Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books) [Paperback]

Coll Thrush (Author), William Cronon (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0295988126 | ISBN-13: 978-0295988122 | Publication Date: April 2008

This exploration of the experiences of Native people in Seattle from the city's founding and the present focuses on three kinds of Native American history: that of the local indigenous communities on whose land Seattle grew; accounts of Native migrants to the city and the development of a multi-tribal urban Indian community, and the role Indians - both real and imagined - have played in civic narratives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] vivid new book...Native Seattle chronicles the breathtaking and traumatic pace of change Seattle's Native people have endured, and the resiliency with which they have regrouped and reconstituted themselves...Its meticulous atlas describes the 'lost' places of the Indian landscape. But they're not really lost - they live today under the city's 21st-century skin." Seattle Times "Thrush shows just how important a role indigenous peoples served in the economic and cultural growth of the city and region and he traces their history through the twentieth century to the present day... Of particular value is the Atlas of Indigenous Seattle, which lists and locates the Salish names of dozens of geographic features ... Many land and water features have disappeared under concrete and asphalt, but Native Seattle keeps them alive." HistoryLink.org

From the Publisher

"Native Seattle is an interesting and lively history of Seattle with an unusual Native American focus, enhanced with many historic photos, copious notes, and a unique atlas of sites historically significant to tribes of the region. Strongly recommended for libraries in the Puget Sound region." - Multicultural Review

"[A] vivid new book . . . Native Seattle chronicles the breathtaking and traumatic pace of change Seattle's Native people have endured, and the resiliency with which they have regrouped and reconstituted themselves. . . . Its meticulous atlas describes the 'lost' places of the Indian landscape. But they're not really lost - they live today under the city's 21st-century skin." - Seattle Times

"Thrush shows just how important a role indigenous people s served in the economic and cultural growth of the city and region and he traces their history through the twentieth century to the present day . . . Of particular value . . . is the Atlas of Indigenous Seattle, which lists and locates the Salish names of dozens of geographic features. . . . Many land and water features have disappeared under concrete and asphalt, but Native Seattle keeps them alive. - HistoryLink.org

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (April 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295988126
• ISBN-13: 978-0295988122
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #698,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Native Americans in the beginnings and history of Seattle, May 2, 2007

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books) (Hardcover)

With regard to the beginnings of the city of Seattle, the local Native Americans were not part of what was called the "Vanishing Race" of Native Americans from the westward growth of America. Native Americans played a large, vital, and conspicuous role in the founding and early growth of Seattle. Thrush, an assistant professor of history at the University of British Columbia, makes the point that the role of Native Americans regarding other cities is worth looking into as well. In Seattle, Native American men and women provided the large majority of the manual labor in such work as sawmills and fishing; and many started small businesses. By intermarriage, some Native Americans, particularly women, assumed prominent and influential positions in the community. The other side of the Native Americans' experience with Seattle is their being supplanted as more and more whites came to Seattle in the latter years of the 19th century. Subject to discrimination, racism, oppression, and demonization, the Native Americans lost their position in the city's economy and social structure. They were, for instance, labeled as "hostile," and said to be unable to adjust to urban life; the women were considered prostitutes. In recent years, the fundamental role of local Native Americans in Seattle's origins and the impression this had on the character of the city are being given their due. Numbers of Native Americans, showing an entrepreneurial spirit and media savvy equal to any big-city dweller, are finding places in today's Seattle. Thrush writes the full story of the changing social relationship of Native Americans to Seattle. Central to his perspective--noted in the "Foreword"--is the false, unsubstantiated dichotomy between "civilized" and "uncivilized" peoples. Following the text is an "Atlas of Indigenous Seattle" containing maps and Native American terms evidencing the prevalence of the Native Americans through the Puget Sound area, how much they had developed this area already through use of its resources, and the place of the Native American culture in the origins and development of Seattle.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting topic viewed from too far away, April 25, 2009

By 

B. Robert Helm - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books) (Paperback)

This book covers the history of Indians in Seattle from just before historic times to the present -- sort of.
It's well-written and organized. I learned several interesting things, like what happened to the villages of Herring House and Basketry Hat. There's a very good "atlas" compilation of native places in Seattle at the end, although I wish the author had given the names with the Lushootseed spellings used by other works (like Dawn Bates' dictionary).
The main disappointment is that this is more a history of rhetoric about Indians in Seattle than it is an actual history of Indians in Seattle. An example to explain what I mean: The book notes that when the Duwamish Tribe was campaigning for federal recognition, the tribe had to compile a continuous history of the tribe's political organization from the time of the treaties to the time of the petition (early 1990s). But the book doesn't even give a hint as to what that history was! The actual events of the tribe's history are apparently not of interest, only the political use to which they were put. Oddly, Thrush ends the book with the question "What happened here?" -- I wish he had devoted more time to that question in the book.
I guess I have to get used to this kind of thing. Some academic historians now view actual events and trends as less interesting than the spin put on them by contemporaries. I'd personally rather read something that tries to cut through all the noise and speechifying and brings the reader as close to actual events as possible.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and a pleasure to read, October 23, 2008

By 

Kathy D (up the hill from Little Crossing Over Place) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books) (Paperback)

With great respect for indigenous peoples and sometimes contemptuous humor aimed squarely at Whites who took the land (in order to refashion it according to "God's plan"), Thrush weaves an intricate blend of stories into a history often invoked but seldom understood. The book does not follow a traditional Euro "beginning-to-end" narrative which may pose problems for more linear-minded folks. Instead, the stories follow a basic timeline of the region's ecological and industrial development, complementing each other. Thrush does a good job of revealing how the perspectives of those in power shape the history we learn in school -- and that's almost never the whole story. I would love to see a book like this covering the colonial disruption of each displaced group of indigenous people on the planet.