In the Puget Sound region of Washington state, indigenous peoples and their descendants have a long history of interaction with settlers and their descendants. Indians in the Making offers the first comprehensive account of these interactions, from contact with traders of the 1820s to the Indian fishing rights activism of the 1970s. In this thoroughly researched history, Alexandra Harmon also provides a theoretically sophisticated analysis that charts shifting notions of Indian identity, both in native and in nonnative communities.

During the period under consideration, each major shift in demographic, economic, and political conditions precipitated new deliberations about how to distinguish Indians from non-Indians and from each other. By chronicling such dialogues over 150 years, this groundbreaking study reveals that Indian identity has a complex history. Examining relations in various spheres of life—labor, public ceremony, marriage and kinship, politics and law—Harmon shows how Indians have continually redefined themselves. Her focus on the negotiations that have given rise to modern Indian identity makes a significant contribution to the discourse of contemporary multiculturalism and ethnic studies.

Alexandra Harmon is Assistant Professor in the American Indian Studies Center at the University of Washington.

"Sensitively written and soundly documented... This work will be of value to anyone interested in Native American history."—M.C. Mangusso, Choice

"A probing historical analysis of Indian tribes in the Puget Sound region and their changing ethnic identities."—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"[Harmon's] analysis of Indian identity through time demands the attention of all students of American Indian history and the American West. This is an important book."—Peter Iverson, Western Historical Quarterly

"Harmon skillfully handles a difficult topic in a sophisticated manner....This is an important book that will lead other historians to examine Native American identity and the ways in which Natives and non-Natives defined 'Indian.'"—Clifford E. Trafzer, American Historical Review

"A compelling survey history of Pacific Northwest Indians as well as a book that brings considerable theoretical sophistication to Native American history. Harmon tells an absorbing, clearly written, and moving story."—Peggy Pascoe, University of Oregon

"This book fills a terribly important niche in the wider field of ethnic studies by attempting to define Indian identity in an interactive way."—George Sánchez, University of Southern California

Winner, 1999 Governor's Writers Award, of the Washington State Library and the Washington Commission for the Humanities