The Sea Is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs [B1282]

2018 PB in excellent condition. For the Makahs, a tribal nation at the most northwestern point of the contiguous United States, a deep relationship with the sea is the locus of personal and group identity. Unlike most other indigenous tribes whose lives are tied to lands, the Makah people have long placed marine space at the center of their culture, finding in their own waters the physical and spiritual resources to support themselves. This book is the first to explore the history and identity of the Makahs from the arrival of maritime fur traders in the eighteenth century through the intervening centuries and to the present day.

From Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "A fascinating account of the Makahs and their place in Washington State history."; "This is a scholarly, well-researched, well-sourced, highly documented history of the indigenous inhabitants of the northwestern part of the Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound covering the time period from the late 1700s-1970s, focusing primarily on those inhabitants now known as the Makah Nation. An adaptation of Reid's PhD thesis, it draws on written documents of white travelers to the area and indigenous oral histories, and is dense with facts, examples, transcriptions of names and terms into the local languages, and detailed geographies that explain how the indigenous people of the Salish Sea navigated these waters. Reading example after example of how the white people screwed over the Makah should be mandatory for everyone wanting to run for political office."; "Bought after the Seattle Times featured it. Eager to learn more about the native people and the ocean. :) I live in Seattle and am aware that I take up space on unceded land and just want to know more."; "Thoroughly enjoyed this book for a real look on how our native friends lived before and during the early years of the white man's expansion and theft of their lands. Smart people to have their rights to the Pacific Ocean included in treaties!!!!"