People of the Saltwater (Paperback)

Charles R. Menzies

ISBN 10: 1496232623 / ISBN 13: 9781496232625

Published by University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2022

About this Item

Paperback. 2017 Choice Outstanding Academic Title In People of the Saltwater, Charles R. Menzies explores the history of an ancient Tsimshian community, focusing on the people and their enduring place in the modern world. The Gitxaala Nation has called the rugged north coast of British Columbia home for millennia, proudly maintaining its territory and traditional way of life.People of the Saltwater first outlines the social and political relations that constitute Gitxaala society. Although these traditionalist relations have undergone change, they have endured through colonialism and the emergence of the industrial capitalist economy. It is of fundamental importance to this society to link its past to its present in all spheres of life, from its understanding of its hereditary leaders to the continuance of its ancient ceremonies. Menzies then turns to a discussion of an economy based on natural-resource extraction by examining fisheries and their central importance to the Gitxaalas' cultural roots. Not only do these fisheries support the Gitxaala Nation economically, but they also serve as a source of distinct cultural identity. Menzies's firsthand account describes the group's place within cultural anthropology and the importance of its lifeways, traditions, and histories in nontraditional society today. People of the Saltwater is an exploration of an ancient community of the Gitxaala Nation and how its members relate socially, politically, and economically to the rest of the world. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781496232625

Bibliographic Details

• Title: People of the Saltwater (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1496232623
• ISBN 13: 9781496232625
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

2017 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

In People of the Saltwater, Charles R. Menzies explores the history of an ancient Tsimshian community, focusing on the people and their enduring place in the modern world. The Gitxaała Nation has called the rugged north coast of British Columbia home for millennia, proudly maintaining its territory and traditional way of life.

People of the Saltwater first outlines the social and political relations that constitute Gitxaała society. Although these traditionalist relations have undergone change, they have endured through colonialism and the emergence of the industrial capitalist economy. It is of fundamental importance to this society to link its past to its present in all spheres of life, from its understanding of its hereditary leaders to the continuance of its ancient ceremonies.

Menzies then turns to a discussion of an economy based on natural-resource extraction by examining fisheries and their central importance to the Gitxaałas’ cultural roots. Not only do these fisheries support the Gitxaała Nation economically, but they also serve as a source of distinct cultural identity. Menzies’s firsthand account describes the group’s place within cultural anthropology and the importance of its lifeways, traditions, and histories in nontraditional society today.
 

About the Author

Charles R. Menzies (Gitxaała) is a professor of anthropology and director of the Ethnographic Film Unit at the University of British Columbia. He is the editor of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Natural Resource Management (Nebraska, 2006), the author of Red Flags and Lace Coiffes: Identity and Survival in a Breton Village, and editor of the journal Collaborative Anthropologies.