting notions of Indian identity, both in native and in nonnative communities.
During the period under consideration, each major shift in demographic, economic, and political conditions precipitated new deliberations about how to distinguish Indians from non-Indians and from each other. By chronicling such dialogues over 150 years, this groundbreaking study reveals that Indian identity has a complex history. Examining relations in various spheres of life--labor, public ceremony, marriage and kinship, politics and law--Harmon shows how Indians have continually redefined themselves. Her focus on the negotiations that have given rise to modern Indian identity makes a significant contribution to the discourse of contemporary multiculturalism and ethnic studies.
Card catalog description
In the Puget Sound region of Washington state, indigenous peoples and their descendants have a long history of interaction with settlers and their descendants. Indians in the Making offers the first comprehensive account of these meetings, from the land-based fur trade of the 1820s to the Indian fishing rights activism of the 1970s. Thoroughly researched and theoretically sophisticated, this history shows how notions of Indian identity - both Indian and non-Indian - changed as relations changed. By chronicling such dialogues over 150 years, this study reveals that Indianness itself has a complex history. It is not a timeless essence preserved by some people and lost by others. Examining relations in various spheres of life - labor, public ceremony, marriage and kinship, politics and law - Harmon shows that Indians have continually redefined themselves. Her focus on the negotiations that gave rise to modern Indian identity makes a powerful historical contribution to contemporary discussions of race and ethnicity in America.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Indians in the Making: Ethnic Relations and Indian Identities around Puget Sound (American Crossroads)
Indians in the Making: Ethnic Relations and Indian Identities around Puget Sound (American Crossroads),Alexandra Harmon,University of California Press,0520226852,Ethnic Studies - General,General,History - General History,Social Science,Sociology,20th century,American history: c 1800 to c 1900,American history: from c 1900 -,Anthropology,History of specific racial & ethnic groups,Indigenous peoples,Social Science / Native American Studies,USA,c 1800 to c 1900
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