Be of Good Mind

In this book, anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, linguists, and Aboriginal leaders describe the Coast Salish, Aboriginal peoples living in western British Columbia and Washington State. They focus on how Coast Salish lives and identities have been influences by the two colonizing nations and on by shifting Aboriginal circumstances. The volume builds on new scholarship to move beyond existing academic views of the Coast Salish, which largely derive from ecological anthropology, in creating a new view of the Coast Salish world.

Contributors point to the continual reshaping of Coast Salish identities and our understandings of them through litigation and language revitalization, as well as community efforts to reclaim their connections with the environment. Equally important is the development of much more detailed local and regional history and archaeology. They point to significant continuity of networks of kinfolk, spiritual practices, and understandings of landscape.

This is the first book-length effort to directly incorporate Aboriginal perspectives and a broad interdisciplinary approach to research about the Coast Salish.

“The collection... makes a strong contribution to the emerging literature on indigenous histories that seeks to uncover local understandings of culture, identity, and social change. In addition, Be of Good Mind examines the changes occurring in the field of Coast Salish studies, by taking stock of its historical roots, by grappling with the opportunities of the present, and by commenting on the challenges that lie ahead.”

The collection . . . makes a strong contribution to the emerging literature on indigenous histories that seeks to uncover local understandings of culture, identity, and social change. In addition, Be of Good Mind examines the changes occurring in the field of Coast Salish studies, by taking stock of its historical roots, by grappling with the opportunities of the present, and by commenting on the challenges that lie ahead.

Bruce Granville Miller is a professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

In this book, anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, linguists, and Aboriginal leaders describe the Coast Salish, Aboriginal peoples living in western British Columbia and Washington State. They focus on how Coast Salish lives and identities have been influences by the two colonizing nations and on by shifting Aboriginal circumstances. The volume builds on new scholarship to move beyond existing academic views of the Coast Salish, which largely derive from ecological anthropology, in creating a new view of the Coast Salish world. Contributors point to the continual reshaping of Coast Salish identities and our understandings of them through litigation and language revitalization, as well as community efforts to reclaim their connections with the environment. Equally important is the development of much more detailed local and regional history and archaeology. They point to significant continuity of networks of kinfolk, spiritual practices, and understandings of landscape. This is the first book-length effort to directly incorporate Aboriginal perspectives and a broad interdisciplinary approach to research about the Coast Salish.

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