The paradox of boundaries in Coast Salish territories
Date
2009-04
Authors
Thom, Brian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sage Publications Limited
Abstract
This paper grapples with the seeming paradox in the notion of representing cartographic
boundaries for an indigenous community whose core social relationships are embedded in a moral ethos of borderless kin networks. While ethnographic maps of the Coast Salish people (southwest British Columbia and northwest Washington) have traditionally represented territories as discretely bounded, continuous regions, contemporary land claims maps submitted by Coast Salish political leaders reveal a nest of overlapping and interlocking lines. The paper argues that delineating territories based strictly on land use and occupancy does not take into account broader relationships between people and place. Property, language, residence and identity are categories also appropriate to Coast Salish territorial boundaries, while ideas and practices of kin, travel, descent and sharing make boundaries permeable. The paper considers the boundary lines created by Coast Salish leaders within the context of land claims, which potentially, have the power to transform Coast Salish social and political relations.
Description
Post
‐
review
draft
provided
for
institutional
repository.
For
final
version
of
record
see:
Thom,
Brian
(2009)
The
Paradox
of
Boundaries
in
Coast
Salish
Territories.
Cultural
Geographies
.
16(2):179
‐
205.
Keywords
boundaries, territory, counter-mapping, Coast Salish, land claims
Citation
Thom, B. (2009). The paradox of boundaries in Coast Salish territories. Cultural Geographies, 16(2), pp.179-205.