People of the Saltwater: An Ethnography of Git Lax m'Oon

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, 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. Charles R. Menzies (Gitxaala) 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 coeditor of the journal Collaborative Anthropologies.

Author: Charles R. Menzies
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 09/01/2016
Pages: 198
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780803288089


Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2017

About the Author
Charles R. Menzies (Gitxaala) 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 coeditor of the journal Collaborative Anthropologies.