Overview

Through immersive ethnographic research, We are Coast Salish: Indigeneity, Settler Colonialism, and Border Securitization explores the lives of the Coast Salish First Nations of the Pacific Northwest and the various ways they respond to the challenges of navigating the Canada/US border following the events of 9/11. Decades of securitization policies have led to cultural and political changes which entail the creation of a transnational political identity that is used to resist the negative effects of the Canada/US border on their lives. Through cultural revitalization projects, environmental activism, and transnational political maneuvering, this book argues the Coast Salish resist the artificial separation of their people by the international border. James M. Hundley utilizes ethnographic methods in sociocultural anthropology to argue that the resistance to security policies that threaten to divide the Coast Salish simultaneously reinforces the hegemony of the state and the ongoing forms of settler colonialism that continue to shape Indigenous lifeways across the continent. Ultimately, their ongoing efforts are a form of decolonization from those disenfranchised by the state and located outside the halls of power.

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9781666915822

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Reviews

We Are the Coast Salish is an exhilarating ethnography of Indigenous people whose lives at and across the Canada-USA border have been transformed by the security measures put in place by both countries after 9/11. The Coast Salish canoe journey at the heart of this innovative analysis serves too as a journey of discovery for both the author and his readers. This is a wonderful contribution to the anthropology of environmental, political and cultural borderlands. --Thomas M. Wilson, Binghamton University, State University of New York James M. Hundley's We are Coast Salish is both timely and timeless. It masterfully draws together the historical, political, and spiritual experiences of an Indigenous people whose traditional lands were bisected by the international border. From the days of raiding to migrant labor, to the summer war canoe races and winter dance ceremonies; the transborder experience of the Coast Salish underwent upheaval in the post-9/11 world. Hundley shows how the Coast Salish coped with this new reality by creating new renditions of tradition, such as the annual Canoe Journey, the emergence of a Coast Salish identity, and the transborder reaction to Desautel. This book will stand as an important contribution to Coast Salish studies. --Daniel L. Boxberger, Western Washington University

Author Information

James M. Hundley is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Rowan University.

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