Indians in the Making

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.

subjects: Politics and government,  Ethnic identity,  Frontier and pioneer life,  Government relations,  Ethnic relations,  Indians of North America,  History,  Puget sound (wash.),  Indians of north america, west (u.s.),  Indians of north america, northwest, pacific,  Indians of north america, history,  Indians of north america, ethnic identity,  Indians of north america, government relations,  Frontier and pioneer life, washington (state)

Places: Washington (State),  Puget Sound,  Puget Sound (Wash.)