PORT ANGELES — Joshua Reid — an associate professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington — will read from his book, “The Sea is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs,” as part of Studium Generale on Thursday.
Reid will give the reading from 12:35 p.m. to 1:25 p.m. at Peninsula College’s Little Theater, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
“The Sea is My Country” explores the history and identity of the Makahs from the arrival of maritime fur-traders in the 18th century through the intervening centuries and to the present day.
The book posits that the Makah were far more involved in shaping the maritime economy of the Pacific Northwest than has previously been understood, according to the Department of History at the University of Washington.
Reid examines Makah attitudes toward borders and boundaries, their efforts to exercise control over their waters and resources as Europeans and then Americans arrived, and their embrace of modern opportunities and technology to maintain autonomy and resist assimilation.
The author also addresses current environmental debates relating to the tribe’s customary whaling and fishing rights and illuminates the efforts of the Makahs to regain control over marine space, preserve their marine-oriented identity and articulate a traditional future.
The foreward to Reid’s book was written by the Makah Tribal Council, and Reid received support from the tribe for this publication.
His study began as a doctoral dissertation, according to a news release.
The book in 2016 has received numerous literary awards, including the Caughey Western History Prize and John C. Ewers Award, and the Sally and Ken Owens Award.
Reid’s research interests include Native Americans, identity formation, cultural meanings of space and place, the American and Canadian Wests, the environment and the indigenous Pacific. He teaches courses on American Indian history, the American West, U.S. history and environmental history.
“The Sea Is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs,” is part of the Henry Roe Cloud Series for American Indians and Modernity.
The book, published in 2015, is available for purchase at various online retailers or at Port Book and News at 104 E. First St. in Port Angeles.
Reid currently is researching a project about indigenous explorers in the Pacific Ocean, specifically focusing on those individuals who voluntarily traveled throughout the Pacific from the late eighteenth through late nineteenth centuries.
For more, call 360-417-6291.
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Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at cmcdaniel@ peninsuladailynews.com.
